Custom Tags - FTC Legal Requirements

When having shirts printed, getting custom tags is really the cherry on top. Having a tag with your brand name and website on it says a lot more about what you stand for than a Gildan, Next Level, or Hanes tag. It’s another opportunity to tie your branding together and let your customers know they are buying high-quality merchandise.

Let’s talk about the legality of custom tags. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires that your tags include a few items.

customlabelrequirements.jpg
  • Manufacturer (your business name)

  • Shirt Size

  • Material (100% Cotton etc.)

  • Country of Origin

  • Care Instructions

Manufacturer
Your custom tag must include the information from the manufacturer, importer or firm handling the product. You can use your brand name for this.

Shirt Size
This one is pretty obvious. Is the shirt a Large, Medium, Small, XL, etc. This must be on your tag.

Material
The fiber content of your shirt must also be on your shirt. If it’s 50% cotton, 50% polyester, this should be labeled.
The fiber content should be labeled in descending order of percentage. Example 70% cotton, 30% polyester.

Country of Origin
Each garment must show where they were manufactured. If they were made in the U.S. from materials also from the U.S. they must say “Made in U.S.A.”
If the materials were imported from another country and assembled in the U.S., then the label must say, “Made in the U.S.A. of imported fabric.
Here is a link to the FTC’s guidelines for all situations.

Care Instructions
Each garment must have care instructions labeled on the tag. These can either be text, symbols or both.
Here is a link to all the symbols with free downloadable vector images of each.

Your Website
Finally, it’s always a great idea to add your website and logo to your tag in order to help tie your brand together while helping the shirt owner remember where they got it from.
Designing your Tag


Rhymesayers-Label

The design of your tag and ink color depends upon your brand and style of garment and should be strongly considered.
If you are not a designer and need help designing your own custom tag, let us know and we will be there for you.

All our custom tags are printed by us and pressed onto your garment.

If you are looking to have shirts printed with custom tags, head over to our website and fill out our easy quote form, or stop by the shop.

We are located at 2501 Winter St NE Minneapolis, MN 55413.

Don’t live near our shop? No problem, we ship.

Thanks for Reading

-Dan