l

San Fernando Valley Stat e College

TWO ASPECTS OF STUDENT NEED II

FOR

TEXTILE PHODUCT INFORMATION

A the si s submi t t ed i n par t i a l s a t i s £a c ti o n o f the

req ui reme nt s fo r th'e degre e o f M a! s te r of Sci e nc e i n : " !

tf} Ho me E c onomi c s

by

Dorothy c. Blackman

J anua ry , 1 972

I

The the si s o f Do ro thy c. Blackman i s app roved :

San Fe rnando Val l ey S t a t e C o l l e g e

January , 1 971

ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I should l ik e t o e xpr e s s my gra t i tude

to Dr . Mar jo ry L . Jo s eph, Mrs . Be t ty J. Bai l ey ,

and Dr . Ri chard F . Campbell £or the i r a s s i s tanc e

and c ri t i c i sm during t he preparat i on o£ thi s

s tudy .

A spe c i al no te o £ appre c i a t i on go es t o

Mr s . Loui s e sut t on £o r he r encouragement and

co oper a t i on i n pre- t e s t i ng que s t i onnai re s .

iii

TABLE OF C ONTENTS

'

• ACKNOWLE DG MENTS

LI ST OF TABLE S

ABS TRACT

CHAP1'ER

I . INTR O DUCTION

S t a t em en t o f the Probl em

Purpo s e o f the study

Impo r t an c e o f the Study

Nature o f the S tudy

As sump t io n s

Limit a t ions

II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Theo ry o f C ogn it iv e Di s sonanc e

Leg al Lab el ing Requiremen t s

Regul a t io n s and Congres s ional A ct s

Prema ture Mark et ing Inno vat io n s , ..

Incompat ib le Comb inat io n s

Educa t ing the Con sumer

Lab el ing

Indu s t ry , Government Commun ic at ion with the co nsu mer

w'hen , r.-l�ercl, How Co nsumer Can Learn Home Economis t s � Ro l e in Con sumer Affa ir s

Con sumer Educ a t i on - Life- Span C on c ep t

II I. METHODS O F INVE STIGATI ON

The Sampl e

The Ques t ionna ir es

I V. ANALYS I S OF DATA AN D INTERPRETATION OF FIN DINGS

iv

Page

ii i

vi

vii

1 1 2 J 4 4 5

6 6

11 l l

14 15 16 17

25 JO

Jl

J6

J9 39 J9

44

TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)

CHAPTER

Ques tionnaire #l Que�tionnaire #2 Questionnaire #3

V. SUMMARY , CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE STUDY summary Conclusions Recommendat ion s BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDICES

A. Questionnaire #l B. Questio nnaire #2 c. Que s tionnaire #3

ADDENDUM

V .

4 4 74 75

79 79 81 82 84

91 96

103 l05

LIST OF TABLES

Tab l e

I. Demo graphi c Make - Up o f' Sampl e Popul a t ion

II. Edu ca t ional Leve l and Ba ckground of Samp le Pop ulation

III. Summary o f' Re spon se s: "Do you read manuf'a cturers' l abe l s o n bo l t s o f' f'abri c? "

IV . summary o f' Re spo n se s : "Do you r e ad manu f'a ctur e r s ' l ab e l s o n garmen t s y ou buy ? "

V. Re co gn it ion o f' Te xt il e Pro duct Lab e l ing Terms

V I . Kno wl edge o f' Governmen t Te xti l e Lab e l i ng

Page

47

5 1

53

60

Requi r emen t s 6J

VII. Re co gni t ion o f' Con sume r In t ere st Age n ci e s 66

V III. In t ro �u ct i on o f' Con ce p t s Re l a t e d t o Con sume r Educa t io n i n Te xt i l e s and Clo thing 77

vi

ABS TRACT

TWO ASPECTS OF STUDENT NEED

FOR

TEX TI LE PRODUCT INFORMATI ON

by

Doro t hy c. Bl ackman

Ma s t e r o f S ci en ce in Home Economi cs

Jan uary , 1 972

Co l l eg e s t ud en t s in an intro d ucto ry t ex t i l e s cl a s s

proved t o b e uni n fo rmed in impo r tan t a spe ct s o f the

t e x t i l e - cl o thing mark e t pl a ce . Thi s wa s shown in an

e x pl o ra t o ry q ue s t i onnai re .

A s e co nd que s t i o nnai r e , d e s igned a s a s t uden t fi e ld

s t udy , int ro d uce d the s ampl e po pul a t i on to s uch are a s

o f con s umer i n t e re s t a s lab e l ing an d l e gi s l a t i on , car e

in s t r uct i on s provided by man ufact urers , and wo rd s and

phra s e s on l ab e l s r e l a t e d t o fibe rs , yarn pro ce s s e s ,

fabri c con s t ruct i on , fini sh and co l o r .

A ft e r t h e sampl e po pul a t i on d evo te d three months

t o a s t udy of the s e and o th e r t o pi cs of con s um e r i n t e re s t

i n t e xt i l e s and clo thing , a thi rd and final o pini on q ue s-

t i o nn ai r e wa s s ubmi t t e d . It wa s revea l e d that the s e s ame

s t ud en t s wo uld e n co ura ge the s t udy o f con s umer affairs

beginning wi th the e arly s cho o l years and cont i n uing

thro ugh al l grade s .

vi i

This s tudy e xp lo re s some o f the pro b lems face d by

con sume r s i n the t e xt ile- clo thing mark e tpla ce . It

summari z e s s everal s o lu t i o n s be ing o ffered by governmen t

and indu s t ry , and sugge s t s that the pro fe s si onal home

e conomi s t might s e rve a vi t a l ro le as cat a lyt i c info rma­

t ion agen t between the con sQmer and eovernment and

indus t ry .

viii

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

In a message to the House of Representatives on

February 25, 1971, President Nixon stated officially

what most people already knew - that the consumer 11often

finds himself confronted with what seems an impenetrable

complexity of many of our consumer goods.11 (53:1)

Faced with a multitude of options, the American

consumer is subject to a state of psychological tension

which sometimes leads him to make decisions based on

almost anything but the facts. After a purchase, the

consumer questions his judgment because he knows his

decision was reached through odd, sometimes conflicting

bits of information gleaned from such sources as hearsay,

newspapers, magazines and advertising.

The textile and clothing marketplace epitomizes the

setting for haphazard choice because the average consumer

knows very little about modern textiles.

This disoriented state has been recognized by

governmental and non-governmental agencies concerned with

consumer affairs, by textile-clothing manufacturers, by

organizations charged with setting produc� standards and

by educators.

Each segment has in recent years accelerated efforts

to educat.e the consumer so that as he becomes more

knowledgeable he will also become more capable of making

2

calm and wise selections of textiles and clothing.

Purpose of the Study

One objective of the present study was to determine

how much the average college-level consumer knows from

experience, from reading manufacturers• labels, and f�om

consumer education classes, about words and phrases

applied to textiles and clothing. Previous studies

have shown that consumers in other segments of the

population tend to be largely ignorant in this respect.

(61, 6 2 )

The population for the present study was the entire

membership of two general education classes in intro­

ductory textiles where consumer educs.tion is an integral

part of the curriculum. Because of the investigator's

previous experience with students in similar classes, and

due to the results of the studies mentioned above, as

well as indics.tions in other avail9:ble literature, e.n

investigation only into the degree of student-consumer

knowledge seemed re�etitive. Therefore, after the sample

population devoted three months to a study of topics of

consumer interest in textiles and clothing, a secondary

objective was explored, using the same subjects.

This objective was to determine - from what were nm'T

assumed to be more knowledgeable consumers - where

selected topics related to clothing and textiles should

be placed in an overall curriculum (all grades - K through

3

college ) .

Importance of the Study

The latter part of the study is perhaps the most

important. Recent literature shows accelerated interest

in revamp�ng school curriculum at all levels to include

those topics that ;�ould help consumers become more

informed and more effective buyers and users of goods

and services. ( 3, 1 3, 26 )

In the present study, discussions of what to teach

at which levels will be limited to various aspects of

textiles and clothing. However, it is recognized that,

in fact, consumer problems related to textiles and

clothing should not be isolated in a separate class from

the total consumer education picture on any but the

college level. Within the general discipline of home

economics, the "impenetrable complexityn in the market­

place referred to by President Nixon could also be

reflected in a study of problems faced by the consumer

in foods, home furnishings, home management, or any

other unit of a total home econohlics program.

There is no implication here that a student could

become a completely knowledgeable consumer through a

shift in emphasis in home economics programs alone.

However, Part F, a 196 8 amendment to the Vocational Act

of 196 3, clearly identifies consumer education as one

aspect of home economics. ( 37 )

4

Nature of the study

Finding ways and means to answer this basic need for

educating consumers of all ages seems urgent. • Literature

concerning consumer behavior in gener-81 is voluminous.

However, writings concerned specifically with the textile­

clothing aspect of consumer education through home econo­

mics is sporadic. Therefore, this study is exploratory in

nature.

No formal hypothesis is suggested. Data gathered and

reported in the following pages reflect the current dil�a

faced by consumers and note corrective trends� Such trends

include a new attitude of urgency to educate consumers of

all ages in a 11life-span11 program of consumer education

( 36 : 13); more effective communication between manufacturer

and consumer; and the vital role the professional home eccn­

omist can play in the chain of communication between gov­

ernment, business, industry and the ultimate consumer.

Assumptions

This study assumes that:

1. The sample population is typical of metropolitan

students throughout the United States who commute

to college.

2. The average college student is an uninformed

consumer of textiles end clothing.

3. He is unacquainted with properties or expected

performance of the vast array of textiles and

clothing he buys, and when dissatisfied, does not

5

arti culat e hi s di ssati sfaction . Or, that in our

la rgely affluent society he may prefer to di scard

a faulty it em rathe r than return it to the store

or writ e to the manufacture r .

4 . T�e ave rag e college -level consume r i s unawa re of

legislation designed to prote ct his interests as

a consume r of t extile s .

5 . He doe s not know of local, state and federal or

non-governmental agencie s to which he might

regi st e r a legitimate complaint .

6 . A s with othe r consume rs, the average college­

l evel consumer is unaware of industry effort s to

educate the consume r, and of the fact that many

reliable companie s with quality cont rol prog rams

wel come returns for t e sting .

Limitations

1 . The study i s a survey of consume r opinion but the ffil!l­

ple i s limited to a c ro s s- section of college-level

consumer s only .

2. Whe re a few stati st ical me thods are used, a s in the

pre sent study , an opinion - or situation - survey is

liAble to subje ctive int e rpretation by the inve stigator.

3 . The sample, though repre sentative of the total col lege

popula t ion at San Fernando Valley Stat e College , W8S

limit e d in size and re stricted to student s at one

college only .

CHAPTER I I

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

In a b o oklet prepared and published by Celanese

F ib e rs Market ing C o., the quest i on is p osed : "How much

does the c on suJner n eed t o know ab out the modern t ext ile

st ory? " (45 : 4 )

The answ e r g iven is that " Consumers need t o know

enough about modern t ext iles t o b e able t o shop wis ely

and t o judge new developments as they o c cur . " (45 : 5 )

Troelst rup impli es that c onsumers seldom know

" enough"; h e c ont ends t hat " consumers have fallen

hop el essly b ehind in the i r understanding of modern

t ext il es " ( 14:275 ) and agrees w ith B ishop and Hubbard's

asse rt i on that even a t ra ined t e chni c ian must st ruggle

t o d e c ide the relat ive merits of an array of similar

products . ( 2 : 111 )

Le on F est inger ( 5 ) and James McN eal ( 11) des crib e

this state of c onsume r b ew ilde rment as " cognit ive

d issonance. " Thts the ory is expl ored bri efly be cause it

helps place the s ituat i on in p e rspect ive f o r the reader.

In the f ollow ing d is cussion, elements of t he theory are

unde rl ined.

The ory of C ognit ive Dissonanc e ( 11: 119-124)

1. A p e rs on perc e iving incons ist ent b its of informat i on

about himself and his env ironment v-1111 exn eri ence

6

7

p sy chol ogi cal t en s i on, called " c ognit ive di s s onan ce. "

Illust rati on : A c on sume r may have hea rd that nyl on

i s an easy-care man-made fibe r, but she may n ot b e

fully aware that nyl on i s a g en eric name and

d epending on who makes it and perhaps b e cause of

specific proce ss ing, it is al s o called Cantrece,

Ant ron, Chemst rand, DuPont, Enka, or a numb e r of

other names . C onfront ed with tw o or thre e similar

garment s, made of the same f ib e r, two or thre e

d iffe rent p ri c e s, tw o o r thre e s e emingly diffe rent

care lab e l s and two or three different t rade name s or

fab ri c manufacture rs, a choice may b e d ifficult and

frustrat ing, re sult ing in " cogn itive d i s s onance. "

2 . Having exp e ri en ced psychologi cal t en s ion or di s s onance,

the individual will react in such a way a s t o remove

or reduce the t en si on .

C ont inuing w ith the illust rat i on ab ove, the c on sumer

may t ry t o det e rmin e the b e st value by pri c e, or by

h e r a s so ciat i on of "nylon " w ith " ea sy care . " If her

kn owledge of garment c on s t ruct i on i s limited and she

als o ign ore s lab e l s whi ch might offe r e xplicit care

d i re ct i on s, or even a manufa cture r ' s guarant e e of

p e rf ormanc e, he r ult imat e deci s i on may b e bas ed on

the fact that she likes the color.

3 . The amount of di s s onan c e expe rien ced by an individual

from in c on si st ent c ognition s i s a funct i on o f the

8

importance of the c ognition .

The c onsume r who made the purchas e may have a limited.

budget . It i s imp ortant that she get the b e st

value for her money, but b e caus e her deci si on was

based mostly up on subject ive preference, she i s

unsure, even a s she leav e s the st ore, whethe r her

choi c e was b e st . She must now re s olve or b ring

harmony t o a new stat e o f c ognit ive di s s onance .

4 . C ognitive d i s s onance (t ension) can be reduced or

eliminat ed by b ringing harmony t o the di s s onant

inf ormati on, reducing the importance of the c ogniti on ,

o r by s ome b ehavior that rem oves the di s sonant

informati on .

Thi s c onsumer b e c ome s curi ous, goe s t o the l ib rary

and reads about nylon . She finds that the basic

f ib e r, nylon, can b e manipulat ed chemi cally t o

produce c e rtain propert i e s but her reading also

t ells h e r that she can exp e ct such propert i e s a s

st rength and ea s e o f care from any nylon, and that

if f in i shed prop erly, she can probably expe ct lit tl e

or no shrinkage . M oreover, when she finally doe s

read the care d i re ct i ons, the pe rf ormanc e i s a s she

had hop ed b e fore b e ing thrown int o a stat e of

" cognitive dis s onance " by having t o choose among

s imilar garment s by d iffe rent manufacture rs . The

t rip t o the l ib rary helped re st ore "ha rm ony t o the

9

dissonant information, reducing the importance of the

cognitions11 and the "dissonant information" was

washed dm .. rn the drain 11hcn the garment performed

according to the consumer's expectations.

on the other hand, her peace of mind may still have

its foundation in limited consumer knowledge. Suppose

after following directions carefully the garment did

not seem to shrink, but it did pucker at the seams and

seemed to hang askew. Would she consider that perhaps

the garment had been cut off grain, or that the wrong

kind of thread could have been used - that this

appearance after laundering was the manufacturer's fault?

