What about those labels with spare buttons sewn on to them?
I often buy a shirt, only to find that half-way down the body inside there's a label the size of a small envelope, and it is weighted down with up to four spare buttons - two for the shirt, and two for the collar if it's a button-down.
Dec 16, 2022·edited Dec 16, 2022Liked by Alistair Dabbs
Another source of physical irritation can come from the stitching or wadding.
If I find a shirt I like, I will wear/wash/wear it until it disintegrates.
However, the nylon thread usually beats me to it as it hardens with time, and becomes very scratchy (often before the shirt looks vagrant-like enough even for me to discard). And since it is used on all the seams, the scratchiness can - and does - appear anywhere there's a seam. And neck, shoulders, and lower back/ribs are most sensitive.
I've never understood how clothing labels came to be made the way they are. Why make a nice soft and comfortable T-shirt out of cotton and sew the equivalent of a razor blade into the neck with plastic thread? It must be some kind of dastardly plot to keep people just on the edge of losing their sanity!
All new garments get to meet either a pair of scissors, or for the worst labels which require every last trace to be removed to stop them itching, a stitch cutter, to ensure that the last traces of the label, plus its plastic thread are totally removed.
I looked at how these labels are made. They are constructed from fine plastic threads which are woven into the material for the label. Because the threads are so fine and the label is so small, there is a risk that the label would disintegrate as the fine threads start to come apart. To stop this happening and imbue the label with its uniquely irritating properties, the labels are cut with a heated blade which fuses the plastic threads together at the cut. This leaves a hard, sharp melted plastic edge with small protrusions from the melted plastic to ensure that the label irritates the skin. Truly the work of an evil, sadist genius!
The label with the washing guidelines is usually the one that's sewn into the side so that it (a) cuts into your lower ribs and (b) cannot easily be pulled out and read while you're still in the shop. I guess point 'b' is to hide the fact you're about to buy a t-shirt that's dry-clean-only, while point 'a' is just to give to give them some amusement.
I've seen underwear which specified washing at 30°C. :o
Straight into the 60°C pile they went! The T-shirt would go in the 40°C pile regardless of what the label said and back to the shop if washing it normally caused it to shrink to toddler size.
Some people round this way have a variety of sensitive garments of non-trivial value, and - not unexpectedly - unveil quite the hard stare if they get washed wrong.
Not sure I ever have done, just bung most stuff in the washing machine and let it get on with it. The machine has about 20 different washing cycles on the dial, it just gets left on daily wash apart from dropping the spin speed to 1200 as on full power it shakes the kitchen floor……
The only exception are waterproof coats when they need reproofing or suits which go for dry cleaning.
I didn't until the day I bought a coat that, it turns out, was never intended to get wet. The label may also have said something about shielding it from light and air too.
Like the classic smoking jacket, luxurious velvet, padded, warm. Only to be worn indoors, after dinner when you retired to the study for an hour or two ...
One retailer that is good in this respect is marks and Spencer as they print the size into the underwear rather than put a separate label into them (which on other brands always seems to be in the middle at the back so it gets stuck where the sun doesn’t shine).
You're looking at it the wrong way guys, I love clothing labels, the more the merrier, it gives me the excuse of going shopping with the wife and being able to say, 'I'm not buying that, look at all the waste', thus being able to walk away, fatter of wallet and ecologically smug to boot.
Anyhu, it has to be deliberate. Surely at some point, the "level of discomfort" vs. "pennies saved" curve has to break, and eventually reaching ever higher levels of rigidity and sharpness has to increase the price of said fabric. Not to mention the research into embedding nano-particles of itching powder.
Bureaucracy in the 'destination countries' for the undies means this proliferation of bullshit product labeling. So the brand importer (in Europe) demands the manufacturer (in 3rd world) adds a label for this and that to comply with latest bonkers regulation detail.
Margins are tight in that sweatshop (and the brand buyer negotiates the extra labels without any extra cost) so they just buy cheaper and cheaper nylon for the labels and the cutter on the printer wears far more quickly and doesn't cut cleanly.
(Sorry, not being funny, just a practical comment. Maybe I'm irritated because of this fsking label in my shirt....)
Well Alistair, you've touched a very sore point this week.
Those labels infuriate me and when I eventually find lenses with sufficient power to read them, I note that they are the modern Rosetta Stone. Equivalent to finding that missing sock in your underwear rather late in the day, a bulge in the wrong place/event, embarrassing as well as irritating. And as for those 'helpful' washing symbols.... don't get me started on their interpretation, which I invariably get wrong, and having been placed in a position of responsibility, I end up with severe earache.
Is the removed and discarded RFI tag, waste or recyclable? It should have a label....
…is a tag tracking your todger? - surely, that’s to find out “Willy, won’t he…”!
They could even make a collection of "Where's Willy" children's books. Or maybe not... erm...
In this case, Wears willy?
What about those labels with spare buttons sewn on to them?
I often buy a shirt, only to find that half-way down the body inside there's a label the size of a small envelope, and it is weighted down with up to four spare buttons - two for the shirt, and two for the collar if it's a button-down.
