The products

The least tolerant part

On this page11

The requirement is phrased about the product as a whole And the warnings paragraph is phrased about harm Any part of the procedure, and harm to the product From which a straightforward reading follows This is a reading, and it is offered as one Which makes the claim implicit in a short label larger than it looks The example the rule itself gives is about color, not hardware And there is a matching provision for alternatives That paragraph keeps labels short in a different way from the silences Two different economies, both aimed at the same thing References

Care needed for the product. The product includes everything sewn into it.

The requirement is phrased about the product as a whole

Care labels must state what regular care is needed for the ordinary use of the product. One product, one set of instructions.

And the warnings paragraph is phrased about harm

If there is any part of the prescribed washing procedure which consumers can reasonably be expected to use that would harm the product or others being washed with it, the label must contain a warning to that effect.

Any part of the procedure, and harm to the product

Neither phrase distinguishes between the fabric and the things attached to it. A garment is one product for the purpose of this paragraph.

From which a straightforward reading follows

If a component attached to a garment would be harmed by hot water, then hot water harms the product, and the first of the five silences is not available. A temperature has to be printed.

This is a reading, and it is offered as one

Nobody on these pages has determined what any particular notion tolerates, and nothing here is advice about how to label a garment. The point is that the rule is written about the whole product and does not carve out hardware.

Which makes the claim implicit in a short label larger than it looks

A bare machine wash, tumble dry asserts the harshest version of five procedures is safe for everything in the garment, including a plated snap, a painted button and an elastic waistband.

The example the rule itself gives is about color, not hardware

If a shirt is not colorfast, its label should state wash with like colors or wash separately. Which shows the mechanism: a property of one part of the product constrains the instruction for all of it.

And there is a matching provision for alternatives

Warnings are not necessary for any procedure that is an alternative to the procedure prescribed on the label. If an instruction says dry flat, the label need not add do not tumble dry.

That paragraph keeps labels short in a different way from the silences

The five silences shorten a label by permitting an omission where the harshest setting is safe. This one shortens it by removing warnings that are redundant against an instruction already given.

Two different economies, both aimed at the same thing

A label small enough to be stitched into a garment and still be read years later, which is what the permanence requirement demands of it.

References

16 CFR 423.6(b)(1) and (b)(2), which permit an omission in five places: "if the regular use of hot water up to 145 degrees F (63 degrees C) will not harm the product, the label need not mention any water temperature"; "if the regular use of a high temperature will not harm the product, the label need not mention any drying temperature"; "if the regular use of a hot iron will not harm the product, the label need not mention any ironing temperature"; "If all commercially available bleaches can safely be used on a regular basis, the label need not mention bleaching"; and "if all commercially available types of solvent can be used, the label need not mention any types of solvent." 16 CFR 423.1(d) states the consequence: "When no temperature is given, e.g., warm or cold, hot water up to 145 degrees F (63 degrees C) can be regularly used." law.cornell.edu

The ten leaves in this group as the catalog indexes them: bobbin storage, button storage, elastic scrap, hook and eye, needle storage, pin storage, seam ripper tip, snap storage, thread storage and zipper pull. These are notions, which is to say components, and 16 CFR part 423 does not reach any of them. It reaches the finished textile wearing apparel and the certain piece goods defined in 423.1(b).

Written from 16 CFR part 423 and from the catalog as it stood on 19 October 2026. Part 423 is the Care Labeling Rule and it governs the permanent care label on textile wearing apparel and certain piece goods; it does not govern notions, and nothing here says it does. Nothing here states what temperature any particular notion tolerates, what instruction any garment may carry, or that any container is suitable for textile storage in any regulated sense. This shelf is shared identically by nine groups and this property is where it is enumerated in full.