Craft & materials Care label materials: what survives the wash 2026-11-08 Craft & materials 4 min read A care label costs a fraction of a cent and carries the washing instructions for the whole garment. When it fades, the customer blames the garment — so the base material matters more than the price difference suggests. The four materials we print on Ribbon and woven-edge ribbon: the premium base. Print stays legible through washing, and the cloth keeps a clean, soft hand. The choice for high-end apparel. Cotton tape: the reliable middle. Soft, familiar, prints well, and widely accepted across markets. DuPont paper: crisp print and a flat, paper-like hand. Good where a very fine line or dense text has to stay sharp. Adhesive and tape formats: used for bonding or for underwear and seamless constructions where a sewn-in label would show. Where brands get caught: nylon tape Nylon tape is a plant-coated fabric. It is cheap, and it is difficult to hold colour through repeated washing. That is why premium programmes avoid it and why we flag it before a print run rather than after a complaint. If the target price forces a nylon base, the specification should say so openly, and the wash testing should be done on that base. Printed labels versus woven labels A printed label puts text and graphics directly onto the fabric by screen or transfer printing, with rich colour and a soft, comfortable surface that does not feel like a separate object against the skin. For intimate apparel and next-to-skin basics, that comfort is the deciding factor. A woven label, by contrast, holds its information through years of abrasion but can feel firmer. What goes on the label Fibre content, country of origin, washing and drying instructions and any care warnings have to meet the requirements of the destination market — and those requirements are not identical between the EU, the US and Asia. We check the content against the market before printing, because a care label that is legally incomplete is a bigger problem than one that is merely ugly. Print the label for the market it will be sold in, not for the market the sample was approved in. How to specify a care label Send the finished garment, the fibre composition, the expected care regime and the destination market. We will propose a base, print method and fold, and send a sample you can put through a real wash cycle before you commit to the season.