Forget to cut that out and you know about it.
Another source of physical irritation can come from the stitching or wadding.
If I find a shirt I like, I will wear/wash/wear it until it disintegrates.
However, the nylon thread usually beats me to it as it hardens with time, and becomes very scratchy (often before the shirt looks vagrant-like enough even for me to discard). And since it is used on all the seams, the scratchiness can - and does - appear anywhere there's a seam. And neck, shoulders, and lower back/ribs are most sensitive.
Cutting out clothing labels? That's what Swiss Army scissors were invented for!
(TklTrkr Was that developed in Tkl/Tk ?)
They seem to be getting larger and more numerous....has someone allowed them to reproduce?
I've never understood how clothing labels came to be made the way they are. Why make a nice soft and comfortable T-shirt out of cotton and sew the equivalent of a razor blade into the neck with plastic thread? It must be some kind of dastardly plot to keep people just on the edge of losing their sanity!
All new garments get to meet either a pair of scissors, or for the worst labels which require every last trace to be removed to stop them itching, a stitch cutter, to ensure that the last traces of the label, plus its plastic thread are totally removed.
I looked at how these labels are made. They are constructed from fine plastic threads which are woven into the material for the label. Because the threads are so fine and the label is so small, there is a risk that the label would disintegrate as the fine threads start to come apart. To stop this happening and imbue the label with its uniquely irritating properties, the labels are cut with a heated blade which fuses the plastic threads together at the cut. This leaves a hard, sharp melted plastic edge with small protrusions from the melted plastic to ensure that the label irritates the skin. Truly the work of an evil, sadist genius!
... and I, for one, wouldn't mind so much if the printing on the label was actually large enough to be easily readable when sorting the laundry ...
The label with the washing guidelines is usually the one that's sewn into the side so that it (a) cuts into your lower ribs and (b) cannot easily be pulled out and read while you're still in the shop. I guess point 'b' is to hide the fact you're about to buy a t-shirt that's dry-clean-only, while point 'a' is just to give to give them some amusement.
I've seen underwear which specified washing at 30°C. :o
Straight into the 60°C pile they went! The T-shirt would go in the 40°C pile regardless of what the label said and back to the shop if washing it normally caused it to shrink to toddler size.
I didn't know that people actually bothered reading the washing label...
Some people round this way have a variety of sensitive garments of non-trivial value, and - not unexpectedly - unveil quite the hard stare if they get washed wrong.
Not sure I ever have done, just bung most stuff in the washing machine and let it get on with it. The machine has about 20 different washing cycles on the dial, it just gets left on daily wash apart from dropping the spin speed to 1200 as on full power it shakes the kitchen floor……
The only exception are waterproof coats when they need reproofing or suits which go for dry cleaning.
I didn't until the day I bought a coat that, it turns out, was never intended to get wet. The label may also have said something about shielding it from light and air too.
What is the point of that, if you bought it in the uk / Northern Europe it is inevitable it will get wet.
It is a bit like the adverts for cars I have seen which state “never been in rain” you live in the UK when did it ever get driven?
Like the classic smoking jacket, luxurious velvet, padded, warm. Only to be worn indoors, after dinner when you retired to the study for an hour or two ...
One retailer that is good in this respect is marks and Spencer as they print the size into the underwear rather than put a separate label into them (which on other brands always seems to be in the middle at the back so it gets stuck where the sun doesn’t shine).
You're looking at it the wrong way guys, I love clothing labels, the more the merrier, it gives me the excuse of going shopping with the wife and being able to say, 'I'm not buying that, look at all the waste', thus being able to walk away, fatter of wallet and ecologically smug to boot.
Reminds me of Tcl/Tk.
Anyhu, it has to be deliberate. Surely at some point, the "level of discomfort" vs. "pennies saved" curve has to break, and eventually reaching ever higher levels of rigidity and sharpness has to increase the price of said fabric. Not to mention the research into embedding nano-particles of itching powder.
Bureaucracy in the 'destination countries' for the undies means this proliferation of bullshit product labeling. So the brand importer (in Europe) demands the manufacturer (in 3rd world) adds a label for this and that to comply with latest bonkers regulation detail.
Margins are tight in that sweatshop (and the brand buyer negotiates the extra labels without any extra cost) so they just buy cheaper and cheaper nylon for the labels and the cutter on the printer wears far more quickly and doesn't cut cleanly.
(Sorry, not being funny, just a practical comment. Maybe I'm irritated because of this fsking label in my shirt....)
Well Alistair, you've touched a very sore point this week.
Those labels infuriate me and when I eventually find lenses with sufficient power to read them, I note that they are the modern Rosetta Stone. Equivalent to finding that missing sock in your underwear rather late in the day, a bulge in the wrong place/event, embarrassing as well as irritating. And as for those 'helpful' washing symbols.... don't get me started on their interpretation, which I invariably get wrong, and having been placed in a position of responsibility, I end up with severe earache.
Is the removed and discarded RFI tag, waste or recyclable? It should have a label....
I like the idea of labelling labels. That'll teach 'em.