Cracking The Care Label Code. October 2013

Transcription

1 Cracking The Care Label Code October 2013

2 Care Labeling US Regulation Requirements All wearing apparel sold in the US must contain a label containing the following: Washing method and temperature Washing cycle (normal, gentle, etc.) Bleach instruction Drying method and temperature Ironing instruction Warnings if necessary 2

3 Care Labeling US Regulation Requirements Care label must be: Permanently attached Conspicuous at point of sale Legible during useful life of garment Written in English or Appropriate care symbols Washing Bleaching Drying Ironing Dry cleaning 3

4 Care Labeling US Regulation Requirements Exceptions: Footwear, Gloves, Hats, Handkerchiefs, Belts, Neckties Reversible Garments Place in pocket Not required if would aesthetically detract from garment Charity No exemption for promotional clothing 4

5 Care Labeling US Regulation Requirements Care label must: Recommend one safe method Warn against any part of the procedure that may harm the garment Warn if the method must be modified Reasonable Basis You must have proof that the method recommended is the best method for that garment. Dry Clean Only means washing will damage the garment. 5

6 Care Labeling US Regulation Requirements Care Label Tests Dimensional Stability (Shrinkage) AATCC Test Method 135 Durable Press or Wrinkle Free AATCC Test Method 124 Appearance after Laundering Skewing AATCC Test Method 179 Colorfastness to Laundering AATCC Test Method 61 Colorfastness to Chlorine & Non- Chlorine Bleach AATCC TS 001 6

7 Home Laundering Used for Dimensional Stability, Skewing, & Appearance after Laundering 7

8 Appearance after Laundering / Drycleaning Visual Changes in fabric surface pilling or fuzzing bleeding or staining seam loss seam puckering 8

9 Skewing or Twisting AATCC TS-004 Degree of skewing is affected by Vertical lines Stripes Plackets Side slits Overall appearance may be more critical than percentage 9

10 AATCC 61, Accelerated Laundering Test No. Care Instruction C F Steels balls Rubber balls Time, minutes IA Hand Wash Warm IB Hand Wash Cold A Machine Wash Warm A modified Machine Wash cold

11 Detergent Optical Brightener vs No optical Brightener AATCC 61 Standard Reference Detergent WOB AATCC 150 Specifies Standard Reference Detergent Issue when both tests are conducted in same report Results need to align or we are challenged by client Report detergent used Comment on optical brightener may be needed 11

12 Cross Staining In Laundering Care Instructions: Machine wash warm, wash separately or with like colors... Report: Separate rating for color/cuffs and underlay. Care Recommendation unable to recommend care due to self staining 12

13 Color Rating Colorfastness ratings are visual assessments of color change and staining 13

14 Color Rating Rating is done in a light box which provides standardized, controlled lighting AATCC grey scales are used to determine grade levels 14

15 Colorfastness to Water Colorfastness to Static Wetting Color transfer may occur in garments made of contrasting colors when left inside a washing machine overnight after the washing cycle is finished This issue is often over-looked by textile manufacturers. Therefore, Colorfastness to Water should be tested in addition to Colorfastness to Laundering 15

16 Durable Press Appearance AATCC 143 Wrinkle Resistance / Stay Smooth Technology- Ability to resist creasing, wrinkling, folding deformations in washing Common Terminology No Iron Easy Care Wrinkle Free Wrinkle Resistant No regulated requirements for terminology Based on client specifications 16

17 Durable Press Appearance 17

18 Seam Puckering Single Needle Seam Double Needle Seam 18

19 Durable Press Appearance AATCC 143 Fabrics or Garments are visually evaluated for wrinkling and seam puckering after repeated launderings 19

20 Colorfastness to Bleach Chlorine vs. Non-Chlorine Bleach Do Not Bleach Only Non-Chorine Bleach When Needed 20

21 Colorfastness to Bleach Colorfastness to chlorine and non-chlorine bleach testing is required for all care labels with a washing instruction. Failure of either of these tests does not fail the care label. If the test results do not match the submitted bleaching instruction the lab is to recommend a corrected bleaching instruction based on those results. If both bleaches pass testing there is no need to mention bleach. Only non-chlorine bleach when needed - if nonchlorine bleach passes and chlorine bleach fails. Do not bleach - if both bleaches fail. 21

22 Colorfastness to Bleach Vendor Proposed care CB/NCB Result SGS Recommended care Overall Report Rating Do not bleach NCB passes, CB Fails Only NCB when needed Conditional Pass Do not bleach CB & NCB pass Bleach open (symbol), No mention of bleach (wording) Conditional Pass Only NCB when needed CB & NCB pass Bleach open (symbol), No mention of bleach (wording) Conditional Pass Do not bleach CB & NCB fail Bleach w / X (symbol), Do Not Bleach (wording) Pass Only NCB when needed NCB passes, CB Fails Only NCB when needed Pass 22

23 Colorfastness to Bleach Multiple fabrics for the same style perform differently to bleach testing Black bulk fabric passes chlorine and non-chlorine bleach Red fabric passes non-chlorine bleach test, fails chlorine bleach. How are care instructions reported? 23

24 Ironing Check for safe ironing temperatures based on Fiber Content Fabric Appearance Garment Trim AATCC 133 Safe Ironing Temperature Guide 24

