Custom clothing labels, hangtags and packaging

Woven or printed: choosing a label type

The label type is a decision about feel, durability and how much detail has to fit. Many brands combine both: a woven main label at the neck and a printed care label in the side seam. Label positions and the fold style (end-fold, centre-fold or loop) go on the spec sheet with the rest of the garment.

• Woven labels: the logo is woven into the label itself, usually from polyester yarn. They stand up well to repeated washing and read as a finished retail detail. Very fine text loses definition in weaving, so artwork is often simplified.
• Printed labels: ink printed on satin, cotton or a similar tape. Small text stays legible, which makes them a common choice for care and composition labels, and they usually feel softer against the skin than woven labels.

What a care label usually carries

Care-label content is set by the market you sell into, not by the factory. As general guidance: in the EU, textile products must state their fibre composition using the standard fibre names, in the language of the country where they are sold. Care symbols are not required by EU law in most countries, but retailers expect them and they follow the ISO 3758 system. In the US, the FTC rules require fibre content, country of origin and care instructions.

A typical care label covers the points below. Send the exact wording and languages you need, or confirm your target markets in the RFQ, and the care-label artwork is approved with the sample alongside the fabric it describes.

• Fibre composition by percentage
• Care instructions or symbols: washing, bleaching, drying, ironing and professional care
• Country of origin
• Size
• Your brand name, plus a style or batch reference if your team tracks one

Hangtags and polybags

A hangtag is the swing ticket on the outside of the garment: usually printed board, sometimes carrying a barcode sticker or price field, attached with string, a safety pin or a plastic fastener. The decisions are board weight and finish, size, whether it is printed on one or both sides, the attachment method, and where it hangs so it does not mark the fabric.

Polybags protect each piece in transit and in the warehouse. The details that matter to a 3PL are bag size, whether it is self-seal, the suffocation warning many markets require, and where the barcode or size sticker sits so it can be scanned without opening the bag. Fold method and any tissue are specified at the same time.

Cartons and carton marks

Export cartons are where packing mistakes turn into receiving problems. A carton spec usually covers dimensions and wall strength (single or double wall), the maximum weight per carton, the number of pieces in each, and whether cartons are packed by single size or in a mixed size ratio.

Carton marks are the information printed or labelled on the outside of each carton. Typical shipping marks are listed below. If your warehouse uses its own carton label format, include the template in your RFQ and it becomes part of the packing spec for the order.

• Consignee or brand name and destination
• Purchase order number and style reference
• Colour, size breakdown and quantity in the carton
• Carton number in sequence, for example 12 of 40
• Gross and net weight, and carton dimensions
• Country of origin