Would she return the item to the store, or would she

solve this new bewildering consumer dilemma by chalking

the episode up to experience or placing the blame upon

herself, i.e., " I probably did something wrong when I

laundered it."

The literature examined shows that most dissatisfied

consumers do not complain. ( 29 : 2 3) steiniger and

Dardis ( 33 : 33) reveal that less than one-fourth of the

consumers in their study of textile complaints

registered complaints with the retailer or manufacturer

when the product proved unsatisfactory. While many of

their subjects indicated that it was too much trouble,

several did not expect the store to give satisfaction,

some said the item was inexpensive, or that they didn't

-��' i:;k_ Th --�C'� • .4:k; ,tcxL'I A'} •

expect it to last too long.

What are the reasons for this consumer state of

indecision and apathy?

10

Some may have been discouraged b y past experiences

with retail clerks, for Steiniger and Dardis also

report that even in the case of those consumers that did

complain, "ratings of store actions ranged from fair to

very poor for the majority of the complaints." ( 3 3 : 36)

Moreover, they and Peach ( 29 : 25 ) showed, and Fred

Fortress of Celanese ( 21 : 111 ) agreed, that only a small

percent of customer complaints that come to the retailer's

attention are relayed to the factory. These authors -

independent researchers and industry representative alike

- conclude that if industry is to respond to consumer

needs and preferences, not only must consumers be

educated to their responsibility to make their wants

known more effectively, but that retailers also need

to be educated in the importance of recognizing

legitimate complaints and of referring as many as

possible to the manuf�::tcturers.

Manufacturers may not always receive customer

returns graciously because they represent allowance

expenses and, therefore, part of the profit. ( 29 : 2 3 )

On the other hand, several fiber and fabric manufacturers,

as well as some of the larger retail outlets have

extensive quality control programs. E. J. Stravrakas,

di re ctor of J. C . Penney' s Me rchandi s e Te sting Cente r,

sugge st s that it would al so b e profitable for smalle r

"women ' s manufa cture rsn to encourage returns and have

a 11 small te st facility of thei r own, " whi ch might h elp

them improve the quality of their goods, which in turn,

would b e com· e more acceptable to the consume r. ( 34 : 38}

L egal Labeling Requi rements

Another reason, both for the consumer' s apatheti c

attitude and for the "psychologi cal t ension " with which

he wre stl e s, may b e ignorance of l egal lab eling

requirements.

11

T ro elstrup, Bi shop and Hubba rd, Wilhelm and H eime rl,

agree that to b e well-info rmed and to b e in a position

11to judge new d evelopments as they occur , " consumers

should know, among othe r thing s, gen eral provisions

of existing l egi slation de signed to cla ssify the

p rolife ration of product s on the market or to prote ct

them f rom fraud and de ception. ( 14 , 2 , 15} The

following summary is included here b e cause the regula­

tions and Congre s sional Acts listed, all administered by

the Federal T rade Commi s sion (FT C), constitute an

important part of "how much the consumer needs to know

about the mod e rn textile sto ry. "

Regulations and Cong re s sional A cts

19 37 - FTC required the lab eling of all rayon

product s . (At that time a c etate wa s still

12

cla s s i f i ed a s rayon ) .

1938 - FTC e stabli shed rules for the s ilk indust ry .

1938 - Enactment o f the Wheeler-Lea Act di rected

against fals e and mi sleading advert i s ing .

19 39 - The Wool Product s Labeling Act was pas sed

and b ecame effect ive in 1941.

1941 - FTC rule s on linen b egan, and requi red that

when other f ib ers were mixed with linen the

p e rcentage of each f iber be stat ed .

1951 - The Fur Product s Labeling Act wa s passed ,

requi ring such informat i on as the Engli sh

name of the animal from whi ch the fur came,

u s e of s c rap fur, and country of origin

of the fur .

195 3 - The Flammable Fab ri c s Act was enact ed and

forbade sale in int e rstat e commerce of

dange rously flammable t ext iles for wearing

apparel; amended in 196 7 to include household

product s a s well as apparel ; gave the

Department of Commerce authority t o set

standards of flammab ility whenever it f inds

that standards are needed .

1958 - The Text ile Fib e r Product s Ident i f i cat i on

Act was pas s ed and be came effe ct ive in 1960 .

It covers all fibers not covered by the Wool

Act . As amended through 1970, it stat e s that:

1.3

Eve ry t ext ile-fib e r product must be labeled a c cording t o it s fib e r c ont ent when it is in the f ini shed form ready for the c onsumer. Start ing vJith the actual manufacture of the f ib er , the fact3 about fiber content must be included in every proce s sing stage .

Fibers must b e named a c cording t o g eneri c name - natural or man-made - and li sted in order of predominance with the percentage of f ib e r by we ight g iven . (Thi s excludes fi­b e r c ont ent of les s than 5%. unles s it has funct i onal signi ficance a s in the cas e with spandex ) .

S ixt e en gene ric names were e stab l i shed t o c over all man-made f ib e rs t o dat e (1959-6 0 ) . The s e name s must b e used in labeling . Provi s i on was made for addit i onal generic names as new fibers were developed . In a ccordance with thi s prov i s ion , the Amendment of 1970 added one new fib e r named anidex.

Labels should be permanent enough to stay on the product unt il it reaches the consumer . They must be atta.ched conspi cuously and b e readable by a prospect ive purchaser.

Fib e r cont ent of linings and int e rlinings must b e given separat ely , a repeat of a regulat i on from the Wool Product s Act .

Imp ort ed t ext ile product s must g ive the name of the c ount ry where manufactured or pro­c e s sed . (45 , 8 , 2 0)

A glance at this summary show·s that except for the

Flammable Fab rics Act, regulations until 1958 covered

lab e l ing of product s made from one k ind of fib e r -

rayon, s ilk, l inen, a cetat e o r furs . The Text ile Fiber

Product s Identifi cat i on Act was des igned t o enforce

corre ct labeling of all t ext ile fib er products .

When the law went int o eff e ct in 1960 , there were

over 7 0 0 t radenames for manufactured fib e rs . (45:.35 )

14

These 700 were reduced by chemical classif i cat i on t o 16

g eneri c t erms . Blum and McLean (42:5 ) point out that

11u..YJ.derstanding the performance and care of the genertc

class i f i cat i ons can b e helpful t o the consume r when

s ele ct ing and using d i fferent t rade marked products. "

Therefore , this bas i c knowledge should probably be a

beginning st ep in consumer educat i on related t o t ext iles

and clothing .

It should b e not ed, though , that since the law \<rent

int o effect , not only have several hundred t rade names

denot ing brands of generi c g roupings (i . e . , CelaneseR

acetat e ) been int roduced by manufacturers, but t rade

names have been creat ed t o designat e yarn t exturing

processes (i . e . , Ant ronR ) ; third or even f ourth

generat i on fib e r types (i . e . , NomexR nylon); and fab ri c

f inishes { i. e . , DanprestR ) ; all of whi ch has rest ored

some of the c onfus i on cleared up by TFPIA. ( 9 : 79-88 )

Premature Market ing of Innovat i ons

Another fact o r cont ribut ing t o what Louis F. Laun

of C elanese calls a "left out , ali enat e d , helpless

feeling " (25 : 2 ) - or c ognit ive dissonance - may be

premature market ing of innovat ions of t extfles .

According t o T roelst rup , prematurity oft en involves

exagge rat ed claims . To illustrat e , he offe rs the classic

example of wash-and-wear several yea rs ago . {14 : 277 )

A more re cent example would b e b onded fa.bri cs , care

15

of whi ch s omet ime s confounds consumers and dry cleaners

al ike .

Inc ompat ible Comb inat ions

St ill another i s the s omet imes calamit ous

c ombinat i on of two or more incompat ible fabri c s in

one garment . For example, Jan Nugent report s that an

FTC off i ce rec e ived from a home economics t eacher a

pi cture of "a shriveled, unwearable garment with a tag

reading , 1100.% poly e st er. 1 11 The t ea cher att ribut ed the

c ond it i on of the garment, a ft er only one laundering , t o

11a. cheap lining made of unshrunken [Sic] fabri c . "

( 27 : 10 ) A student .in the sample populat i on for thi s

study related in cla s s di s cus s i on that in her examinat ion

of ready-made garment s she found a 100% wool dre s s with

the c oller and pocket s in v inyl t rim, whi ch would

probably be adversely affected by dry clea.ning fluids .

The se a re i s olat ed example s, but they are not

unusual . Dan i el Chaucer, head of Macy1s Bureau of

Standards, agrees the.t " one of the great e st problems

t oday i s 11the t oo rapid int rus i on of innovat i ons before

the market has a. chance t o t ry them and perfect them. "

( 34 : 38 )

Betty Furne s s adds support when she says:

Many a woma.n has d i scovered that the phrase "Never needs i roning" could use the paren­thet i cal warning: " If you don ' t mind looking a lit t l e wrinkled . 11 .And many a harried housewife has had cause to wonde r whether

"permanent p re s s " appl ied t o the plea t s put in by the manufacturer o r t he wrinkle s she herself acqui red lat e r . (22 : 46 )

16

An art i cle in Consum.er Bulletin sums up the general

s ituat i on with the s e words:

In the t ext i l e world , new f ibers , engineered fabri c s , modern t e chnique s of sewing seams , affixing butt ons and zippers , b onding di s s imila .r fab ri c s t ogether to eliminate linings , plus a host of other development s , have made shopping for clothing a cont inual adventure . Carefully devel oped standards of performance have oft en been outdat ed , almost by the t ime they are publi shed , by the st eady stream of innovat i ons f rom the t ext ile indust ry . (40:15 )

Educat ing the Consumer

Thi s , then , i s an ove rview of the s it uat i on . No

att empt has b een made to analyz e all the problems

facing t oday's consumer of t ext iles but the foregoing

should prov ide a typ i cal p icture of hi s pl ight a s \'lell

a s ample support for a growing need for.a new , more

effect ive approach t o educat ing the consumer •

. It has been suggested that educat i on of the

c onsumer in such related c oncept s as fib e r , yarn and

fabri c charact e ri st i cs , indust ry guarant e e and quality

c ont rol programs , care procedure s , standards of

performance , and c onsume r right s and re sponsib il it i e s ,

might have a three-pronged approach:

1 . Uniform label ing language l<Tith easy-t o­

unde rstand word meanings . ( 14 , 26, 20 )

. 2 . More effect ive government and indust ry

communi cat i on with the consumer t o

p rovide ob j e ctive informat ion about

p roduct s . ( 18 , 22 , 26 , 28 )

17

3. A l ife- span approa ch t o c.onsu.me r educat ion

in g e ne ral with prof e s sional home e co nomist s

having an a ct ive and aggre s sive rol e .

( 13 , 24 , 37 )

lebe l ing

As indicat ed , the most readily availabl e ave nue

t ext il e and c l othing ma nufacturers have to inst ruct

c onsume rs ab out their p roduct s is label ing . Howeve r ,

t o dat e , lab e l ing , except for ba s ic FTC requirement s ,

is apt t o be incons ist ent in word ing and degree of

helpful inf o rmat ion prov ided . ( 14 : 275 , 26 : 2 ) As

not ed on page 12 , lab e l s must now dis cl ose the product ' s

f ib e r cont ent , but cleaning inst ruct io ns a re not

required . Though ma ny lab e l s att a ched to ready-made

garme nt s prov ide all the informat ion ne eded by the

consumer for proper care , s ome a re ·mo re promot ional

t ha n ins t ruct ive , i. e . , " Pe rmane nt Pre s s , \'lrinkl e Free"

a nd are , t he refore, of l it t l e help to the cons umer;

s ome are amb iguous , 1. e . , "Fine ca re means l o nge r wea r . "

Care lab e l ing has been dis cus s ed in the t extil e

busine s s f o r 30 y ears . ( 27 : 10 ) In 1966 an Indus try

Advis ory Commit t ee on T ext il e Informat ion wa s c reat ed

and e.t the invitat ion of Pre s ident Johnson , the

Pre s ident 's Spe c ial As s istant for Consumer A ffairs

18

s e rved a s coordinat o r for a broad c ro s s- s e ct ion of

f ib e r , t ext il e and apparel and reta il repre s entat ives .

The membe r organizations of 'the Indust ry Adv is o ry

C ommit t ee " expl ored means of c ommunicat ing t o the

c onsume r of t ext il e p roduct s informat ion which may help

the cons�er launder or c lean t he product s in way s

which will p re s e rve their quality , or which may help

c onsume rs avo id proces s e s which would harm the

product s . " (41 )

A " Vol untary Indust ry Guide f or Improved and

Permanent Care Labe l ing of Con s umer Text il e Product s "

was prepared a s a re sult o f this study and wa s

sub s equently published and dist ribut ed by the Ame rican

Appa rel Manufacture rs A s s o c iat ion (AAMA). T e rms

used were sele ct ed "as those which a re most readily

unde rst ood by consumers t o designat e v irtually any

. pos s ible comb inat ion of care req uirement s . 11 ( 41)

In addit ion t o this guide f o r use by apparel

manufa cturers and retail e rs , the Consume r Affairs

C ommit t e e of the A...�MA creat ed a " Consumer Care Guide

f o r Appare l, " based on the la rg e r guide ' s gl o ssary of

care t erms , f o r use by c onsume rs in the ir home s . A

c opy of this s impl if ied guide may be s e en in Appendix

B , p . 97 of the pres ent study .

P. J. Fynn, a repre s entat ive o f J. c. Penney Co . ,

and other indust ry repre sentat ives agre e that " c onsume r

sat is fact ion l'Tit h t ext il e product performance cannot

help but be improved by bet t e r ca re ins t ruct ion s that

remain le gibl e and attached to the product for its

useful l if e . " ( 2 3:27 ) F red F o rt re s s of Celane s e wa s

quot ed a s say ing, " Some of the large s t retail

o rgB.nlzat ions in t he c o unt ry incl uding Sears Roebuck,

19

J . c. Penney , and Macy ' s , are well down the road on a

voluntary approa ch t o labeling, and most ma j or retail e rs

are on a s imilar t ra ck ." ( 25 , 41 )

Hm1eve r , in the Oct ober , 1970, is sue of t1cCall ' s

magaz ine , Betty Furne s s report s that though Hont gome ry

Wards is al s o one of the large organizat ions that has

unde rtaken a c omplet e labeling program , a repre sentat ive

of that c ompany has sa id , " In our cost-compet it ive

e c onomy , it seems unl ikely that pe rmanent care lab e l in g

shall eve r become wide spread unle s s required by the

gove rnment . " ( 22 : 118 )

Accordin g t o Jan Nugent of the Wa shingt on Po st ,

report s of the Voluntary Guide ' s effect ivene s s vary .

