Textile care labeling (SIST – Official Representative of Textile Care Labeling Symbols)

The manufacturer shall communicate to the buyer, through textile care labels, how to clean textile articles in the best possible way. A label with five care symbols gives all the necessary information on washing, bleaching, ironing, drycleaning and tumble-drying. Without this information, the consumer can hardly decide on the appropriate care treatment because it does not depend only on the main fabric which composes the textile article. Indeed, all the components of said textile article should be taken into account: other fibers, accessories, but also dying, finishing treatments and texture. Observing the information given through the symbols, the consumer will avoid wrong treatments and consequently premature wear-out, obtain better results and the article will serve him/her longer.

Thus care symbols are recommendations on how to clean a textile article on which they are affixed. They refer to maximum permissible treatments that a textile article can bear without irreversible damage.
GINETEX (International Association for Textile Care Labelling) as the owner of textile care symbols has given ISO/TC 38 Textiles, and CEN/TC 248 Textile and textile products, permission to use the symbols in the standard EN ISO 3758:2005, Textiles – Care labeling code using symbols, which means that GINETEX owns exclusive rights over the symbols. GINETEX is composed of 16 member countries (national committees): participating members are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Tunisia, and observer members are Slovenia and Sweden.

At its General Assembly meeting of October 12, 1999, GINETEX granted the observer status to Slovenia. This means that GINETEX remains the owner of the trademark, whereas SIST as a member of GINETEX is an official representative of the symbols. It is SIST's right and duty to keep watch over the correct use of the labels. Pursuant to GINETEX Rules (see http://www.ginetex.org/ for more detail and the correct symbols), SIST had to establish a national GINETEX committee, which would at the same time constitute a SIST technical committee. Thus SIST/TC OVT Textile care labeling was set up on October 4, 2000.

The technical committee SIST/TC OVT follows the work of the International Association for Textile Care Labelling, GINETEX, and the work of the international technical sub-committee ISO/TC 38/SC 11, with the task to prepare instructions for textile care labeling in order to ensure correct use of the symbols.

In order to become a member of GINETEX, SIST/TC OVT must comply with the following conditions:

·         to have a legal structure conforming to the laws of the country concerned,

·         to have independence, i.e. autonomy (notably from any commercial influence),

·         to be representative of the textile and garment industries, sales representatives, law makers, consumer protection and any other interested parties in care labelling,

·         to have authority i.e. capacity to enforce its decisions,

·         to ensure correct use of the symbols and protection of these trademarks.

Updated: 2005-05-27