Laundry care labels don't have the same design considerations as other labels for your products. They should be straightforward and clear to read with minimal branding. They are there to provide instructions on how to take care of your item using textual information and/or symbols. Your care labels should be designed to stay attached to the product for its entire lifetime-helping to keep the product in top shape-so it is a good idea to make them as inconspicuous as possible.
What Should go on my Laundry Care Label?
Given all the different care labeling systems, it is important to know who your potential customers are and where they live. This means you will need to also determine the languages spoken by your target customer and whether or not to include instructions in these languages on your labels.
Care labels often include the same universal symbols, but these symbols can mean something different country to country. It is important to thoroughly understand the meaning of these symbols as care labels provide the customer with important instructions on how to keep the product in good shape.
We recommend structuring your care labels in the following way. This will provide customers with everything they need to know about caring for their items:
- Brand name - Put your name, brand name, or title on the label using your favorite font.
- Slogan - If you wish, you can put a slogan, a funny message, or your collection’s name on the label.
- Care labels symbols and text- Add up to five symbols to the label to provide your customers with instructions on how to best treat the product.
- Materials/origin of the product - Tell your customers about the product. What the material composition is, and where the product is made.
Additional information
Sometimes there are laws and regulations about what needs to be on your care labels, so make sure to look up your local laws surrounding care labels and cover your bases.
- Fire Hazard labels
- Choking Hazards
- Warnings: If applicable, it is important to put specific warnings on the care label as well. When a customer expects a certain treatment is possible but it actually is not, these warnings are especially important. Examples of such warnings are ‘do not wash’, ‘do not dry-clean’, or ‘do not iron’. If the color of a clothing item is not stable, make sure to include warnings such as ‘wash with same colors’ or ‘wash separately’.
What Size Should the Laundry Care Label be?
Your custom care labels can be any size you like, however it is a good idea to factor in wearability before making them larger than they need to be. At Dutch Label Shop our standard customizable laundry labels are 1.20” x 2.80” or 3cm x 7cm. This is enough to comfortably fit 5 symbols and up to seven lines of additional text.