She f ound t hat gove rnment s ources say it has b e en

large ly ine ff e ct ive , but that indus t ry spok e smen

disagree . Ell is Meredit h, execut ive vice p re �ident of

the AAMA, believe s indust ry re sponse has b e en 11ve ry good , "

but c ould not report how many of AA.liJA' s memb e rs were

a c tively us in g it . (27 : 10 ) No other report s were found

in the l it erature de s crib ing the volunt e e r permane nt

label ing program ' s relat ive eff e ct ivene s s .

C onsume r Report s , in voic ing an obj e ct ion t o

v oluntary lab e l ing program s , doe s say that though

indus t ry groups have draft e d a numbe r of promis ing

s cheme s in recent years , the manufa cturers of t ext ile

goods by and large have not compl ie d . (35 : 66 ) The

2 0

art icl e provided no stat i st ic s or refe rences to support

the ir c ont ent ion .

A c ont rov e r s ial feature of t he v oluntary "Guide "

is that the g lo s sa ry of t erms sugge sted is de s ignat ed

for " except ion labeling . " This means permanent ly

attached lab e l ing only for thos e t ext ile product s that

p o s s e s s certain "unusual or except ional qualit ie s which

require spe c ial care informat ion , " i. e . , 11 if an it em

c onta ins new and unique fibers , dye s , or f inishe s , or if

a c c e s sorie s and t rim are such that they require spe c ia l

care . " (25 : 40 )

C on sumers Union ( publ ishers of Consume r Re port s )

in l ine with cur:rent FTC _ t hink ing , ob j ect s t o " except ion "

labe ling becl"luse they contend t hat "the e.bsence of a

label c ould thus mea n that the it em.should be washed

normally - wha t ev e r that means (!heir word;) - or that

the manufa cturer d id not choose t o follo�r the guide . 11

T he refore , in the ab s ence of standardiz ed care label s ,

which Consumers Union bel iev e s must c ome th rough legal

c ompul s ion , the housewi fe c ont inue s " t o play Rus s ian

21

roule t te wit h the l if e of ea ch t ext il e pos s e s s ion as the

stake s . " ( 35 : 66 )

The Ame rican Retail Federat ion (ARF) ag re e s with

the FTC and C onsume rs Union that care label ing sho�ld

eve ntually be based up on standa rdized def init ions and

t e rminol ogy t o " maximize consumer accepta nc e . " (31 : 34 ) .

Howeve r , they support except ion label ing.

Exampl e s sugge sted by the ARF a s cat egorie s of

products whe re the c onsume r is famil ia r with appropriat e

care t e chnique s a nd 11 t o wh ich no c onfus ion or de cept ion

can b e expe c t ed t o re sult " include cot t on it ems ,

wool e ns, nyl on product s . Cat egorie s of product s "a s t o

wh ich no spe c ial ca re procedure s are nec e s sary " are

l is t e d a s childre n' s und e rwear and sleepwear , me n1s

a nd b oy s • t ee shirt s a nd und e rwear , d ish t owe l s , and d ish

c l oths , plus popular priced me n's sh irt s and bed l ine ns .

Als o l isted a re nume rous cat egorie s of text il e

product s " a s t o which no care ins t ruct ions a re ne c e s sary

b e caus e such product s are not normally ca red for" ;

shoelace s , typewrit e r ribb ons , t e nnis ball s , p illows

a nd matt re s se s .

The ARF c ont e nd s that

T o require care label ing on the a bove ­me nt ioned a nd s imilar product s would not only be unre Alist ic , superfluous , impract ica l a nd expe ns ive , but al s o would b e in de rogat ion of the Commis s ion' s (FTC ) authority , s ince there is no decept ion of the c onsumer ·warra nt ing clarif icat ion by aff irmat ive disclosure s on ca re lab el s .

22

The ARF als o oppose s the idea of permanent ly

attached ca re l ab e l ing be ing required f or such t ext ile

product s as p ie c e g ood s , st ocking s , men's hos e , l ing e�ie,

and s e e-through , and " other garment s of high fashion . 11

( 31:35 )

The uninf ormed c onsume r is caught in the middle of

the c ont roversy surrounding voluntary or compul s ory care

lab e l ing of t ext il e s . The lat e st Federal T rade

C ommis s ion proposal , which b rought new v ig or of d is cus s ion

t o b oth the pros and c ons , ha s b e en f or a t rade regul Pt ion

rul e whe reby "all t ext il e product s sha ll have a p e rmanent

lab e l t elling c on sume r s how t o wash , clea n , or gene rally

care f or the product . " Publ ic hearing s have been held on

the FI'C "Not ice of Rul e Mak ing Proceeding on the Ca re

and I.a.b eling of T e xt ile Product s , " but , t o dat e , this

is not an off ic ia l t rade regulat ion rul e . ( 18:2 )

Care inst ruct ions a re not the only pot ent ial

me s sage s of value on label s attached to t ext il e

merchandise . The re may , f or instance , be a gua rant e e

writ t en on t he label , which t h e consumer would do well

t o read and hee d . ( 21 : 50 ) An example of such a

guarant e e is the Mon sant o Wear- Dat ed prog ram , inaugurat ed

in 1962 , which guarant e e s a full year' s normal wea r or

t he it em wil l be replaced or it s cost refunded - provided

the Wear-Dated tag is returned with t he it em and the

sale s s l ip . This program has now been ext ended t o

2 3

p ie c e goods f or home s ewers which are a c c ompanied by

c oupon post cards t o b e returned t o the c ompany at the

t ime of purchase, a stub b e ing retained by the c onsumer.

( 28 : 34 )

In an int erview by Sandy Parker with Herb e rt

Rab inowit z , Monsant o 's dire ct o r of apparel me rchandis ing

and advert is ing , Rab inowit z sa id that the p ie c e g ood s

c oupons were c oming in at about 2 0 , 000 a month but

d e c l ined t o g ive any e st imat e of percentage of a ct ual

returns of me rchandis e . He d id say that the highe st rat e

of return s is in Germany whe re "they ree.lly read the

tag . " ( 28 : 34 ) Th is s eems t o imply that there are fewe r

returns in the Unite d Stat e s whe re consumers do not

a lways read the tags carefully and , therefore , do not

t ake advantage of an offer in their favor.

The fact that the Monsant o guarant e e prog ram has

b e en s ingled out d o e s not mean it is the only such

p rogram in the indust ry . Virtual ly every ma j or f ib e r

c ompany ha s a qualit y cont rol p rogram whe reby they work

wit h fabric manufa cture rs under l icens ing arrangements

ba sed upon fabric t e s t ing bef ore the f ib e r t radema rk

g o e s ont o the fabric or garment . Celane s e ha s gone

so far a s t o is sue 11A B ill of Right s for the Consumer . "

The "Bill " p rovides for {a) the right t o fashi on plus

p e rf o rmanc e (b) the right t o b el ieve what a lab el or

hangtag say s ( c ) t he right t o product informat ion ( d )

the r ight to sat isfact ion and c onfidence . ( 28 : 34 ) .

Monsanto , and other c ompanie s of that magnitude ,

such a s Celanes e , DuPont , Ste7ens, Burl ingt on

Indust rie s , et c . , have a l ong and suc c e s sful his t ory

of re s ea rch, labo rat o ry t e s ting, wear-t e s ting and

trademark prot e ct ion through qual ity c ont rol programs.

24

Smalle r manufacture rs , s omet ime s " marginal c oncerns , "

often ignore the fa ct that the re a re indust ry

a c c ept ed perf ormanc e standard s availabl e for use a s

minimum standa rd s o f quality by any manufacturer .

(8:417 )

one such s et of s tandard s , called American S tanda rds

L-22 ( performanc e requirement s f o r t ext il e s ) has the

f oll owing funct ion :

(L-22} define s and evaluat e s the e s sential pe rf orman c e qual it ie s of any fab ric for 75 bas ic end-us e s , c overing women's , g irl s ', men's and b oy s ' wearing apparel and home furnishing s e The perf ormanc e requirement s d o n ot l imit the styl e , const ruct ion , finish , o r other manufac turing detail s of the art icle . They c ov e r such charact erist ic s a s breaking and burst ing st rength , shrinkage , colorfa stne s s , ret ent ion of 1 1hand11 and appearance after refreshing, e tc. (1:6)

M c Eachran, in an unpubl ished the s is c oncerned with

c on sumer knowledg e of yarda.ge inf o rma tion , ha s sa id

tha t the c on sume r d o e s not want to know bursting or

t ea r st rength of a fabric , but not e s that " consume rs who

buy fabric s bearing the L-22 lab el can be a s sured that

the ir purcha se will realiz e the p ropert ie s indicated on

the label." ( 6 1 : 21 ) This thesis was written in 1962 ,

two years after the standards were approved by the

Consumer Goods Standards Board of the American

S te.ndards Association (now the American National

Standards Institute (ANSI). Troelstrup, writing in

196 9 , has said that the ANSI standards L-22 "has lain

dormant since its adoption several years ago." and

implies that not many consumers have seen or even

heard of L-22 .

He does say that some manufacturers argue that

25

these standards are not dormant but are used by the

industry internally, even though the consumer never knows

it. Troelstrup1s comment is: 11Hhat the consumer does

not know will not help him." He concludes:

What does it matter that one producer's product conforms to L-22 specifications and another's does not, if the consumer cannot single out the conforming product? It does no good to assure him that "a large part of the industry conforms to L-2 2 . II ( 14 : 282 )

Industry, Government Communication with the Consumer

The subject of objective com.>nu....,ication l'Tith the

consumer leads to a brief euunins.tion of excellent

publications alres.dy available either through government

agencies or from industry, but the existence of which is

probably unknown to the average consumer.

This survey is a selective sketch of the type

of informative publication available free or for a

26

n ominal f e e f rom vari ou s s ou rc e s and does not include

othe r materials especially prepared for use by teachers

in the cla s s room.

One category of such publi cati ons includes those

prepared by vari ou s government- conne cted off i ce s .

The FTC i s su e s s everal , available f or the ask ing .

Among the most informative are "Look F or That Label, "

a layman ' s revi ew of label ing requi rements plus a

statem ent of the importanc e of re cogniz ing generi c

famil i e s of f ib e rs and of unde rstanding the i r

· chara cter i st i cs . Another i s , 11106 Que st i ons and Answe rs

Relating to the Text il e Fiber Products A ct and Regulati ons�'

Still anothe r i s, " He re i s you r Fede ral Trade Comm i s s i on, 11

a summary of the background of the FTC and a statement

of the Comm i s s i on ' s l imitat ions and enf orc ement powe rs.

one of the late st g overnment i s su e s i s a

pub l i cat i on by Josephine M . Blanford and Loi s M.

Gurel, called " Fibe rs and Fab ri c s , 11 a consumer 1 s gu ide

f rom the Nat i onal Bureau of Standards , an a rm of the

u. s .. DepArtment of Comm erce. Thi s is a.n a.ttra.ct ive,

c onci s e booklet that chara cteriz e s the propertie s ,

methods of care and ma j or applicati ons of textile f ib ers

p rodu c ed in the United State s and used in c onsume r goods .

(46)

The u. s. Depa.rtment of Agriculture, and e sp e cially

the Extensi on S e rv i c e of the Department , whi ch i s

27

bas e d in Land Grant Colleges throughout the country,

i s an excellent s ou rce of ob j e ctive inf ormat i on ( 6:625 ) .

F rom the University of Calif ornia Agr i cultural Exten3ion

Serv i c e at Berk el ey , f or exampl e , c ome seve ral valuable

b ooklets - " Sh opp ing Clu e s t o Fabric Care, " and a s e ri e s

called. "Fab ri c s Worth Not ing , 11 prepa red by Extens i on

Clothing Spe c ial i st, Thelma Johns on, whi ch des crib e s

certa in cla s s i f i cat i ons o f fabri cs, i . e . , f oam-backed

fab ri c s, kn i ts , e t c . , and outlines the i r production

and care as well a s spe cial construct i on te chniqu e s

requ i red . ( 58 ) S imilar helpful informat i on may be

obtained from Agri cultural E xten s i on S ervices in other

stat e s .

Another s ource of instru ctive consumer-ori ented

publi cat i ons is industry- supported a s sociat i ons,

memb e rsh ip in whi ch u sually means that member c ompani e s

a re interested i n promoting a certain type of product

or s e rv i c e, i. e . , Man-Made F ib e r Producers A s sn • • Inc . ,

and the Nat i onal Institute of Dry cleaners .

Usually, memb e r c ompanies of such associations

al s o develop standard s of quality for produ cts or

serv i c e s involved . ( 55 )

The Man-Made F ib er Producers A s sn., p roduce s and

distributes upon requ e st a c omprehen s ive , des cript ive

b o oklet whi ch not only de s cribe s the generi c famil i e s

of f ib ers, but als o summariz e s the bas i c princ ipal u se s

and general care in st ru ct i on s . Called "Gu ide t o

Man-Made F iber s , 11 the b ooklet als o carri e s a l i st of

F ib er Tradename s of m ember compan i e s.

An example of a prof e s s i onal or trade publicat i on

i s "Fabric Ca re Gui de, 11 produced by the American

28

Institute of Launde ring. Accord ing t o a notat i on on

this Guide , "Produ ct s carrying the S eal of the .Ame ri can

Inst itut e of Laundering have pa s se d e xt en siv e t e st s

f or washability and wear . Among other t e st s, Seal

product s are t e st ed for:

( 44)

• Shr inkage .st rength

.Color Fastn e s s . Appearance aft er Washing"

St ill an other larg e sel e ct i on of publi cat ions may

b e obtained from manufacturers and ret a il e rs . A few

among many that are informat ive, f re e and mostly

obje ct iv e a re :

11A D ict i onary of T ext ile T e rms" by Dan Riv e r Mills, In c .

"Fib e rs f or Contemporary Fabrics" by C elan e s e F-ibers C o .

11Textile F ibers and Their Propertie s11 by Burl ingt on Indu str i e s

"Cha rt of Man-Made F ib er s" J. c. Penney Co., Inc.

" Sta in Removal Cha. rt 11 H om emaking Cent er, Le·ve r Brothe rs Co.

Some publ i cat i on s available from manufacturers

t end to b e more promot i onal than informat ive . ( 14:5 )

How eve r, there s.re many that are b oth obj e ct ive and

in s t ru ctive.

