GB/T 8685-2008Textiles - Care labelling code using symbols (English PDF)

Foreword

This document was issued on 18 June 2008 by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China and the Standardization Administration of China, and has applied since 1 March 2009.

It replaces GB/T 8685-1988.

It is a GB/T standard: recommended rather than compulsory, but it is the text a Chinese reviewer, customer or inspection body applies.

1 Scope

This standard establishes a system of symbols, intended for use in the label of textile products, providing information on the most violent care procedures that will not cause any irreversible damage to the product; it specifies the methods of use of these symbols in the care labelling.

This standard includes the domestic care methods, like washing, bleaching, drying and ironing and pressing, and also includes the professional textile care methods, like dry cleaning and wet cleaning, but excluding the industrial laundering. The information imparted by the four kinds of symbols of domestic care methods may also be of assistance to the professional cleaner and launderer.

This standard is applicable to all the textile products in the form in which they are supplied to the end user.

2 Terms and Definitions

For the purposes of this standard, the following terms and definitions apply.

2.1 Textile products: It refers to the products with natural fiber and chemical fiber as principal raw materials, and being spined, weaved, dyed and other processing techniques or then sewed, composed, such as yarns, textiles and their finished products.

2.2 Washing: It refers the process designed to clean textile products in an aqueous bath.

Note: Washing includes all or some of the following operations in relevant combinations:

- Soaking, pre-washing and normal washing (carried out usually with heating, mechanical action and in the presence of detergents or other products) and rinsing.

- Water extraction, i.e. spinning or wringing performed during and/or at the end of the operations mentioned above.

These operations may be carried out by machine or by hand.