Care label generator
Type your fabric, pick your symbols, download a print-ready care label.
100% COTTON
Example: 100% cotton — enter your fabric in the generator to redraw it for your blend and market.
| Step | On the label (US wording) | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Washing | Machine wash cold | May be machine washed at a maximum of 30°C / 86°F (cold), normal cycle. |
| Bleaching | Do not bleach | Do not bleach — no chlorine or oxygen bleach of any kind. |
| Tumble drying | Tumble dry low | May be tumble dried on low heat (max ~60°C exhaust temperature). |
| Ironing | Iron, medium heat | Iron at medium temperature, soleplate max 150°C — wool, silk and polyester blends. |
| Professional care | Do not dryclean | Do not dry-clean — solvents will damage coatings, prints or trims on this item. |
Last reviewed 2026-07-07 · Verify against the current standard before mass production · Not legal advice.
A care label needs two things: the fibre composition (every fibre by percentage, listed highest to lowest) and the care instructions (wash, bleach, dry, iron, professional care — in that fixed order). This generator sorts your composition per FTC and EU rules, suggests the right care for your fibre blend (the gentlest fibre wins), draws the correct symbols for your market — ASTM D5489 in the US, ISO 3758 in the EU/UK, AS/NZS 1957 in Australia — and exports a print-ready SVG or PNG. Care labelling is mandatory in the US and Australia and voluntary in the EU, where only the fibre composition is legally required. Last reviewed 2026-07-07; not legal advice.
How to build a care label
- 1
Enter your fabric composition
Add each fibre and its percentage — say 80% cotton, 20% polyester. The tool sorts fibres highest to lowest (a real requirement under FTC and EU rules) and warns if the percentages don’t total 100%. - 2
Check the suggested care
The five care settings pre-fill from a hand-audited fibre-care table: type wool and it proposes hand wash, no tumble, dry flat, cool iron, dry-clean (P). Blends take the gentlest fibre’s setting. Override anything from the pickers — your choice sticks. - 3
Choose your standard and country
Switch between US (ASTM D5489), EU/UK (ISO 3758) and Australia (AS/NZS 1957). The same instructions redraw in that market’s convention — dots become temperature numbers, the wording changes, and the US adds its required written instructions. Add "Made in" for the US. - 4
Download the artwork
Export the label as SVG (vector — scales to any size for your label printer) or PNG at 4× resolution. Every file carries a dated review note: verify with your manufacturer before mass production.
How composition must be listed
Fibre composition is the one part of a clothing label that is legally required almost everywhere — including the EU, where the care symbols themselves are voluntary.
The rule that trips up most first-time brands: fibres must be listed in descending order by weight and add up to 100%. "20% polyester, 80% cotton" is technically mislabelled — it must read "80% cotton, 20% polyester". This tool sorts it for you and never silently "fixes" a total that isn’t 100%.
Small percentages have their own thresholds, and fibre names change by market — the same stretch fibre is Spandex on a US label and Elastane in the EU and Australia.
- Descending order — highest-percentage fibre first (auto-applied, per the US Textile Act and EU Regulation 1007/2011).
- Sums to 100% — the tool warns if it doesn’t, and never rounds it away.
- US 5% rule — a fibre under 5% shows as "other fiber" unless it has functional significance; 3% spandex stays named because the stretch is the function.
- Region naming — Spandex (US) vs Elastane (EU/AU); Rayon (US) vs Viscose (EU/AU); Nylon (US) vs Polyamide (EU/AU).
- Country of origin — "Made in ___" is required on US labels; the tool prompts for it on the ASTM standard.
What care your fibre needs
The generator’s suggestions come from this hand-audited fibre-care table (per GINETEX/ISO fabric guidance and ASTM care norms) — the conservative settings a compliant brand actually prints, not the maximum a fibre can survive. Blends always take the gentlest fibre’s setting.
| Fibre | Wash | Tumble dry | Iron | Professional care |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cotton | 30°C machine | Low | Medium (150°C) | Not needed |
| Linen | 40°C machine | Low + line dry | High (200°C), damp | Not needed |
| Wool / cashmere | Hand wash cold | Never — dry flat | Low (110°C) | Dry-clean (P) is the safe pathway |
| Silk | Hand wash cold | Never — dry in shade | Low (110°C) | Dry-clean (P) |
| Polyester | 40°C machine | Low | Medium (150°C) — melts hotter | Not needed |
| Nylon / acrylic | 30°C machine | Low | Low (110°C) | Not needed |
| Viscose / rayon | Hand wash cold | Never — dry flat | Medium (150°C) | Dry-clean (P) |
| Elastane (any %) | 30°C max | Low max | Low — heat kills stretch | No chlorine bleach, ever |
Guidance from fibre behaviour, not a per-construction guarantee — a coating or bonded finish can override the base fibre’s care. Last reviewed 2026-07-07.
The label is one section of the document a factory actually asks for. Upload one garment photo and Adstronaut generates the full tech pack — flat sketch, BOM, grading, construction notes, and your care label inside it.
Generate a tech pack →US vs EU/UK vs Australia — what changes on the label
The three standards share the same five-symbol logic but differ in how they draw temperature, which dry-clean letters exist, and what the law requires. One garment sold in three markets legitimately carries three different-looking labels.
| US · ASTM D5489 | EU/UK · ISO 3758 | Australia · AS/NZS 1957 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wash temperature | Dots inside the tub (1 dot = 30°C) | Number inside the tub | Number (adopts the ISO symbols) |
| Water line on the tub | Angled zig-zag | Curved waves | Curved (ISO) |
| Dry-clean letters | A, P, F | P, F, W | P, F, W |
| Care label legally required? | Yes — and it must include words | No — care labelling is voluntary | Yes — words, symbols, or both |
| Fibre composition required? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Country of origin | Required ("Made in ___") | Not mandatory EU-wide | Claims rules apply if shown |
Last reviewed 2026-07-07. Verify current requirements for your market before production — not legal advice.
