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Federal law requires every garment's fiber content to be listed by percentage, in a specific order, with specific rules about what can be left off. Once you know the rules, the label tells you more than it seems to at a glance.
The argumentThe Textile Fiber Products Identification Act requires U.S. garment labels to disclose fiber content by percentage using generic fiber names, but the rule includes a specific carve-out: fibers under 5 percent of the total weight can usually be lumped into "other fiber" instead of named, with wool as a notable exception that must always be disclosed regardless of amount. Reading a label with that threshold in mind changes what a garment's listed percentages actually tell you.
A shirt tag lists "95% cotton, 5% elastane." Is that everything actually in the fabric, or can brands leave things off?
Federal law (the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act) requires fiber content to be listed by percentage using generic fiber names, in descending order by weight.
Fibers under 5 percent of total weight can generally be grouped as "other fiber" instead of named, unless the fiber serves a specific stated function (like elastane for stretch), in which case it must be named even below 5 percent.
Wool is a specific exception to the 5 percent rule: any amount of wool must be disclosed by name and percentage, no matter how small.
A garment's fiber content label looks like a simple ingredient list, but it is governed by a specific federal law, the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act, enforced by the FTC, with rules most shoppers have never read. The law requires fiber content to be listed by percentage of total weight, using standardized generic fiber names, in descending order. What it does not require is disclosure of every fiber present in every case, and the exception written into the rule changes what a percentage on a tag actually tells you.
FTC, Threading Your Way Through the Labeling Requirements Under the Textile and Wool Acts; 16 CFR Part 303.
The functional-purpose exception is the most useful part of the rule for a shopper to know, because it explains why a tag might read "96% cotton, 4% elastane" instead of grouping that 4 percent into "other fiber." A fiber under 5 percent only qualifies for the generic "other fiber" label if it is not serving a named function the manufacturer wants to disclose. Elastane at 4 percent is almost always named specifically because its function, adding stretch, is the entire reason it was added and is relevant to how the garment performs. A synthetic filler fiber at the same 4 percent, added for a less marketable reason, is more likely to disappear into "other fiber" on the label, still fully legal.
This means the absence of a named fiber under 5 percent is not evidence of anything sinister. It is the label following the rule as written. What it does mean is that a label reading "100% cotton" and a label reading "96% cotton, 4% other fiber" could both be accurate for garments with a similar small amount of a non-functional secondary fiber, one just chose to disclose it and the other used the generic grouping the law permits.
Percentages are listed in descending order by weight, so the full list tells you the relative composition, not just the dominant fiber.
A named fiber under 5% (like elastane) is usually there for a specific functional reason worth knowing about.
It is a legal, standard label for fibers under 5% without a stated function, not a disclosure failure.
Wool must be disclosed at any percentage, so its presence (or confirmed absence) on the label is reliable.
Fiber content labels are legally required to list percentages by weight in descending order, using standardized generic fiber names.
Fibers under 5% can be generically labeled "other fiber" unless they serve a stated function (like added stretch), in which case they must be named.
Wool is exempt from the 5% threshold and must always be disclosed by name and percentage, however small the amount.
No. Fiber content (what the garment is made of) is governed by the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act; care instructions (how to wash and dry it) are governed by a separate rule, the FTC's Care Labeling Rule. They often appear on the same tag but are legally distinct requirements.
Country of origin is also a federally required disclosure on most textile products, covered by the same general labeling framework, though the specific rules for what qualifies a product as "Made in USA" versus requiring a foreign-origin disclosure involve additional FTC guidance beyond fiber content alone.
Sources and further reading
FTC's own business-guidance explanation of fiber content disclosure rules, the 5 percent threshold, and the wool exception.
The current binding federal regulation governing textile fiber content labeling.
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