Thi s su rvey ha s been prov id ed t o show that

inf ormat ive, n on-t e chn i cal , non-t extb ook publi cat i ons

a re already ava ilable. Such publ i cat i ons are oft en

advert i s ed in popula r magazine s but the consumer mu st

a sk for them and in s om e in stances s end a small f e e .

29

No l it eratu re 't'la s f ound t o estimat e di st ribution and use

of any of the publi cat i ons ment i oned but judging f rom

other eviden ce of c onsume r apathy or ign orance , i.e.,

reluctan c e t o retu rn d ef ect iv e merchandise , it s e ems

reas onable t o con clude that the numbe r of request s

i s probably m inor compared t o the mill i on s of c onsume rs

who n e ed the informat i on they contain.

Perhaps b oth g ov ernment and indu st ry can use the i r

ingenuity t o develop a more eff e ct iv e syst em of

di st ribut i on. The F ederal g ov ernment ha s taken a step

in thi s dire ct i on as t he General Serv i c e s Adm in i s t rat i on

ope rat e s Fede ral Inf ormat i on C ent ers t o s e rve the

publ i c on the spot in 26 c it i e s and by free l ong di stance

t elephon e s e rv i c e in 16 other cit i e s. The c ent e rs are

staffe d by pers onnel "who are prepare d to answ er, or to

g et any answ e r t o, any inquiry ab out Federal serv i c e s,

programs, and publ i cat i on s . " If a qu e st i on or problem

cannot be handled within the juri sdiction of the F ederal

Government, inf ormat i on a ides w ill sugge st an appropriat e

stat e or local agen cy . ( 18 : 3 )

30

When , Whe re , H ow the Consume r Can Learn

Thus far , indu st ry and government eff ort s t o

tn::21J.smit information to the cons�ing publi c have

b e en briefly revi ewed . .Prot e ct ive l eg i slat i on with whi ch

the c onsume r should be famil ia r ha s b e en t ou ched upon .

The concept of indu st ry a ccept ed performance standards ,

unfamiliar t o the con sume r , has been examine d. The

d i s cu s s i on could b e ext ended t o cov e r produ ct t e st ing

s erv i c e s , adv e rt i s ing and i t s effect upon the con suming

public , helpful publi cat i ons ava ilable f rom other

important s ourc e s su ch as the Ame ri can Home E conomic s

A s s oc iat i on , or by sub s c ript i on, such a s Con sumer

Report s and Con sume r Bullet in , a s well a s a stat ement

of purpose of bu s in e s s f inanced consume r int e rest

agen c i e s su ch as the B ett e r Bu s in e s s Bu reau .

Even after a more inclu s iv e di s cu s s i on , howev e r,

one fact would rema in . At the pre sent t ime , label s

and hangtag s , when they exi st , c on· st itut e the most

d i re ct l ine of communi cat i on between manufa cture r

and c onsumer .

When , whe re and how does the con sume r learn about

g overnment leg i slat i on? Or about n ew development s in

f ib e rs and t ext il e s? Or about te st and quality cont rol

t rademark gua rante e s? About v oluntary proposal s for

permanent labeling? Or about indu st ry-de s igned

standards , somet ime s ign ored by the manufacture rs them­selve s?

H om e Economi st s ' Role in· Con sum e r .Afta i rs

In an a rt i cl e t itled, "An Act ive Role for Hom e

E c onomi sts in C on sum e r .Affairs,11 in a rec ent i s sue of

the J ournal .of H ome E c onomi c s, Nan cy Harri e s indi cat e s

that profes s i onal hom e e c onom i st s m ight b e the group

t o f ill the "whe re " and 1 1how " v oid while s erv ing a s

obje ct iv e communi cat i on links b etween g overnment ,

indust ry and the c onsum e r. (24:24)

Fred Fort re s s ag ree s that profe s s i onal hom e

e conom i st s are among t h e b e st equippe d g roup " in a

market-orient e d society" t o prov id e the importa_nt

c ommun i cation bridg e b etwe en the consumer of t ext ile

product s and the industry whi ch produces t hem. (47:6)

31

Senat or Alan Cran st on (D-Ca.li f.) recently int roduced

legislat i on, whi ch, if C ongre s s approve s, could all b e

part o f a federally support e d consume r educat i on

program. Cran st on charg e s that " old home e conomics

course s whi ch are taught in high s chool s now don ' t

prepare stud ent s for the kinds of real buying probl ems

they are going to fac e. " H e also emphastzes that the

current course s do n ot att ra ct men and that "t h i s has

al s o g ot t o b e change d . " (19)

Thi s b ill would prov ide for the creat ion of an

Off i c e of Consumer Educat ion within the Department of

H ealth, Educat i on and Wel fare ' s Off i c e of Educat i on.

Fund s would b e prov i ded f or t ra in ing t ea chers and

32

although the focus and actual t raining would be on a

h igh s chool l evel , 11awarene s s t oward consumer problems

w ould b egin at an even earl:\.Pr age e 11 In the art icle

where int roduct i on of the b ill was report ed, Cranst on,

though he did not say s o di re ctly, s eemed t o be offering

a challenge t o hom e e con om i sts t o revamp exi s t ing

program s to make them m ore respon s iv e t o t he current

c on sumer dilemma .

Again , t hough Cranst on did not say s o , thi s proposed

l eg i slat i on seems l ike an e xt ension of the 1968

amendment s t o the Vocat i onal A ct of 1963 , where in fund s

w e re als o all ot t ed for consumer educat i on programs

t hroughout the count ry and wherein c onsume r educat i on

i s clearly ident if ied as one aspe ct of hom e e c onom i c s .

( 37 : 722 ) At any rat e, even if Cran s t on ' s b ill i s not

pas sed, it seem s that the hom e e con om i st i s being urged

from many d i re ct i ons to tak e a m ore aggres s ive leadership

role in con sume r affai rs .

Harri e s ' art i cl e ( 24 : 24-29 ) summariz e s sem inar

d ial og s that t ook pls. ce at M i chigB.n Stat e Un ive:-sity

dur ing the spring and summer of 1970 . The theme of

the s em inars was "Bu ilding Commun icat i on Bridges

Betwe en the C on sumer a.nd Indust ry . " Part i cipant s

included prof e s s i onal personnel in t ext il e me.nagement,

publi c relat i on s, consume r con sult ing , con sumer

educat i on - and g ov e rnment , plus faculty and student s

of the univ e rs it y . The Michigan C onsumers ' Coun c il

33

C re d it Uni on League, C redit C ounsel ing C ente r and . other

c onsume r int e re st group s al so part i cipat ed so that the

v i ews eApre s s ed can b e considere d repre sentat iv e of

the t otal community. The c oll e ct iv e v i ewpoint s a s

r ela t ed b y Mi s s Harri e s summarize t h e "who" (home

e c on om i st s) and the 11what 11 (new d ire ct ion s in home

e c on om ic s programs) a s follows :

( 1 ) The. hom e e conomi st probably i s b e st su it ed

by t raining and ori entat i on to be the mediat or b etween

indu s t ry and the consumer.

( 2 ) Unl e s s home e c onom i st s addre s s themselv e s t o

thi s role , other di s c ipline s are g o ing t o take ov er

the respon s ib il ity of c onsumer e du cat ion.

( 3 ) Indust ry repre s entat ive s g enerally f eel that

un iversit i e s should play a bigger role· in the

analy s i s of con sume r want s and needs.

( 4) Un ive r sity-bas ed home e conomics colleges are

in a unique pos it i on t o explore con sumer n eeds, s in c e

home e c on om i st s hav e no v e sted indust ry int e rest t o

influence ob servat ions .

(5) S ince home e c onomist s are v i ewed by the

c on suming publi c a s unb iased sou rc e s of informat ion ,

they can b e m ore e ff e ct iv e in promot ing c onsumer

edu cat ion prog rams than might any one industry .

( 6 ) Indust ry w ould l ik e the a s s i stan c e of home

e c onom i st s in int e rpret ing and unde rstanding con sum e r

n e ed s.

( 7) Indust ry perceive s the edu cat ive role of

the home economi st a s a m ost important funct i on for

making the c onsume r re spon sible for h e r a cti on s. ·

Indu st ry repre sentat ive s a sked for valid complaint s

t hat are reas onable and accountable. In general , the

larg e manufacturers and retail e rs , at lea st those at

the s e semina rs , consider i t thei r re sponsibility t o

t ell the c onsum e r about their product s. But if the

c on sume r i s t old product lim it at i ons , and if he or she

chooses to ignore them, indust ry repre sentative s

believe that the ind iv idual should exp e ct t o suffer

the consequence s.

( 8) On the othe r hand , c onsumers should demand

such fai r t reatment a s assurance t he.t f ibe rs and fabrics

u s ed in different part s of the se.me garment are

c ompat ible.

( 9 ) Industry repre sentat ive s ·acknowledge that

indust ry coordinat i on and cont rols a re n e eded , but

they emphas iz e the.t legi slati on i s not a sub st itut e for

educat i on .

( 10 ) Indus t ry rec ogniz e s that the retail sal e s

c ount e r i s a very w eak l ink i n the c ommun i cation chain.

( 11 ) Improv em ent of hang tags and/o r pe rmanently

s ewn in lab el s could be a f ir st st ep t oward st rengthening

this weak l ink . But it is als o e s sent ial t o edu cat e

and mot ivat e t he c on sume r t o pay att ent i on t o the

hang tag s and care inf o rmat i on provid e d by the

manufa cture r .

3 5

( 12 ) The h ome e c onom i st s.nd indust ry must share t he

respon s ib i l it y o f helping t he c onsum e r b e come

knowl edgeab l e .

( 1 3 ) The hom e e conom i st might b e most valuable a s

a c o o rdinat o r i n c on sume r affa i rs . ( 24 : 24-29 )

Ba s i cally , f ou r met h od s of impl ement ing a

c omprehens ive c on sume r educat i on p rogram have b e en

s ugg e st e d . ( 13 : 5-9 ) The s e includ e : ( 1 ) Ind ividual

T ea ch e r Approa ch , whi ch f o cu s e s on t h e devel opment

of a c ourse of st udy t aught by one ' educat o r ; (2 )

T eam App roach , wh i ch sugg e st s comb in ing the expe rt i s e

of s ev e ral teachers f o r t ea ch ing a s ingl e c ou rs e ;

( 3) Int e rd i s ci p l ina ry App roach , wh i ch st re s s e s the

oppo rt un it i e s f or inc o rporat ing C on s ume r Educat i on

int o a l l cours e s in varying degre e s o f s oph i st i cat i on ;

and (4 ) Syst em App roa ch , whi ch invo lv e s t h e ent i re

s chool syst em a s wel l a s t h e c ommuni t y and the parent s .

The p rof e s s i onal home e c on omi st s e em s a l og i cal

cho i ce f or t ra ining i f t he individual t ea ch e r approa ch

i s u s e d . ( 37 : 722 , 19 : 1 ) The oth e r thre e meth od s of

implementat i on cut a c ro s s many sub j e ct -ma t t e r f i eld s

bus in e s s educat i on , s o c ial studi e s , a rt , h ealt h ,

math emat i c s , Engl i sh , indust rial a rt s , s c i en c e , mus i c

and h ome e c on omi c s . The C ommi t t ee on C onsumer Int ere st s ,

writ er s of Suggest ed Guideline s for Consumer Educat i on ,

sugge st that " • • • a coordinat or i s n eeded t o in sur e

that rel evs.nt a s p e ct s of Consumer Educat i on are

included " �y t eam memberil and • • • "w ithin the

appropr iat e c our s e s. " ( 13 : 7 )

Lena Bailey of Ohi o Stat e Univer s ity has said:

In r e c ent y ears con sumer educat i on has b e en a part of ms.ny home e c onomics programs . It would b e diffi cult t o develop a s ound program, e specially at the s e conda.ry l evel , w ithout includ ing con sumer educat i on c on c ept s . (59: iv )

Theref or e , it s e ems r ea s onable that the prof e s s i onal

home e c onomist w ould b e in the best posit i on of

leader ship in a c omprehen s ive t eam , int erdiscipl inary

or syst em-wide appr oach t o the t ea ching of con sumer

educat i on .

Consumer Educat i on - Li f e Span Concept

The que st i on of "Then consumer educat i on in general

and a study of t op i c s r elat ed t o clothing and t extrile s

i n part i cular should b e introduced has b e en subje ct

t o much di s cus s i on in the past few years . The adult

con sumer c ould probably b e r eached a s ind i cat ed pre­

v i ously by a coordinat ed industry eff ort t o bring

s ome un iformity t o the language on lab el s and

hangtag s . Perhaps h igh s chool adult educat ion or

college ext en s i on programs could develop cour s e s

d e s igned t o explore c onsumer pr obl em s . In addit i on,

more c on sumers should b e reached through bet t e r

publi ci z ed, more readily available publi cat i on s

prepa red by Agri cultural Ext ans i on, profe ssional

g roups, t rade a s s o ciat i on s and g ov e rnment agen ci e s .

New spaper and c on sumer magaz ine art i cl e s can als o

be enlight ening t o those who take t h e t ime t o read .

What of the y outhful c onsume r?

M cNeal and oth e rs have shown that the child fi rst

involve s h imself in the con sume r rol e in an imitat ive

way at about f iv e years of ag� ; by age t en , the child

i s performing the c on sume r role w it h a high degre e of

independen c e and maturity . (10 , 13, 36)

37

Real izat i on of this fact has led t o the prop osal

for a "nat i onal p ol i cy prom ot ing a l if e- span approA. ch

t o the e ducat i on of t he con sumer. 11 (36:13 ) Thi s

c on c ept involv e s the follow ing g en e ral considerat i ons :

( 3 . 13 , 36 )

1. The l ife-span concept of consume r educat i on

b eg in s w it h the stud ent in t he elementary

g rades where a syst em of personal value s

can b e e st abli shed t hat w ill l ead t o a

l if el ong awa reness of con sumer right s and

re spon s ib ilit i es e Es s ent ially, this mean s

t hat early in l ife a stud ent ne eds t o learn

how to f ind and use reliable informat i on

s o that h e w ill make intell ig ent d ec i s i ons

in the marketpla ce. Certa inly . in t ext ile s

and clothing, such c oncept s a s generi c

38

name s of f ib ers , f 1�be r s ourc e s � way s in wht ch

f ibers a re u s ed, et c., a re not beyon d the

comprehens i on of elementary s chool pupil s.

2 . Incom e, ta st e s and purcha s e patt erns change

ove r the l ife-cy c l e of the c on sume r. Therefore,

though the l ife- span con cept dictat e s early

bas i c t ra in ing, the con sume r needs con stant

ret ra in ing in su ch a reas a s product inn ovat i on,

-cont ractual arrangement s , c on su.1!!1e r laws, et c .

