Textile Label Checker
The two blocks of text on a garment hang tag, checked against the two adjacent FTC rules that govern them — fibre content under 16 CFR 303 and care instructions under 16 CFR 423.
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The rule most percentage checkers miss
A fibre present in less than 5 percent of the total weight must be disclosed
as "other fiber" — not by its name. Adding the numbers up to 100 is not enough;
97% cotton, 3% spandex totals correctly and is still wrong.
There is an exception, and it matters: a small fibre may be named if it has a clearly established and definite functional significance at that amount. The regulation's own example is 96 percent acetate with 4 percent spandex — the spandex is doing something. Whether yours is doing something is a fact about your product, not about the text, so this page asks you rather than guessing.
Lycra is spandex, Tencel is lyocell
Fibres must be named by their generic name. A trade name may sit beside it, never instead of it. This is a labelling violation rather than a matter of taste, and it is easy to commit because the trade name is what the mill wrote on the invoice.
Why there are no care symbols here
You may have arrived looking for a symbol chart. This page deliberately does not have one. The care symbols are defined in ISO 3758, a paid standard, and in many countries the symbols themselves are GINETEX trade marks. Reproducing them would mean copying material this project has neither licensed nor been able to verify.
What it does instead is check the words that 16 CFR 423 requires — a cleaning method, a water temperature where washing is instructed, drying, bleaching and ironing. That is a public regulation, it is what a US listing actually needs, and it is a thing this tool can do properly rather than approximately.
Fibre content checks (7 rules)
TEX-P01 Fibre percentages do not total 100
The fibre content declaration must account for the whole product. A total that is not 100 percent means a fibre is missing from the label or a figure is mistyped, and it is the first thing a customs or marketplace check looks at.
Fix: Adjust the percentages so they add to 100.
Source: eCFR — 16 CFR Part 303: Rules under the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act
TEX-P02 A fibre under 5 percent is named instead of "other fiber"
A fibre present in less than 5 percent of the total weight must be disclosed as "other fiber", not by its generic name — unless it has a clearly established and definite functional significance at that amount. The regulation’s own example of the exception is 96 percent acetate with 4 percent spandex, where the spandex does something. Most percentage checkers only add the numbers up and miss this entirely.
Fix: Either state it as "other fiber", or keep the name if the fibre genuinely has a function at that percentage.
Source: eCFR — 16 CFR Part 303: Rules under the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act
TEX-N01 Trade name used without the generic name
Fibres must be named by their generic name. A trade name may appear alongside it, but not instead of it — Lycra is spandex, Tencel is lyocell, viscose is rayon. This is a labelling violation, not a stylistic preference.
Fix: Use the generic name, with the trade name beside it if you want it there.
Source: eCFR — 16 CFR Part 303: Rules under the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act
TEX-N02 Fibre name not recognised
The name is not one of the generic names the rules list and not a trade name this tool knows. It may be a legitimate name this tool does not carry — the list of generic names is set by the FTC and grows — so this is flagged for checking rather than treated as wrong.
Source: eCFR — 16 CFR Part 303: Rules under the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act
TEX-A01 Abbreviations are not allowed
The rules prohibit abbreviating required information, and also prohibit ditto marks and asterisk footnotes. "Poly/cott" is not a label; the words must be written out.
Fix: Write the fibre names out in full.
Source: eCFR — 16 CFR Part 303: Rules under the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act
TEX-O01 "Other fiber" used correctly
Fibres under 5 percent are aggregated as "other fiber" or "other fibers", which is what the rules require in the ordinary case.
Source: eCFR — 16 CFR Part 303: Rules under the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act
TEX-V01 Fibre content declaration is well formed
Percentages total 100, names are generic, and small fibres are handled correctly.
Source: eCFR — 16 CFR Part 303: Rules under the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act
Care instruction checks (7 rules)
CAR-M01 No washing or drycleaning instruction
A care label must tell the buyer how to clean the garment — washing (by hand or machine) or drycleaning. A label with drying and ironing but no cleaning method is incomplete.
Source: eCFR — 16 CFR Part 423: Care Labeling of Textile Wearing Apparel
CAR-T01 Washing given without a water temperature
Where washing is instructed, the label must also state a water temperature in terms such as cold, warm or hot. "Machine wash" alone does not meet the requirement.
Fix: Add cold, warm or hot.
Source: eCFR — 16 CFR Part 423: Care Labeling of Textile Wearing Apparel
CAR-D01 No drying instruction
Drying is one of the instructions the rule enumerates. Omitting it leaves the buyer to guess between tumble drying and line drying, which is exactly where garments are damaged.
Source: eCFR — 16 CFR Part 423: Care Labeling of Textile Wearing Apparel
CAR-B01 No bleaching instruction
If all commercially available bleaches are safe for the garment, no bleach warning is needed — but if any are not, the label must warn. A label silent on bleach is asserting that every bleach is safe.
Source: eCFR — 16 CFR Part 423: Care Labeling of Textile Wearing Apparel
CAR-I01 No ironing instruction
Where ironing would normally be expected for the fabric and it must not be ironed, or must be ironed at a particular setting, the label has to say so.
Source: eCFR — 16 CFR Part 423: Care Labeling of Textile Wearing Apparel
CAR-S01 Symbols are not checked here, and why
ISO 3758 care symbols are defined in a paid standard, and in many countries the symbols themselves are GINETEX trade marks. This tool therefore does not reproduce or translate symbols. It checks the WORDS that 16 CFR 423 requires, which is a public regulation and is what a US listing needs.
Source: eCFR — 16 CFR Part 423: Care Labeling of Textile Wearing Apparel
CAR-V01 Care instruction covers the required aspects
A cleaning method with its temperature, plus drying, bleaching and ironing guidance.
Source: eCFR — 16 CFR Part 423: Care Labeling of Textile Wearing Apparel
Wording only, and symbols deliberately not covered — ISO 3758 is a paid standard and the symbols are trade marks in many countries.