The five symbols, in their fixed order
Care symbols are not decorative — both ASTM D5489 and ISO 3758 fix their order, and factories and compliance checkers expect it: wash tub, bleach triangle, drying square, iron, professional-care circle.
The generator always emits them in that order, and adds a natural-drying square (dry flat, line dry, dry in shade) after the tumble symbol when your fibre needs one — wool, silk and viscose should never see a tumble dryer, so their labels pair "do not tumble dry" with "dry flat".
Not sure what a symbol on an existing garment means? Look it up in the laundry-symbol decoder — every symbol in all three standards, with plain-English meanings.
This vs drawing the symbols yourself
Why not just draw them in Illustrator?
You can — but the symbols genuinely differ by market (a US wash tub uses dots, an EU tub uses a number, and the US "A" dry-clean letter doesn’t exist in ISO), the composition ordering is a regulation rather than a style choice, and a wrong regional glyph can fail a buyer’s compliance check. This tool draws audited vector symbols for each standard, sorts your composition to the rules, suggests fibre-correct care, and exports in seconds. When the label is right, the tech pack generator builds the rest of the production document around it.
Still at the idea stage? Design the product first — AI-rendered views, edits and logo placement — then come back for its label.
Design your first product →Blends: the gentlest fibre writes the label
A blend is only as robust as its most delicate fibre. 95% cotton / 5% elastane is not "basically cotton" — those few percent of elastane degrade with heat and chlorine, so the correct label caps the whole garment at a cool wash, low tumble, cool iron and no chlorine bleach.
The generator resolves every blend this way automatically: it starts from your dominant fibre’s care, then downgrades each setting to the gentlest one any significant fibre demands. 70% wool / 30% polyester therefore labels as hand wash, do not tumble, dry flat, cool iron — wool’s rules, not polyester’s — with dry-clean (P) as the safe professional pathway.
That conservative logic is also why a factory or testing house should still confirm the final label: a bonded, coated or garment-dyed fabric can need stricter care than its fibre content suggests. Cost the garment while you’re at it with the clothing pricing calculator.
Care label questions, answered
How do I list fibre composition on a care label?
List every fibre by percentage of total weight, in descending order (highest first), adding up to 100% — for example "80% Cotton, 20% Polyester". This generator sorts it for you and warns if it doesn’t total 100%. In the US, fibres under 5% are shown as "other fiber" unless functional (like spandex); in the EU, fibres of 5% or less can be grouped as "other fibres".
Which care symbol standard should I use — ASTM, ISO, or AS/NZS?
Use the standard of the market you sell into. US or Canada: ASTM D5489 — and US law requires written care instructions too. EU, UK, or most of the world: ISO 3758 (the GINETEX system). Australia or New Zealand: AS/NZS 1957, which adopts the ISO symbols. This generator switches between all three from one place. Last reviewed 2026-07-07; not legal advice.
Do I legally need a care label?
In the US, yes — care instructions are mandatory and must be in words (FTC Care Labeling Rule, 16 CFR 423); symbols may supplement them. In Australia, yes — words, symbols, or both under the ACCC mandatory standard. In the EU and UK, care labelling is voluntary; only the fibre composition is legally required (Regulation 1007/2011). Verify current rules for your market before production.
How does the tool know what care to suggest for my fabric?
From a committed, hand-audited fibre-care table — not a live AI guess. Each of 16 fibres maps to conservative recommended settings per GINETEX/ISO fabric guidance and ASTM care norms, and blends resolve gentlest-wins: type 70% wool 30% polyester and the label proposes wool’s hand-wash / no-tumble / dry-flat care, never polyester’s. You can override any setting.
Why did the tool cap my label at a cool wash for a tiny bit of elastane?
Because elastane degrades with heat and chlorine bleach at any percentage — it’s the classic case of the gentlest fibre writing the label. Even 5% spandex in a cotton tee means low tumble heat, a cool iron, and no chlorine bleach, or the stretch dies long before the cotton does.
Can I download the label as a vector file for my label printer?
Yes. Export as SVG — a monochrome vector that scales to any print size without blurring — or as PNG rendered at 4× resolution. Both carry a dated review note in the artwork, and the on-screen preview is built from the exact same file, so what you see is what prints.
What’s an RN number and do I need one?
An RN (Registered Identification Number) is a US identifier the FTC issues to companies that make, import or sell textiles; it can appear on the label instead of the company name. You don’t need one to sell in the US — your company name works. Most small brands add it later, once they have repeat production.
Does the care label go in my tech pack?
Yes — care and composition are a standard tech pack section, next to the flat sketch, bill of materials, grading and construction notes. This free tool produces the label artwork; the tech pack generator builds the full factory-ready document from a photo, with the label section inside it.
Take your label into a full tech pack
A care label is one section of the pack a factory needs. Generate the whole document — flat sketch, BOM, grading, construction notes, and your care label — from one photo.
Generate a tech packRelated free tools and guides
Sources and further reading
- FTC Care Labeling Rule, 16 CFR Part 423 — primary; US care labelling is mandatory and must include words
- GINETEX — international care symbols (ISO 3758) — primary; symbol definitions and order
- ASTM D5489-18 — Guide for Care Symbols for Care Instructions on Textile Products — primary; US symbol system (dots for temperature)
- EU Regulation 1007/2011 — textile fibre names and labelling — primary; EU composition rules (descending order, thresholds)
- ACCC — care labelling mandatory standard (AS/NZS 1957) — primary; Australia — words, symbols, or both