3. Con sumer e ducat i on knows no e conomic or social

l imitat i on s. Low incom e and a rfluent,

ill i t e rat e and educat ed alike, need experi en ce

and t ra in ing. They_ �ll must cont end with

n ew produ ct s and with the pot ent ial for fraud

f rom the un s crupulous.

Pre s ident N ixon has sai d:

Legi sla.t ive re11.1ed i e s and improved enforcement procedures are pmve rful weapon s in the fight for consumer j ust i ce . But ? s importe.nt B.s the s e a re , t hey a re only a s eff ect ive as an awa re and inf ormed publ i c make them. Con­sume r e ducat ion i s an int egral part of consume r prot e ct i on. It i s v ital if the

-�onsumer is to be abl e to make wi s e judgment s i n the marketplac e. To enable h im or her t o do this will require a t rue educat i onal pro c e s s beginn ing i n childhood and c ont inu ing on. (53: 7)

CHA PTER I I I .

METHODS OF INVE ST IGAT ION

The Sample

The sample populati on f or the study was . the t otal

m embe rship ( 6 8 st udent s ) of two lnt roduct o rJ

t extile s cla s s e s at Valley Stat e Colleg e in Northridge,

Calif ornia. The s e class e s were taught by the

inve stigat or and author of thi s study.

It was a s sumed that the s e student s could be

c onsidered repre s entative of stud ent s in f our-year

c oll ege s throughout the c ount ry. As indicat ed in the

int roduction , thi s a s sumpti on was al s o a limitati on

b e caus e the study i s a su rvey of c on sumer opini on and

the sample was limit e d t o a cros s-se ction of c ollege

l evel c onsume rs only.

The Que stionnaires

Three que sti onnai re s we re submitt e d t o the same

sub j e ct s oYe r a period of thre e months.

a . • Que stionnaire #1 (Appendix A ) was submitt ed at

the beginning of the s e c ond w e ek of t he s emest e r .

Prope r timing was important becau s e for thi s study it

was n e c e s sa ry t o det e rmine , before any signifi cant

di s cu s sion, how much , or how little, the student s a s

c onsum e rs knew ab out t extile s and clothing.

39

40

Thi s que st i onnaire e stabl i shed the demogre.ph i c

me.ke-up of the sample populat i on ( Table s I and II ) and

was designed t o reveal gene ral l:n:n1l edge a nd previ ous

exposure to c on sumer educat i on in t ext il e s and clothing .

including label ing . Student s were a sked t o ind i cat e

the f ollow ing :

1 . whether they read labels on t ext iles and

clothing that are pr ov ided by the

manufacturer . (Tables III and IV ) .

2 . whether a select ed l i st of t erms f ound on

t ext il e s and clothing labels w ere fam il iar

or unknown, plus mean ings they attached t o

those words and phra s e s . Terms on t he l i st

w er e n ot sel e ct ed e.t random but wer e based

upon c la s s d i s cus s i on s in previ ous

intr oduct ory text il e s cla s s e s hav ing a

s im ilar student c omp o s it i on . (Table V ) .

3 . whether they c ould ident i fy a s true or false

select ed stat ement s based on current

l egislat i on . (A cat egol�y of '' Don • t knm'1"

was in cluded t o eliminat e s ome of the

gue s s ing inherent in true-fal s e stat ement s ) .

4 . whether they could ident ify which , among a

l i st of r eal and f i ct i t i ous con sumer­

ori ent ed agen c i e s w er e, in fa ct, l eg it imat e .

b . Que st i onnaire #2 (Append ix B ) wa s des igned a s

�.. - -

41

an in st ruct i onal t ool only. I t permitt ed the student s

t o expl ore the t ext ile-clothing marketplace through

a field study . This que st i onna i re had b e en t e st ed

and rev i s e d through thre e s eme sters .

Two obj e ct ive s w e re conne ct ed w ith the a s signment.

The s e w ere:

1 . To l earn whethe r the manufacture r of the average

garment or b olt of fabri c lab els produ ct s

a c c ording t o l egal requ irement s.

2 . To l earn whethe r ca re procedure s on lab el s

( inf ormat i on not l egally requ i red ) a re

adequat e for the average consumer .

Student s w e re in s t ru ct ed t o choos e thre e garment s ,

one of a s ingle fib e r , one blend , one of wool , and t o

examine and re c ord any lab eling informat i on found on

the garment s or atta ched theret o . They were als o a sked

t o examine and record lab eling informat i on on fou r

b olt s of fabric , in cluding one o f wool. Labeling

informat i on re c orded was sub sequently d i s cussed in

cla s s . student s were enc ouTag cd t o a sk que st i ons and

t o part i cipat e in cla s s d i s cussion s. In addit i on t o

spe c i f i c que st i on s f rom the student s about unfamilia r

t e rms , the in st ruct o r ext ra ct ed from the

que st i onna i re s words and phrases that would add t o

t h e general fund o f student knowledge about the

labeling of t ext ile s and clothing. All t erms were

42

d i s cu s sed in t erms of general mean ing , legal

r equirement s , and in the cas e of care lab eling , in

t erms of adequacy .

B efore the stud en t s undert ook the a s signment , the

quest i onnaire i t s elf and the t ext a s signment w er e

carefully r ev i ewed . Di s cus s i on s included such t op i c s

a s legi slat i on r elat ed t o labeling of t ext ile s and

clothing , industry qual ity control and guarant e e

programs , cust omer r elat i on s w ith retail clerks ,

pos s ible r elat i on ship of f ib er cont ent , yarn

structure , fabr i c structur e , f in i sh and c olor

appl i cat ion t o end pr oduct performance , and concept s

r elat ed t o performanc e durability and comfort , such

a s r e s il i ency , moi sture ab s orpt i on , w i ckab ility ,

- -and dimen s i onal stab il i ty .

c . Que st i onna ire #3 (Appendix C ) wa s ba s ed on the

a ssumpt i on that the student s at the end of three months

of d i s cu s s i on and study had b e en adequat ely introduced

to numerou s c onc ept s that w ould make dec i s i on-mak ing in

the t e:x:t 1le-cloth1ng marketplace an ea s i e r taslt: . It

was als o a s sumed the student s w ould agr e e that consume rs

of all age s should , f or their own b enefit , becom e

b et t er edu cat ed in thi s area . Therefor e , a l i st of

s ev ent e en concept s , all having been d i s cu s s ed t o

s ome ext ent during the three-month study per i od , <

was submitted t o the student s and the follow ing

prob l em posed :

If y ou wer e prepar ing a curri culum out l ine

for all grade s , at ·whi ch l ev el or l evel s

w ould you include the following con c ept s

r elat e d t o c onsumer educat i on in t ext ile s?

Respondent s were a sked t o ind i cate by equ ivalent

l ett er , i . e . , A = Grades 1-6 , B= G rades 7-9,

C = Grade s 1 0-12 , D = Colleg e , at whi ch educat i onal

l evel they would introduce each t op i c .

Que st i onna ire s #1 and #3 w er e f i lled in in cla s s ;

and , a s ind i cat ed , Que st i onna ire #2 , des igned a s a

f ield study, wa s complet ed at the student s ' l e i sur e ,

but r eturne d t o the instruct or on the same dat e for

d i s cu s s i on and evaluat i on .

··---�---·- -- __ ._ --·-- ---- --------- - ·----------- --·-- . -- ----·-·······

CHAPI'E R IV

ANALYSIS OF DATA AND INTE RPRETATION OF F INDING S

F indings a re report ed in percentage s only . No

other stat i st i cal t ools w e re ut ilized due to the

survey- report study involved. All perc entage s were

carried out t o the second plac e b eyond the decimal for

tabular report ing and rounded to the n earest whole

numbe r for u s e in the d i s cu s s i on.

Respondent s ' c omm ent s have somet ime s been quot ed

b e cause they oft en refl e ct att itudes p revalent among

the sample populat i on.

'·· - -

44

Que st i onnai re #1 (Appendix A )

Con sume r Knowl edge and Unde rstanding of

Labe ling Te rm s , Legi slat i on , A genc i e s

Demographic Make-Up

45

The demographi c make-up of the sampl e populat i on

wa s varied ( Tabl e I ) . As expe ct ed , t he great e st

numb e r , 51 , of the 6 8 re spondent s we re f rom 18-22-y ea rs

old . This was due t o the nature of the c ourse in whi ch

they were enroll ed - a g ene ral educat i on int roduct o ry

t ext iles cla s s , and t o the fact that thi s i s the

average age- span of most college-level student s .

Rega rding the marital status o f the 51 student s :

44 we re in marital status b. ( S ingl e - never ma rri ed ,

re spons ibl e f o r select i on and care of own clothing ) ;

one in cat eg o ry c . ( S ingl e , never married , £!

f o rme rly marri ed with s ome re sponsib i l ity f or

s e l e ct i on and ca re of family text i l e s and clothing ) ;

one in cat egory e . ( Narri e d , n o children ) ; and one

in a sl ight variat ion of cat egory a . ( S ingl e -

responsib l e f o r sele ct i on but not � of own clothing ) .

Two mal e s were among the 18-22-yea r old s in cat ego ry b .

The remaining 49 re spondent s in this age g roup in all

cat egori e s but b . we re femal e .

Tabl e I shows t hat in the 2 3- 30-year age group

the re wa s one mal e in cat egory b; one in cat egory d .

46

( Married , with children ) , along with one f emale ; and

two f emal e s in cat ego ry e . In the 31-35-year ag e group ,

the re we re f iv e f emale re spondent s in cat egory d . and

two in e . , along with one mal e . Three f emale re spondent s

we re between 3 6 and 40 and two we re 41 or ove r, all

marrie d with ch ildren .

Educat ional Level and Background of Semple Populat ion

The edu cat ionRl backg round of the re spondent s i s

shown in Table I I . In thi s study , i t i s de s i rable to

e s tabl i sh that the re spondent s repre sent ed a cro s s-sect ion

of the total college community so that the i r answe rs to

que st ions about clothing and t ext ile s m ight be cons idered

typi cal of that s egment of the Ameri can populat ion .

The refore , it i s i mportant to note that in each age group ,

there we re home e conomics ma jors and/o r -minors e. s well

a s majors f rom eleven othe r d i s c ipline s . The s e included

Engl i sh , Art , Health , S c i enc e , Mathemat i c s , Spee ch ,

' Bu s iness Admin i st rat ion , Pol it i cal S c i ence , Sociology ,

Histo ry , Phy s i cal The rapy and Eng ine e ring. S ix student s ,

all f re shmen , were und e c ided.

In the 1 8-22-year age g roup the re were 12 home '

e conom i c s ma jors , 1 3 home e conomi c s minors , a total of

' 25 ; and an almost equal numbe r of student s from other

ma jors , a total of 26 . In the othe r age g roups , the

balance was not as even. Howeve r , s inc e the 18-22-

y ear age group was by far the larg e st , it se ems

TABLE I

DEMOGRAPHI C MAKE- UP OF SAMP LE POPU LATI ON

n = 6 t!

Age Group o f' S e x To t al s * Re s ponden t s Ha l e Femal e a b c d e

6 6 2 m f' m f' m f' m f' m f' -

18-22 years * *

44 0 1 2 l 2 0 0 0 1 23-30 " 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 31 - ) 5 II 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 2

36-40 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 J 0 0

l.J:l+ tl 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0

* (

.

a = SING LE neve r ma�ri e d , l i vi ng a t home , no t re spon s ib l e f'o r s e l e c t i o n and c ar e o f' own c l o thing )

b = SING LE ( n e v e r marri e d , r e spon s ibl e f'or s e l e c t i on and care o f' o wn c l o thing )

c = SINGLE ( never marr i ed o r f'o rme rly marr i e d and wi th s ome re spo n s i b i l i t y .fo r s e l e c t i o n and c are o f' fam i l y t e xt i l e s and c l o thing )

d = MARRIED ( wi t h chi ldren ) e = MARRIED ( no chi ldren )

* * Subj e c t re s po n s i bl e f'o r s e l e c t i o n but n o t c a re o f' o wn c l o thing

+:­...:1

valuab l e t o the study that this group , though well

p opulat ed by pot e nt ial home e c o nomi st s , was al s o

the most het e rogene ous i n int ere st a nd , the refore , the

most typical a nd repres e ntat ive of the t otal college

community .

Dist ribut ed among the vari ous age groups were 28

f re shmen, 14 s ophomore s , 18 junio r , 7 s e:ni o:rs a nd one

graduat e student . Di st ribut i on by age g roup i s

report ed i n Tab l e I I .

Tab l e I I a l s o summari z e s re spondent s ' p revi ous

e nrollme nt i n home econom i c s clas s e s , o r part i c ipat ion

i n c ommuni ty orga ni zat i ons or other cla s s e s of any

kind whe re there might have b e e n s ome empha s i s o n

consumer educat i on relat ed t o t ext il e s a nd clothing .

Tabulat ion showed t hat a lthough there was a t otal of

83 expe ri e nc e s i n home economi c s cla s s e s on vari ous

l eve l s , o nly 19 ( 22 percent ) i ncorporat ed s ome •

empha s i s o n consum e r educat i o n relat ed t o t ext i l e s a nd

c l oth i ng . Five femal e stud e nt s , all 18-22-years old ,

indicat ed t hat they had b een int roduced. t o s ome

c o nsumer prob l ems relat ed t o t ext i l e s a nd clothing

i n the G i rl Scout s . Only two others l i sted spe c i f i c

t rai ni ng ; o ne s a i d there wa s s ome such empha s i s i n a

g e ne ral bus i ne s s cla s s i n high school and the other

s imply l i st ed " expe ri e nce ! "

Tabl e I I I i s a summary report of respons e s t o the

48

TABLE II

EDUCATIONAL LEVEL AND BACKGROUND OF SAMPLE POPULATION

n = 68

Age Group o f Sampl e i Fr .

College Level I H . Ec . Soph .J Jr . J Sr . J G . Majors

* H . Ec · 1 Other Minors Maj ors

Previous

�r �n � Emphas i s Other Consumer Consumer Ed . Ed . '

GS + 1 None : NoneiSome!o ther

8 J 12 l J 29 1 9 1 9 22 18-22 yrsl 26 12 1 26 35 18 *** 7

2 J- JO

Jl- J 5

J6-4o

II

II

II

0

2

0

1

1

0

:3 1 0

2 J 0

J 0 0

0 1 4 - · - · 5

1 0 7 4 2 1 1 1 2 6

0 2 1 1 1 1 1 · - 1 1

41+ 0 1 · u 0 0 ') ,.,., 0 0 1 1 1 1 - 1 1

* . 11 o ther majors plus 6 undecided

* * 28 reported having Home

five in junior high , class in dre ssmaking

Economi c s clas s e s in j unior high and high scho o l ; high s choo l and college and one an adul t educat ion and tailoring

***Five Girl Scout ; one a general bus ine s s class in high school ; one s tudent named " e xperience ! " as her t eache r

J6

5

5

J

2

+:­\!:)

50

quest i on, "Do you read manufacturers ' lab e l s on b olt s

of fabri c ? " A large number, 56 ( 82 pe rcent of the t otal

s�tmple ) indicate d that they select fabri c for v; I \•l

{) J

c ons·t ruct i on int o garment s . However, only f ift een of

the f ifty- six said they always read manufacturers '

label s on b olt s of fabric ; more, 17 respondent s

( 30% of the 56 } , oft en read the labels and one

more {31 percent ) s omet ime s read the lab e l s. Nine

percent of the 56 respondent s who select ed fab ri c f or

c on s t ruct i on int o garment s report ed they never read

labels on b olt s of fabric.

