This guide identifies U.S., Canadian and other international test methods used in the process of determining and evaluating textile and apparel care label instruction effectiveness for properties such as colorfastness, susceptibility to damage due to retained bleaching agents, dimensional stability, safe ironing temperatures and appearance retention (see 1.5 for exclusions).

This guide is intended for general use by those who wish to compare care label evaluation methods of the United States with those of both The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB).

The inclusion of AATCC, ASTM, CGSB, and ISO test methods provides broad reference information.

Consult specific ASTM textile fabric, apparel and home furnishing performance specifications for evaluation criteria.

4.4.1 A listing of all ASTM textile performance specifications may be found in Volumes, 07.01 and 07.02 of the Annual Book of ASTM Standards. These textile specifications are appropriate for apparel or textile products that have not been wet processed or dyed after the product was sewn into its final form.

The National Standard of Canada—Care Labelling of Textiles (CAN/CGSB-86 1-2003) includes performance criteria that is used in the evaluation of care claims, including written words or symbols, identified on garments or textile products that are offered for sale in Canada (see Appendix X1).

1.1 This guide lists general home laundering and commercial drycleaning textile care procedures and the associated ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials), AATCC (American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists), CGSB (Canadian General Standards Board), and ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standards available for the testing and evaluation of textile products.

1.2 This guide identifies the national and international textile and apparel test methods available to manufacturers, retailers, importers, testing organizations and other related parties.

1.3 This guide provides a list of test methods that can be used by the reader to evaluate the properties of textiles and apparel during refurbishing, textile and apparel care instructions; and, textile and apparel care labels.

1.4 This guide is not intended to be used in the establishment of performance criteria, but as a guide for product development and purchasing contracts. The country of Canada, however, has some performance criteria cited in The National Standard of Canada-Care Labeling of Textiles in CAN/CGSB-86.1-2003 (see Appendix X1).

1.5 This guide is applicable to textile and apparel articles; excluding upholstery fabrics, mattresses, carpet, leather, fur, and yarns.

This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.