US Care Labeling Rule — 16 CFR Part 423
- Citation
- 16 CFR Part 423
- Jurisdiction
- US
- Made by
- Federal Trade Commission
- Instrument
- Regulation
- Status
- In force
What it requires (4 obligations)
In connection with the sale, in or affecting commerce, of textile wearing apparel and certain piece goods, it is an unfair or deceptive act or practice for a manufacturer or importer to fail to disclose to a purchaser, prior to sale, instructions prescribing a regular care procedure necessary for the ordinary use and enjoyment of the product; to fail to warn a purchaser prior to sale where the product cannot be cleaned by any cleaning procedure without being harmed; or to fail to warn where any part of the prescribed care procedure that a consumer or professional cleaner could reasonably be expected to use would harm the product or others cleaned with it.
No date set Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
- Who it falls on
- Manufacturers and importers
- Products
- Apparel, textiles
- Markets
- US
The rule is framed as unfair or deceptive PRACTICES rather than as a labelling requirement, so the breach is a failure to disclose and the exposure is under the FTC Act. All three limbs are owed PRIOR TO SALE. The third reaches harm to OTHER items cleaned alongside the product, which is a duty about the launderer's load rather than about the garment.
Quoted from 16 CFR § 423.5(a)(1), (a)(2) and (a)(3), eCFR snapshot 2026-08-01.
It is also an unfair or deceptive act or practice to fail to provide regular care instructions and warnings — except as to piece goods — in a form that can be referred to by the consumer throughout the useful life of the product, and to fail to possess, prior to sale, a reasonable basis for all regular care information disclosed to the purchaser.
No date set Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
- Who it falls on
- Manufacturers and importers
- Products
- Apparel, textiles
- Markets
- US
The reasonable-basis limb is the one most often missing. A correct-looking care label with no evidence behind it violates (a)(5) on its own terms, and the evidence must exist BEFORE the sale rather than be reconstructible after a complaint. The durability limb in (a)(4) is why care information cannot live only on a swing ticket for apparel — it must survive the useful life of the product.
Quoted from § 423.5(a)(4) and (a)(5).
Manufacturers and importers must attach care labels so they can be seen or easily found when the product is offered for sale to consumers. Where the product is packaged, displayed or folded so that customers cannot see or easily find the label, the care information must also appear on the outside of the package or on a hang tag fastened to the product.
No date set Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
- Who it falls on
- Manufacturers and importers
- Products
- Apparel, textiles
- Markets
- US
A packaging duty as much as a labelling one, and it is triggered by how the goods are PRESENTED rather than by how they are made. The same garment can comply loose on a rail and fail folded in a polybag, so it is decided at the point of merchandising rather than at the mill.
Quoted from § 423.6(a).
Care labels must state the regular care needed for ordinary use. In general a label for textile wearing apparel must carry either a washing instruction or a drycleaning instruction; where either method can be used, only one need appear. Where the product cannot be cleaned by any available method without being harmed, the label must say so. Where this regulation conflicts with any regulation issued under the Flammable Fabrics Act, the Flammable Fabrics regulation governs.
No date set Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
- Who it falls on
- Manufacturers and importers
- Products
- Apparel, textiles
- Markets
- US
One instruction suffices where both methods work, which is why "dryclean only" on a washable garment is a commercial choice rather than a compliance one. The conflict rule at § 423.9 matters where a flammability standard restricts a cleaning method this rule would otherwise have the label prescribe: the Flammable Fabrics regulation wins.
Quoted from § 423.6(b) and § 423.9. NOTE: § 423.9 as published reads "the Flammable Fabics regulation govern over this one" — the misspelling and the number disagreement are in the official text and are not reproduced in this summary.
This is a register, not advice. It records what an instrument says and when it applies. Whether it applies to a particular company, product or shipment is a question for somebody who knows that business, and the answer is frequently not what the summary above would suggest.
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