Since the age groups are unbalanced in s i z e, with

most of the respondent s in the 18-22-year age group,

no effort was made t o e stabli sh t-Thether there was any

c orrelat ion in age and marital status of the

respondent s and the c on s i st ency with whi ch they read

labe l s. In thi s study , this fact or i s unimportant

s ince the primary a im of the quest i onna i re was t o

e stab l i sh general knowledge and att itudes t oward

complexiti e s in the t ext ile-clothing mar�etplace .

Table IV i s a summary report of response s t o the

quest i on , "Do you read manufacture rs • labels on the

garment s y ou buy ?n All in the sample populat i on read

garment lab e l s at lea st s omet ime s. Twenty- two of the

respondent s ( 32 perc ent } report ed that they always

read them; twenty- s even ( 40 percent ) sai d they oft en

I TABLE III

SUMMARY OF RESPONSES " Do you read manufac turer s ' l abel s on bolt s of fabri c ? "

* __ �� � - �-�---�------- _ --�--- ___ n = 56 _ _ _

Age Group o f ** R� spondent s Alwars Oft en Some t ime s Never

18-22 yrs 11 11 1 6 4

23-JO II 0 2 0 0

Jl- J 5 " 2 J 1 1

J6-4o I! 1 1 0 0

41 + , , 1 0 1 0

*5 6 = 82 . J4 percent o f the to tal sample population that answered affirmat ively to the que s tion , " Do you select fabri c for cons truc t i on into garment s ? "

** One ref'lpondent sple c i fied "almo s t always . "

Vt 1-'

do ; and ninet e en ( 28 pe rcent ) che cked " s omet ime s . '·'

Aga in , no c orrelat i on · ha s been att empt ed of age and

marital status and the c on s i st ency with whi ch

re spondent s read label s .

Recognit i on o f Text ile Product Labeling Terms

Twenty selected words or phra s e s we re included in

the chart of t ext ile product label ing t erms submitt ed

in Que sti onnai re I .. Terms we re not chosen at random

but were s e l e ct e d f rom t ext il e label ing inf orma t i on

report e d on f i e ld study que st ionnaires by former stu­

dent s in s imilar cla s se s . Words and phra s e s included

on the l i st a re repeat ed , as they appeared in the

quest i onna i re , in Table v .

Responses , a l s o shown in Table V, reveal s everal

clear pat t erns :

1 . Only one t e rm , "permanent pre s s " was

rec ognized by all re spondent s . Moreover, of all

t erms defined , "pe rmanent pre s s " showed the

great e st percentage ( 96 percent ) of a c c eptable

meanings with two percent inc o rre ct ; only one student

did n ot t ry t o def ine the phra s e .

2 . Although it seems unl ikely , two student s , one

f or each word , indi cat ed they had never seen tha

t e rms 11nyl on11 and " poly e st er " : nylon has been widely

used s ince it s di s c overy in 1939 . The popularity of

poly e st e r, f irst produced by DuPont in 195 3 , i s more

'·" _ ... •-

52

TABLE IV

SUMMARY OF RESPONSES " Do you read manufac turers " l abel s on the garments you buy? "

n = 68

Age Group o f' Always Often Sometimes Never ResEondent s

18-22 yra 14 21 1.5 0

23-30 II 0 2 3 0

31- 3.5 " 4 3 1 0

36-40 II 2 1 0 0

41+ " 2 0 0 0

\,,11 '-"

recent ; however , the t erm may b e seen or heard in

newspape rs , maga z ine s , on rad i o and t e levi s i on ,

e specially in c onn e ct i on with advert i. s ement s for

knit fab ri c s and garment s , o r in woven blends with

cellul o s i c f ib e rs . Definit i on of the t e rm 11nyl onn

was att empt ed by 66 pe rcent of the respondent s . Over

68 p e rcent of those were considered correct , 31

perc ent inco rre ct . Among definit i ons accept ed we re ,

"First ma j or synthet i c f ib e r by DuPont " and "Synthet i c

fab ri c , easy ca re , but retains heat in warm "t'leather� "

Re j e ct ed definit i ons for nyl on , and for all t e rms

on the l i st , included t hose that were vague , such a s

"wa shable , " or "very thin s i lky mat e rial " ; or those

that were inc omplet e o r i llust rat ive of s ome

p opular mi s c oncept i on . i . e . , nylon i s a "man made

fabric f rom c oa l . 11

A lthough the perc entage of student s rec ogniz ing

the t e rms nylon and poly e st e r was the same , there

was a diff e rence in the numb e r of re spondent s

att empt ing t o define the two . ...�.pproximat ely 5 3 percent

of the t otal numb e r of re spondent s offe red definit i ons

for p olye st e r , 47 percent were c onsidere d a c curat e

o r meaningful , 52 p e rc ent were re j e ct ed . Mi s c oncept i ons

for polyest e r included , "a name whi ch means the same

a s d oub l eknit , " o r "a blend of two or · more man made

fibers , " or "a synthet i c mat erial made with nyl on" or

"a f ib er made with c ot t on . 11

When t he word " t extured " was added t o polye st e r

t O read r 11100% t eXtUred p olyest e r- . II the percentage

of respondent s re c ogniz ing the t e rm dipped t o a

b it more t han 6 3 percent . Only 12 re spondent s t ri ed

55

t o define the t erm and of the s e , only one was c onsidered

c or re ct . Respondent s t ended t o define t extured

p olye st e r in t e rms of tact i l e s ensat i ons , i . e . , "good

mat e rial t o work with 11 ; o r t o describe the appearance

of a part i cular fabri c , i . e . , " polyest e r ha.s a rai sed

pat t e rn woven int o it . "

.3 . The one other mBn-made f ib e r included a s a

s eparat e word on the l i st wa s " olefin . " Olefin has

ext ens ive indust rial usage but i s not oft en used

in wearing apparel or in many household goods .

However , during the pa st s everal yea rs , this fib e r

ha s b e en w·idely us ed in the popula r " indoor- outdoor"

carp et ing and more re ce11t ly in uphol s t e ry fab ri c s .

More than 79 perc ent of the respondent s did not

recogniz e the t e rm . Only three re spondent s k!l e!<T

that ole f in i s a man-made synthet i c f iber. Thi s

may be due t o the spe ci f i c type of advert i s ing

campa ign mount ed by the larg e st produce rs of the f iber.

Pe rhaps the t radename s He rcul onR o r Vect ra R might

have b e en re cogniz ed by a la rge r percentage of the

sampl e p opulat i on .

4 . There might have b e en a s l it t l e understand ing

of the t erms Hercul on · or Ve ct ra a s there wa s of

Celancs BR, another widely-publ i c ized t radename .

Numb e r 19 on the l i st of t erms was Celane s e R a c etate .

F ifty- s even percent had s e en the t e rm ; 42 percent

had not ; more t han 85 percent of the respondent s

did n ot know the meaning of the t erm ; and though

1 5 pe rcent att empt ed a def init i on , only 3 pe rcent of

the s e were c onsidered c orrect .

As many years ago a s 1951 , the FTC e stabl i shed

s eparat e f iber cla s sificat i ons for rayon and acetat e .

Y et , two definit i ons off e red for acetate used t he

two words a s synonymous , i . e . , " rayon fab ri c whi ch i s

a synthet i c , " or "Tradema rk f or a rayon synthet i c

c l oth . "

56

5 . When analy s i s of the responses began , there

s e emed , at f i rst , t o b e s ome relat i onship b etween

c omplet ene s s of definit i on and the number of definit i ons

att empt ed , t o such cons iderat ions as age , marital

status or previ ous exposure t o con sume r problem s

relat ed t o t ext il e s and clothing .

However, i t was s oon clear that no such relat i onship

exi st ed. Only two a c ceptab l e definit i ons were g iven ,

that Celane s e R i s the t rademark of the mBn-made

f ib e r , a cetat e . One was off e red by a 31- 35-year old

s eni or, marri e d with children , a non-ma j or with no

prev i ous c onsumer educat i on in t ext il e s and cl othing .

The other wa s g iv en by an 18-22-year old s ingl e

f re shman , a home economics minor, who had had

57

s ome exposure to an analy s i s of t ext il e s in j uni o r

high or high s chool . Al s o , the two a s so c iat i ons of

rayon and a cetat e a s synonymous came f rom a 41+ junior

l evel home econom i c s minor, with children , who had

neve r b efore had a c la s s in home economi c s , but who

t ri ed f ift e en of 2 0 definit i ons , el even of whi ch

were a c c eptable ; and a 31- 35-year old marri ed freshman ,

an Engli sh maj or with an indi cat i on of some exposure

t o an analysi s of t ext ile s in junior high and h igh s chool

cla s s e s .

6 . Many exampl e s could b e given from re sponses

of the e.pparent void of g eneral knowledge related

t o t ext ile s and cl othing . O r , t o say the same thing

in a more posit ive way , knowl edgeable respons e s seemed

haphazard.

F or example , an adequat e descript i on of " RN6421 11

wa s g iven by only one re spondent . Thi s pers on was

an 18-22-y ear old f re shman s oci ol ogy maj or with

s ome c onsume r educat i on in t ext iles and clothing in

b oth junior high and high s chool , but she att empt ed

definit i ons to t en of the t erms and prov ided

sat i sfa ct ory meanings for only three . It wa s she

who e rroneously said that p oly e st e r is a type of

c ot t on , and that nyl on i s a type of thin fab ri c .

7 . Eleven of the 6 8 respondent s att empt ed t o

define twelve or more of the 2 0 word s and phra s e s

l i s t e d. I n t h i s sub- sample , e.n average of 16

definit i ons were given ; an average of t en were

con sidered c orrect or adequat e . F ive of these

respondent s were 18-22-years old , three were

non-ma j ors , one e. home econom i c s maj or e.nd one a

minor, e.nd though f our had had previ ous home e c onomics

cla s s e s in jun i or high , high school and/or college ,

only two of the f ive , one being the maj or , ind i cat ed

that these cla s s e s placed s ome emphas i s on consume r

e ducat i on relat e d t o t ext il e � and clothing . Among

the f ive 18-22-year olds in thi s sub- sample , those

who had s ome previ ous exposure to informat i on about

t ext il e s and clothing showed a higher percentag e of

acceptable definit i ons ( 6 6 percent and 74 percent )

than t hose that did n ot ( 27 percent , 56 p ercent and

5 0 percent ) . S ince only· f ive sub j ect s were involved,

n o t rend could be clea rly rec ognized.

Moreover , when the other s ix re spondent s in the

age groups 23 t hrough 41+ years were con sidered a s

a unit among tho s e who att empt ed t o define 1 2 or

58

more of the 20 t erms , two , both non-ma j ors , who

ind i cated no prev i ou s inst ruct i on in consumer educat i on

relat ed t o t ext i l e s and clothing , had higher

'•' _ .....

percentag e s of a c ceptable answers ( 78 pe rcent and

7 5 percent ) than any of the ab ove .

It should b e not ed that all of the el even

re spondent s in this sub- sample indi cat ed that they

always , almost a lway s or oft en read the labels on

b olt s of fab ri c a.nd on garment s they buy , whi ch might

a c c ount for at least s ome of the odd b lt s of

informat i on among t hem .

59

8 . Only one respondent from among the t otal sampl e

popula.t i on of 68 had a s core of 87 p e rc ent acceptable

definit i ons . Thi s one respondent c ons i st ent ly

supplied definit i ons that were c omplet e and knowledg eable

t o 14 of s ixt e en t e rms t ried . She wa s al s o the only

one of 6 8 that report ed she had seen a l l of the t e rms

l i st ed , although the m eaning s for f our we re unknown .

Thi s student was in the 36-40-year ag e group , marri ed,

with child ren , a home economic s minor, with some

prev i ous exposure t o c onsume r educa t i on in jun i or high

or high s ch ool .

The ma j ority of re spondent s , 57 in numb e r , a.t t empt ed

an ave rage of six definit i ons with an average of 2 . 87

judged accurat e or a c ceptabl e . An ave rage of s i x

i nd i cat e s l e s s than one thi rd of the t erms attempt ed ;

· 2 . 8 7 repres ent s l e s s than f i fty perc ent a c cura. cy f or

the s i x att empt ed .

C onsumer Legi slat i o�

As indi cat ed in Chapt er I I I , a cat egory of "Don ' t

TABLE V RECOGNITION OF TEXTILE PRODUCT LABELING TERMS

n = 68 -

Term Had seen Term M E A N I N G Meaning Ye s No Correc t Incorrect Unkno wn

# % # % # % # % # %

1 . permanent pre s s 68 100% - - 65 9 5 . 59 2 2 . 9 4 1 1 . 48 2 . re sidual shrinkago J8 55 . 88 30 44 . 12 12 17 . 65 21 J0 . 88 35 51 . 50 3 . nylon 67 98 . 53 1 1 . 48 31 45 . 59 14 20 . 59 23 J 3 . 82 4 . double kni t 6 5 95 - 59 3 4 . 44 14 20 . 59 22 32 . J5 32 47 . 06 5 . combed cot ton 51 75 . 00 1 7 2 5 . 00 10 1 4 . 70 1 5 2 2 . 06 4 3 6 3 . 23 6 . polye s te r 6 7 98 . 53 1 1 . 48 17 25 . 00 1 9 27 . 94 32 47 . 06 7 . Monsanto Wear Dated 47 69 . 15 21 30 . 88 20 29 . 41 10 l L} . 70 38 55 . 88 8 . sponged & shrunk 22 32 . 35 46 6 7 . 64 1 1 16 . 17 5 7 · 35 5 2 7 6 . 49 9 . . R Sanfo ri ze d 6 0 88 . 09 8 11 . 7 6 23 33 . 82 1 1 16 . 17 34 5 0 . 00 10 . f'iber.fi11 41 60 . 29 27 J9 . 71 10 14 . 70 5 ? o 35 53 77 . 94 11 . o le fin 14 20 . 59 54 79 . 41 J 4 . 44 - - 65 9 5 - 59 12 . 9 6% repro c e s sed

woo l , 4% o ther f:ib . 39 57 . 65 29 42 . 65 17 25 . 00 18 26 . 47 3 3 48 . 53 1 3 . soil release 25 36 . 82 4 3 6 3 . 23 1 4 20 . 59 3 l� . 44 51 · 7 5 . 00 14 . washfas t 40 58 . 81 28 41 . 18 23 3 3 . 82 9 1 J . 24 36 52 . 93

0\ 0

TABLE V ( continued )

Te rm Had Seen Term M E A N I N G Ye s No Corre c t Incorre c t

# % # % # % # %

1.5 . fl ax 36 .52 . 93 32 47 . 06 1 2 1 7 . 6.5 8 11 . 76 1 6 . RN67421 4 _5 . 88 64 9 4 . 10 1 1 . 48 - -1 7 . 100% textured 4J 6 J . 2J 2 .5 )6 . 82 1 1 . 48 11 1 6 . 17

po lye s t er

1 8 . a bonded fabric 63 9 2 . 65 5 7 - 35 42 61 . 76 9 13 . 24 R 1 9 . Celanese a c e t a t e J9 57 . 35 29 42 . 6 5 2 2 . 94 8 11 . 76

20 . 100% ace tate 59 86 . 76 9 1 ) . 24 2 2 . 9 4 23 JJ . 82 tricot

Meaning· Unknown # �;

48 70 . 59 67 9 8 • .53 56 82 . J 5 .

