Why are wash labels so important to brands? | AD

*This is a collaborative guest post

Whether you own your own clothing company, or simply like to sew in your free time, ensuring your clothes are made to the highest standard is something you can take pride in. That’s why it’s so important that every piece of clothing comes with a wash label.

Wash labels are vital for customers when it comes to making the decision to purchase a piece of clothing from you. Why? Well, without the good guidance of a wash label; your customers won’t know how to properly clean and care for a certain garment. This means, in the long run, they could ruin the fabric. Customers will be frustrated that you didn’t provide them with adequate instructions to look after their prized piece of clothing, and therefore, might never buy from you again.

So why is it important to read clothing wash labels?

Why do I need to care about wash labels?

For starters, unless properly cared for, certain materials can rip, come apart or even shrink when you try to wash the fabric. There are many instances of people putting colored clothes without proper wash labels in the washing machine, only to find that the color has run onto other items. In fact, some types of material shouldn’t even be put in a washing machine, and instead must be professionally dry cleaned. Without a proper wash label, customers will not know this.

This is why wash labels are sewn into the inside of a garment so that the customer knows about any special instructions regarding the care for the piece of clothing. It can also affect their purchase decisions; as when customers are looking for a certain item to buy, the wash labels make a big impact on whether they’re willing to follow the care instructions. They’ll need to know whether they can throw the item in a washing machine, possibly hand wash it, or even fork out money to take it to the dry cleaners.

What information should I include in my wash labels?

Most wash labels will tell you the following three care instructions:

• Whether an item needs to be hand washed or not
• Whether or not a piece of clothing can be tumble dried
• If the garment can be cleaned in a washing machine or whether it needs to be dry cleaned
• If it needs to be washed on a specific cycle, such as gentle or delicate

Some clothes such as jumpers and sweatshirts need to be laid out flat and allowed to air dry to prevent shrinking, so the wash label will inform customers about things like this too. Things like winter coats usually need to be cleaned by a professional dry cleaning service, or with a steamer. 

Your wash labels also need to tell customers how much heat each item can withstand if it can be put into a dry, or ironed. More often than not, most clothes will need to be cleaned or dried on a very cool cycle. This is because the fabric cannot withstand a lot of heat. In extreme cases, the fabric can even begin to melt if it’s at a temperature that’s too high!

These are all things you should consider adding to your wash labels.