25 Ironing Ironing must be done as the consumer would Slide iron across the fabric and do not allow to remain in one position for 2-3 seconds. Otherwise, iron marks will occur and results will fail garment must be pulled over the end of an ironing board, so only one layer is being ironed. Do not lay garment flat so that iron double layer occurs. This will result in press marks from the lower layer seams to the front layer of garment. 25

26 Dry Clean Do not label as Dry Clean Only if a wash method is safe It is acceptable to state Dry Clean Do Not Dry Clean is necessary only when damage will occur to the garment. Sequins melt Color changes Finish is removed 26

27 Dry Clean Dry cleaning only one method of safe care is necessary if drycleaning or any other method will harm the garment, the label must contain a warning 27

28 Dry Cleaning Perchloroethylene (chlorinated hydrocarbon) is the most common solvent Hydrocarbon (non-chlorinated hydrocarbon) solvent which is a modified white spirit. Green Earth (Siloxane which is a silicon based product and we don t have a symbol for that) " Petroleum Short Run solvent used for leather cleaning 28

29 Professional vs Commercial Dry Cleaning Professional done by an outside trained drycleaner Commercial done in lab Procedure - follow the vendors proposed care instructions. If they say Professionally DryClean, low moisture, low heat send to the outside drycleaner and ask them to test as per the care label. If the garment states Dry Clean test in the lab. If there are failures, we would recommend to client that the vendor improve the goods or to use Professionally DryClean 29

30 Professional Leather Cleaning Subcontracted to professional General practice, restoration of color only be applied on sample which presents uneven color after leather cleaning. For garment which has uniform color change on the whole sample, color restoration will not applied unless specifically requested. 30

31 Sub-contracted Dry Cleaning Labs with no dryclean capability must sub-contract to outside drycleaner Dry Cleaner Audit Checklist 31

32 Three levels of Care Label: Care label Verification SGS verifies that the client s proposed care label is correct. Care Label Recommendation SGS test results can not support the client s proposed care label and must recommend a revised method. Care Label Development No care instructions are proposed and instructions are developed based on fiber content, fabric/garment construction, client/customer expectation. 32

33 Care label Verification Care instructions must be based on the most current test results. If bulk fabric was tested in July 2012 on 2 colors (carbon and khaki), and only one failed both bleaches. In later colorfastness reports for the same fabric, none of the new colors failed non-chlorine bleach, so the recommended care should be updated. Since fabric quality can change over time, including colorfastness, recommended care should reflect the most current information available, so do not necessarily default to the care recommended in the previous report. When garments are submitted for testing, final care instructions are based ultimately on the garment test results, regardless of the original submitted instructions. 33

34 Failed Results Care Label Rule does not give pass/fail specifications Should we pass or fail? Depends on the client s requirements Also depends on what the failure is Is it growth or shrinkage? Would it change the size of the garment?» Location of failure Would the retail customer consider it bad? Does the fabric or garment look out of shape? Is there excessive skewing? Unacceptable surface change? Comment on report may be required 34

35 Care Symbols FTC Care Symbols Vs Genitex Symbols Ginetex organisation controls the copyright of the 5 main ISO symbols used in care labelling FTC indicates that the ISO symbols are not accepted in the USA 35

36 Care Symbols Only FTC approved symbols are acceptable ASTM D c Standard Guide for Care Symbols for Care Instructions on Textile Products Found on FTC.gov 36

37 FTC Care Symbols ASTM D5489 also contains a table of Additional Words to Use with Care Symbols 37

38 Care Symbols SGS is a corporate partner of the Ginetex organization This means that SGS globally can use the symbols freely without fear of infringement of copyright It also means that SGS around the world has access to Ginetex and can influence changes and progress in this area SGS SafeGuard provides updated information 38

39 Proposed FTC CARE LABELING RULES 39

40 FTC Proposed Changes Public Roundtable to be held in Washington, DC, October 1, 2013 Postponed until funding becomes available To analyze proposed changes to its Care Labeling Rule Comment period closes October 15 th, 2013 Congress expected to approved 3 6 months 40

41 FTC Proposed Care Labeling Rule Permit manufacturers to use the care symbols in the updated ASTM Standard D Standard Guide for Care Symbols for Care Instructions on Textile Products, or ISO 3758:2005(E) Textiles Care labeling code using symbols on labels in lieu of written terms for providing care instructions. Manufacturers or importers opting to use ISO symbols for care instructions must disclose that they are using ISO symbols. 41

42 FTC Proposed Care Labeling Rule Proposed changes to test method Adding a definition of wetclean based on the definition of professional wet cleaning set forth in ISO 3758:2005(E) Allow manufacturers and importers to include instructions for wetcleaning on labels if the garment is able to be professionally wetcleaned (as optional) 42

43 FTC Proposed Care Labeling Rule Clarify what constitutes a reasonable basis for care instructions by providing examples of situations where testing an entire garment may be needed to determine care instructions, as well as examples where such testing is not needed. Update and expand the definition of dryclean to reflect current practices and include new solvents in the list of examples and to cover solvents that are not organicallybased. 43

44 Classic Care Label 44

45 Classic Care Label 45

46 Classic Care Label 46

47 Classic Care Label 47

48 Care Label 48

49 Care Label 49

50 Up and Coming Changes AAATCC has published specifications and water temperatures for front loading washing machines

51 presented by: Cracking The Care Label Code October 2013 Louann Spirito Director Technical Support - Softlines