17 25 . 00 58 85 . 29 4J 6J . 2J

0\ .....

Know11 was included with the true-false statements

concerning consumer legislation. Th is was done to

el iminat e some of the guesstn.e inhe rent in this type

of test question , and the category was liberally used .

Results are reported in Table VI . In the table ,

6 2

a line under T, or F at the right indicates the correct

response . The percentages below T, F or D report the

percent of the total sample giving the answers True ,

False or Don't Know. For example, the first statement

is true and will be so indicated with a line under the

T at the right ; responses for statement 1 . show

T F D.

6 6% 5% 28%

Actually, true-false responses are difficult to

evaluate . Some guessing was probably eliminated by

use of the " Don 1t Kno�T" category since more than 41%

of the responses were placed here. However , subsequent

class discussion concerning legislation governing

labeling of textiles and .clothing indicated that

quest ions 1 . , 3 • • 6 . , and 8 . , may haYe received high

percentages of correct answers, not because students

actually knew provisions of the law, but because it

seemed logical that such provisions would be included

to protect u . s. consumers.

There were three true-false statements with more

than fifty percent accuracy ; three with less than 2 0

TABLE VI KNOWLEDGE OF GOVERNMENT TEXTILE LABELING REQUIREMENTS

True-Fals e Sta·t ement s

1 . Textile product s you buy mus t be labeled wi th fiber content by per­c entage and generi c ( ramily ) name .

2 . Textil e products you buy mus t be labeled wi th care ins tructions .

J • The manuracturer ' s name or regi s tered number mus t appear on the produc t .

4 . I t i s legal to dramatize the name o £ a £ur produc t . For exampl e , dyed skunk may be call ed "Alaska Sable . "

5 . I £ a garment has a lining and int er­lining , £iber con t ent o £ the inter­lining need no t be s t at ed .

6 . Imported text i le produc t s mus t give the name o £ the country where manu£ac tured or pro c e ssed .

7 . The Flammabl e Fabri c s Act s e t s £lammabi li ty standards £or all t exti l e produc t s .

T 66%

T 35%

T 63%

T 22%

T 22%

T 49%

T 34%

Re sponses

F 5%

F 37%

F 7%

F 31%

F 31%

F 7%

F 9%

n = 68

D 28%

D 27%

D 29%

D 47%

D 47%

D 44%

D 57%

0\ w

TABLE VI (c on t inued )

True-Fal se Stat emen t s Re spon s e s

8 . I t i s l egal to t ran s fe r £abri c from o n e bo l t to ano ther wi thout t ran s fe rring lab e l ing info rma t i on provi ded by the manufac ture r .

9 . s t a t emen t s con c e rning po t en t i al shrink­age are required by l aw .

10 . I f a garmen t �uch a s a shi rt i s s o l d t o you i n a s e aled c o n t ainer wi th the requi red l ab�� l ing info rma t i on impr i n t e d on t h e con t a:l.n e r . fur ther l abel ing o n t h e garment i s no t r equi red .

T 13�

T 35%

T 1 3%

F

54�

F 18%

F 25%

D 32�

D 4%

D 62%

0\ �

65

pe rcent accuracy ; t he remaining four \'tere answe red with

approximate ly 40 perc ent a c curacy .

Agenc i e s : Constmer Int erest

Consume r- int ere st agenc ies l i st ed in Que st i onna ire

I a re includ e d in Table VII with an ind i cat ion of the

c orrect answe r in the f irst c olumn at the right .

The letter L ind i cat e s "Legit imat e , " F ind i cat e s

"F i ct it i ous . " The s e c ond c olumn ind i cat e s the numb e r

o f re spondent s who thought each o f t he sepa rate

agenci e s wa s l eg it imat e ; the thi rd c olumn int erpret s

t he s e numbers in pe rc entage s of the t otal sample

populat i on .

The re we re e ight legit imat e agenci e s on the l ist ,

f ive federal , stat e or local g ove rnment , two non­

g overnmental privat ely- support ed , and one indust ry­

support e d . The rema ining four were f i ct it i ous .

Two government agenc i e s , the FTC and the u . s.

Chamb e r of C omme rce , were rec ogn i z e d as l eg i t imat e

with more than 5 0 pe rcent accura cy . S ince the FTC

administers t ext ile a:nd clothing label ing legi slat i on ,

i t i s f ortunat e that 8 2 percent of the sample

p opulat i on rec ogn i z ed it s exist ence . However, the

summary of f ind ing s f rom Que st i onna i re I I I , page s 75-7 8 ,

revealed that n o c ompla int about defect ive t ext ile

me rchandi se had eve r been reg i st ered with the FTC by

any of the sample popula t ion. More over, in clB s s

TABLE V II RECOGNITION OF CONSUMER INTERE ST AGENCIE S

Agency

1 . Be t t e r Busine ss Bureau

2 . Cal i forni a Trade S t andard s Offi ce

J . The Cali fo rni a S t a t e Dep t . o f Consumer Pro t e ct i on

4 . Cal i fo rni a J o i n t Law Enfo rce ­men t Pro t e ct i on Commi t t e e

5 . The A s so ci at i on o f Cal i :fo rn i a Con sume r s

6 . Offi c e o £ t h e Spe ci al Ass i st an t t o the Pre s i d en t £o r Con s umer' A££airs

7 . Cal i fo rni a Ho use wive s Enco urage­ing Con s ume r Kno wl edge

8 . Federal Trade Commi ss i on

9 . u . s . Chambe r o £ Commer ce

Co rre ct An swer

L

F

F

L

L

L

F

L

L

n = 6 8

Che cked as Legi t ima t e #Re spondent s % ( n:: 6 8 )

64 94 . 1%

1 3 19 . 10

25 )6 . 82

J 4 . 44

10 l l� . 70

25 J6 . 82

7 10 . 29

56 82 . 35

4 J 6J . 2J 0\ 0\

10 .

1 1 .

1 2 .

TABLE VII ( continued )

Agency

The U . S . Dep t . o f' Con sumer Sal e s and Wei ght s & Mea sure s

Con sumer s Uni on

Con sumer Fraud Di vi si on , Cali fornia At t orney General ' s Offi c e

Corre c t An swe r

F

L

L

Che cke d a s . Legi t imat e #Re spondent s % ( n=68 )

J J 48 . 5 J

1 4 20 . 59<,t,

19 27 - 9 4

0\ -...J

6 8

d i s cus s i on , i t was ev ident the.t though student s knew

of the exi st ence of the FTC, they did not know that

the C ommi s s i on i s charg ed �1ith enf orc ement of stat ut e s

requi ring t ruthful lab eling and adv e rt i s ing o f woolens ,

furs and t ext ile fiber product s.

A mong the g ov ernment agenc i e s, there w e re two

surpr i s e s in t he percent of recognit i on ; one wa s the

California J oint Law Enforcement Con sume r Prot e ct i on

C omm it t e e, re c ognized a s legit imat e by only four

percent of the re spondent s ; the other was the Consume r

Fraud D iv i s i on of the Cal ifornia A tt orney G eneral 1 s

Of f i c e, rec ogniz ed a s leg it imat e by a relat ively small

perc entage of 2 7 . 9 pe rcent.

Unawarenes s of the f i rst · ment i oned, the Consumer

Prot e ct i on C ommitt e e, w-a s surp ri s ing because s inc e

Oct ob e r, 1970 , deta iled st ori e s about thi s Committ e e

have appeared in local L o s Angele s new spape rs and

p robably in new spapers of other large c it i e s as w ell .

The Con sumer Prot ect i on Committ ee, based in FTC

off i c e s , was e stabl i shed in 1970 t o serv e a s a one-st op

c onsumer c omplaint agency " t o el iminat e the runaround

people oft en encount e r when they d on ' t know where t o

com plain . " ( 30 : 1 ) It i s a federal , stat e and local

cooperativ e eff ort and members range f rom the stat e

att orney general and the u. s . postal inspect or t o

county weight s and mea sure s inspect ors and the l ocal

pol i ce department. At the t ime Quest i onnai re I wa s

draft ed , st orie s about this committ ee were often in the

newspapers . It '\'Tas included in the l i st for this

reas on and i t wa s expect ed that a g reater n1xmber of

student s would recogniz e it s exi st ence .

The pre c eding d i s cuss i on summa riz e s ma j or responses

f o r the f i rst explorat ory que st i onna i re . Several

other que s t i ons , submitted three months aft er the f i rst

s et , in Que st i onnaire #3 were des igned t o expl ore

att itudes t oward st ill another dilemma faced by

c onsumers . In the int e re st of unity , result s will be

summarized here .

Thes e quest i ons were concerned with att itudes and

act i ons of the sample populat i on when they encount e r

defect ive merchandi s e . The follm'ling inf ormat i on l'Tas

request ed :

1 . In the past two years have you purchas ed t ext il e goods ( fab ric or ready-made it ems ) that lat e r proved defect ive ?

2 . If � · did you return the it em t o the place of purcha s e ?

3 . If �. why did y ou not return the it em?

4 . If �· was the cle rk or st; o re lilB.na g e r :

a . court eous?

b . will ing t o exchange the it em or refund c o st ?

5 . If you rece ived no sat i sfact i on at the store , did you reg i st er a c ompla int with any agency ?

6 . I.f � · whi ch agency did you conta ct ?

? . Were you helped ?

8 . If � · please summarize incident briefly . Include approximat e dat e of this occurrence .

Purcha se-return result s are as follolrls :

a . A ma j ority , 49 ( 72 percent ) of the

respondent s had purcha sed t ext ile or clothing

merchand ise during the past two years t ha t lat er

proved defe ct ive in s ome way .

b . It i s s ignificant that only 37 percent of

thi s number chose t o return the merchandi se to the

place of purchase .

Reas ons given for not returning defect ive

merchandi s e included :

1 . Lost sal e s slip .

2 . Long t ime b etween purcha·se and discovery

of the defect - " I had the garment El long

t ime before I wore it and was t oo chi cken

t o return it . 11

3 . Fabric was made int o a garment before the

defect was di s covered . Thi s rea s on was

g iven for defect s that included s evere

fading , exces s ive shrinkage , and fabric

flaws .

4 . It was not important a s respondent s "had

rece ived s ome wear out of it . "

5 . It em was inexpens ive , therefore , 11t oo

much t rouble f or whA t I paid for it . "

70

6 . It em was purchased at an out l et and ma rked

'{l

" a s i s . "

7 . Didn ' t V"rant t o "make a fus s . " Garment

shrank , 11 s o I j ust gave it away t o a small

n eighbor. "

B . Incorrect cleaning procedure . Thi s

reas on was offe red by two student s who

admitted they had not followed the

manufa cturer ' s cleaning d i re ct i ons , but

it was al s o g iven by two who said they

f ollowed care dire ct ions but st ill

thought it "might be my own method of

cleaning whi ch caused d i st ort i on in the

garment . "

9 . Defe ct not i ced aft er item was launde red

and 11 I didn ' t think it could be returned . "

1 0 . Admitt ed ignorance of consume r ' s right s

and manufacture r ' s responsib i l it ie s .

Some of the dec i s i ons relat ed abov e seem logical ,

but s ome ·refle ct a shrug- of-the- shoulde r att itude

whe re the c onsumer bB s e s h i s judgment on. the

philosophy that h i s affluence permit s him t o buy

more and he i s , therefore , t olerant of def e ct ive

merchandi se . At the other ext reme , blame for the

defect was a s sumed by the consumers themselves even

though care direct i ons had been f ollowe d . Others

reflect rat i onalizat i on whi ch reduce s di s s onance

-.· - -

and helps avoid encount e rs with sal e s personnel ,

pleasant and rewarding or unplea sant and frust rat ing .

filos·c seem t o reflect , as one stuuent said , ignorance

of c onsume r right s s.nd manufacture r re spon s ibilit i e s ,

and most s eem t o support the stat e of cognit ive

di s s onance or rsychol og i ca.l t en s 1. on �rith whi ch . .A.meri can

c o11sumers approach the " impenet rable complexity" of

the marketplace .

Among the 18 respondent s who did return defect ive

merchnnd i s e , 67 percent report ed that clerks or

st ore mAnagers were c ourt eous ; 89 percent re ceived

a refund or merchand i s e exchange .

One respondent reported returning merchandise

( thread with imperfe ct i ons ) not to the place of

purcha se but t o the manufacturer . A s of May 1 7 , 1971 ,

she had rec e ived no reply ; however, she had made the

return j ust three weeks prior t o that dat e . One

respondent report ed that she had purchas ed fabric

f or a dre s s and aft er washing i t according to care

d i re ct i ons . the fabric faded a.nd dJ. scolored the wash .

She returned t he dre s s t o the fabri c shop where the

manager replaced the mat e rial and said he would s end

h e r dre s s t o the manufacturer to f ind the reas on .

It i s int e re st ing t o not e that three othe r respondent s

who had s imilar experiences d id not return the

72

complet e d garment t o the fab ri c shop b e cause they a ssumed

--· _ ..... '·" _ ..... . .. --

T3

it could not b e taken back aft er having been cut ;

worn and laund e re d .

�1� rea s one re spondent report ed court eous t reatment •

and sat i sfact i on , another student relat ed a s imils r

but f rust rat ing incident . She purchased fab ri c ,

cut out a garment . and in doing s o , n oti ced that the

fabric c rocke d . She launde red a sample s everal t imes

but it cont inued t o crock , bleed and fade , whe reupon

she returned the fab ri c t o the st ore . The sal e s clerk

refused t o s ccept it becaus e it was cut ; the student

report ed that the clerk a ccused h e r of damaging the

g oods t o make it fade .

