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Sewing notions
All Containers›Shop by use case›Sewing notions›The silences›The five silences, one at a timeShop all sewing notions →
The silences

The five silences, one at a time

By Dwight Davis, Founder

On this page10
Each omission permits the harshest setting. Read together they describe a very tough garment.

Water temperature is the first

The label must state whether the product should be washed by hand or machine, and must state a water temperature in terms such as cold, warm or hot. Unless hot water up to 145 degrees F does no harm, in which case no temperature need appear.

Drying temperature is the second

If machine drying is called for the label must state a drying temperature. Unless regular use of a high temperature will not harm the product, in which case the temperature may be left off. Tumble dry on its own means high, medium or low may be used.

Ironing is the third and it has an extra condition

Ironing must be mentioned only if it is needed on a regular basis to preserve the appearance, or if a warning requires it. If it is mentioned, a temperature must be stated, unless a hot iron does no harm.

Bleaching is the fourth and it is written as three branches

If all commercially available bleaches can safely be used on a regular basis, bleaching need not be mentioned. If all of them would harm the product, the label must say no bleach or do not bleach. If chlorine bleach would harm it but non chlorine bleach would not, the label must say only non chlorine bleach, when needed.

That middle branch is the interesting one

It is the only one of the five where the rule prescribes the words. The other silences are permissions; this is a mandate with a script.

Drycleaning solvent is the fifth

A drycleaning instruction must state at least one type of solvent that may be used, unless all commercially available types can be used, in which case no solvent need be named.

And it comes with two forbidden words

The terms drycleanable and commercially dryclean may not be used in an instruction. A rule that names two specific phrases and bans them is rare across this library.

Read the five together and a bare label is a strong claim

Machine wash, tumble dry, with no temperatures, no bleach line and no solvent named asserts that hot water, a high dryer setting, a hot iron, every commercial bleach and every commercial solvent are all safe.

Which is more than most short labels look like they are saying

The brevity reads as the manufacturer having little to say. Under this part the brevity is the manufacturer having said the most permissive thing available.

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
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.