A s not ed by Ste iniger and Dardi s ( 33 : 37 ) uninformed

clerks behind the retail count ers oft en const itut e

weak l inks in the manufacturer-retailer-consume r chain .

However , an equal weaknes s in the opposit e direct i on ,

consumer- retailer-manufs.cturer, i s the consumer

who i s b oth unaware of whe t const itut e s a legit imat e

complaint and i s , for whatever rea son , reluctant

t o make h i s wi shes known .

�.. - ..... '·" _ .... ,, - -

Questionnaire #2 (Appendix B )

L9_beling & Leg i slat i on Fiel d study

Que stionnaire #2 was used primB rily as a t ea. ching

aid . The st udent s filled t he questionnaire in

complet ely and seemed t o find the assignment instructive.

As indi ca t ed i n Chapt er I I I , the i nformat ion brought

back by the st udent s as a result of this field study

was discussed at lengt h .

A question in t he final questionnaire (A ppendix C )

con cerned t he value of such a pract i cs.l assignment t o

t he student s Ets consumers. In answer t o t he question ,

"Did you find t he labeling a nd legislation

quest ionnaire useful ?" only t wo students report ed t hat

they did not find t he assignment useful personally .

However , 1 0 0 percent of t he st udent s said ths.t t hey

thought a similar , perhaps simplified version might

be used at v arious high school levels. This response

was in answer t o a question t o t ha t effect { See

A ppendix C , page 1.0 4 ) • Thirty-eight ( 5 6 percent )

of the respondent s suggest ed Grade 1 0 as most

appropriat e ; 2 2 ( 32 percent ) suggest ed Grade 11 and t en

( 15 percent ) suggest ed Grade 12 . Eleven of t he

respondent s ( 16 percent ) suggest ed that personal

investigation such as t his might be dup11 cat ed in

more than one g rade in high school.

7S

Que st i onna i re #3 (Appendix C )

Consumer Educat i. on

As not e d in Chapt er I I I , page 40 , Que st i onna i re #3

was based on the a s sumpt i on t hat the student s at the

end of three m onth s of di s cus s i on and study had b e en

adequat ely int roduced t o nume rous concept s t l�t would

make deci s i on making in the t ext ile-clothing

marketpla c e an eas i e r task . It wa s al s o a s sumed

that the stud ent s would agre e that c onsumers of all

age s shoul d , f or thei r own b enefit , b e c om e bet t e r

educated i n t h i s a rea . The refore , a l i st of sevent een

c onc ept s relat ed t o c onsumer educat i on in t ext i l e s

and cl othing wa s submitted t o the student s and the

f ol l owing probl em p o s ed :

If you we re preparing a curri culum

out l ine f o r all grade s , at whi ch l evel

or l evels would you include the

f oll owing c oncept s relat ed t o

c onsume r educa. t i on in t ext i le s ?

Tabulat ed re sul t s may b e found in TAb l e VIII .

Approximat ely 50 pe rcent of the sample populat i on

sugge sted that three t op i c s might b e res e rved for

study at the c ollege l evel . The s e included :

- A rev i ew of all l eg i s lat i on c overing manufacture ,

import . advert i s ing and label ing of t ext il e s

- Indust ry qual ity c ont rol and guarant ee prog rams

- A study of s ource s of c on sumer informa t i on such

as the Man-Made F iber Produce rs A s sn . bookl et

1•1o re than 5 0 percent thought the f ol l owing t opics

would be appropriat e for study in grade s 7-9 :

- G eneric names of f ib e rs

- Fib e r cha ra ct e ri st i cs

- Cho i c e of fab ri c s f or diff erent end use s

76

- Probable perf ormanc e of fabri c s in wear and ca re

- Terms re lat ed t o care of diffe rent fabri c s

- Eff e ct iv e u s e o f ca re product s such a s

det e rg ent s , blea ches , et c .

- Meaning of t e rms f ound on fab ri c and garment

label s

- S tain removal

More than 5 0 pe rcent thought the foll owing t opics

would be appropriat e for st udy in g rades 10-12 :

- An analys i s of yarn and fabric st ructure

- Consume r c l othing probl ems ·

- T ext il e lab el ing requirement s

- T radenames and t rademarks

- A di s cus s i on of c on sume r right s and

respon s ib i l it i e s

- A study of c ompara.t 1 v e cost o f rea dy-made and

home s ewn it ems

Apparent ly , most re spondent s felt tha t most

t op i c s on the l i st would be beyond the c omprehension

TABLE VIII INTRODUCTION OF C ONCEPTS RELATED TO CONSUMER EDUCATION

IN TEXTILES AND CLOTHING

To pi c

Generi c name s o � fibers

Fiber charac t e ri s t i c s

Yarn and £abri c s t ruc t ure

Fabri c end u s e s

Fabri c p er£o rman c e

Care t erms

Care produc t s

Meaning o f lab e ling t e rms

Con sumer c l o thing problems

S t ain removal

Label ing requiremen t s

Legi s l a t i on

Tradename s and t rademarks

Qual i ty c on tro l/guaran t e e s

Sourc e s o f con sumer info rmation

Consumer righ t s/re sponsibil i t i e s

Co s t , ready-made/home sewn i t ems

A Grade s 1-6

23 - 52% 10 . 29

1 . 48 1 3 . 24

1 . 48 8 . 82

1 1 . 76 5 . 88

10 . 29

1 . 48

1 . 48 4 . 44 2 . 94

B Grad e s 7 - 9

44 . 1 2% 52 . 93 29 . 41 57 . 35 5 5 . 88 4 5 . 59 33 . 82 57 . 35 2 7 . 94 33 . 82 1 7 . 65

4 . 44 27 . 94 11 . 76 10 . 29 20 . 59 52 . 9 3

n = 68

c Grade s 10-1 2

26 . 47% 38 . 23 58 . 81 36 . 82 44 . 12 50 . 00 50 . 00 45 . 59 55 . 88 48 . 53 63 . 23 3 3 . 82 52 . 93 41 . 18 54 . 41 55 . 88 J6 . 82

D C o l l �

10 . 29% 10 . 29 17 . 65

2 . 94 5 . 88 5 . 88

11 . 76 8 . 82

22 . 06 11 . 76 2 5 . 00 6l� . 76 29 . 41 5 2 . 93 47 . 06 30 . 88

.1 . 91 -...2 -...2

78

of student s in G rade s 1-6 . However , approximat e ly

2 3 percent sugge sted that pupil s might become acquaint ed

with g eneri c nam e s of f ib ers in those grade s ; and

e ight t o 1 3 percent would include s ome in st ruct i on

ab out f ib e r charact erist i c s , choi c e of fab ri c s f or

diff e rent end u se s , t e rms relat ed t o care of

diffe rent fab ri c s , stain removal and eff e ct ive use

of care p roduct s .

Re spondent s recognized the need for repet iti on

in the learning proce s s . The ref ore , most t opi c s

we re recommended f o r more than one educat ional l evel .

As one respondent not ed :

I feel that many things that can b e int roduced at t h e el emente ry s chool l evel , when a child would t end t o b ring the inf ormat i on home , should b e re it e rated at the j unior high and high s ch ool l eve l , when the child t ends t o b ecome a consume r and buyer a l s o .

CHA FTER V

S UNiflARY , CON CLUS IONS AND

RECOMMENDATI ONS FOR FillURE STUDY

SU11ll11B. ry

Result s of Qu.est i ormai re 1 co:n.f i rmed college- l evel

student - consumer ignoranc e of concept s and pract i ce s

relat ed t o the t ext i l e and clothing ma rket . Thi s

s e ems t o b e a di rect indi cat i on o f a void in the

educat i onal proc e s s whi ch permit s student s such a s

the s e t o reach thi s l evel without being more knowledgeabl e

in thi s a rea of everyday conc e rn .

Howeve r , t h e sampl e populat i on i n thi s study

s e emed vitally int e rest ed in s tudying t op i c s

relat ed t o the i r role a s consumers i n the t ext i l e-/

cJothing market place . /Que s t i on s in cla s s were

p rob ing and d i s cussi ons covered as much of the ove rall

s ituat i on a s t ime allowed .

Recommendat i ons by these stud ent s for ea rly st udy

of t op i c s relat ed t o t ext il e s and clothing showed

int erest and approval of the l i fe- span conc ept of �··· ( )

con sume r educat i on . They apparently real i z ed what

Mayor Yorty of Los Angele s ha s said :

Our way of l i f e presuppos e s an aware cit i z enry . To t hat end we t each in our s chool s h i st ory and government , but f e't'l student s are exposed to problem s of the ma rketplac e • . • • • •

Ct ·� t . , \;; f�4;�it .. -t�,9 tA ·�

Spending i s a s important e. s earning and t oo l it t l e t ime i s devot ed t o learning about it . (62 )

80

81

Conclus i ons

Four g eneral c onclusi ons a re dra-wn f':rom thi s study· :

1 . Responses t o que st i onna i re s submitted t o the sample

popul�t i on c onfi rm the state of c ognitive d i s s onance

whi ch s e ems t o accompany c onsumers t o the ,

market place .

2 . The educat i ona l proc e s s , at l east as far a s the

t ext ile- cl othing market is concerned , should be a

two-way proces s : {a ) manufacturer-retailer- consumer ;

and (b ) c onsume r- retailer-manufacturer . Thus ,

the manufacturer will understand consumer needs

and wish e s and the consumer will understand

more about what he i s buying .

3 . Consumer educat i on in t ext iles and clothing y a.nd

in other areas of c onsumer int erest a s well , should

have a broadened bas e in the public s chool s ,

b eg inning - in the early y ears .

4 . ( Prof e s s i onal h ome e c onomi st s , b e cause of the i r '-

t ra ining and intere st s , should init1ate cha ng e s

in home e c onom i c s programs at all levels that

would encourage obj ect ive analysis of consumer

problems . ) The fact that only 21 . 69 percent of

the home e c onom i c s cla s s e s taken by the student s

_ I

82

in this study placed emphas i s on c on sumer problems

relat ed t o t exti l e s and cl othing i s at least one

indi cat i on that home e c onomict s need t o take a

more aggre s s iv e role in thi s area . The need for

such t re ining is g enerally shmm by the fact that

the t ot�.l sample popule.t i on had little knowledge

of the s el e ct ed t erms . The maj ority t ried t o

define an ave rege o f s ix out o f twenty terms and

provided sat i s fa ct ory definit i ons for l e s s than half

of the s ix t ri e d .

Recommendat i on s

During int e rpretation o f the finding s , the

f ollowing recommendat i ons evolved :

1 . A --survey- -of e ffectiv-e methods of t ea ching

consumer educat i on in s econdary s chools , with

emphas i s on the a rea of t ext ile s and clothing .

2 . A study of the numb e r of me·n present ly in

home e c onomic s cla s s e s and whether great er

emphas i s on c onsumer affai rs l<lould encourage

more men t o enroll .

3 . A more detai l ed study of c onsumer res ource

material available through public and private

s ource s a s well a s of exi st ing methods of

di st ribut i on and sugge st i ons f or improvement .

4 . An inv e st igat i on a s t o l'rhethe r consumers

8 3

are more familiar with select ed t rademarks than

with generic t erms of f ibe r s .

5 . In recent y ears , s everal stat es - New York ,

Pennsylvania , Illino is . and Ohi o -- have

developed curriculum out l ines enc ompas s ing the

life- span approach to c onsume r educat ion .

Such out l ines might b e examined t o det e rmine

at which educat i onal level t op i c s relat ed

t o t ext i l e s end clothing are recommended e nd

whether the recommendat i on s are all- inclusive .

�.. - ....

1 .

2 .

4 .

5 .

__ _______ _6.

7 .

8 .

9 .

1 0 .

11 .

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3 0 . Rodm�:1n , Ell en , " Cent e r f o r C onsume r C omplaint s , " Los Angel e s Time s , Pa�t IV , p . 1 , Oct ob e r 2 0 , 1970 . '-<

........ ---- ------.31 . .Rosen, _ St:uB..rt_.._ _ _I'_H�,shiXlK . .YQl.lr _ $bo e __ Lt=l c e fL and TypeHri t e r Ribb on s , 11 St ore s , May , 197 0 .

32 . S ey f e rt , Wa rren , ed . , " C on sume r Educ8 t i on ­It s N ew Loolt , 11 The Bul l et in of the N:::tt i onal A s sn . o f S e c ondary S ch o ol Princ ipals , 31 : 321 , Oct ob e r , 1 967 .

3 3 . St e in ig e r , Lynn , B . , and Dardi s , Rach e l , " Consumer s ' T ext il e C ompla int s , 11 J ournal

of the 11..me ricar. A s sn . o f T ext i l e Chemi st s and C o l ori st s , 3 : 7 , July , 1971

34 . "Te st s Keep F our Big Cha in s Busy , 11 W omen ' s Wear D� i ly , 1 22 : 38 , June 30 , 1971 .

35 . "Th i s i s N o Way t o Wa sh the C l othe s , " C on sum e r Reno rt s , 33 : 2 , Feb rua ry , 1 96 8 .

36 . Uhl , J o se ph N . , " Consume r Educat i on : Eve ryb ody N e e d s It , 11 Ame r i c8 n Educat i on , 7 : 1 3- 1 7 , J�nua ry -Februa ry , 1971 .

37 . Unit e d Stat e s Code Annot at ed , Tit l e 2 0 , Educat i on ,

·-· _ .... - •.· - -

87

Sub chapt e r VI , " Consume r and Homemaking Educat ion'i West Publi shing Co . , 196 9 .

38 . Voltz , Jeanne , "How t o Prot ect Consume r , " Los ft.ngel e s T i me s , Part IV , p . 1 , Oct ob e r 16 , 1 9 7 0 .

39 . Voltz , J eanne , "Nixon A ide Want s T ruth in Buy ing , " Los Angele s T ime s , Part IV , p . 1 , June 22 , 1970 .

40 . "Why Not Collect Lab el s ? " Consume r Bull et ln , 53 : 9 , S ept emb e r , 1970 .

Booklet s , Pamphlet s

41 . A n Industry Guide for the Voluntarx Improvement of Pe rmana.nt Care Label ing of Consumer Text ile Product s , Wa sh ingt on , D . C . : Ameri can Jl ppa rel Manufa cture rs A s sn . , Inc . , 1 96 8 .

42 . Blum , i1adel ine c . , and McLean , Jean , Shoppe rs ' Ha.ndb ook , Revised ed .• , Itha ca. , N . Y . ; New York Stat e College of Home E c onomi cs , Cornell Un ive rs ity , 196 9 .

43 . Campbell , Sally Ralph , ed . , Money Management : Your Shopping Dolla r , Chi cag o : Money Management Inst itut e , Hous ehold F ina.nce Corp . , 1 96 6 .

44 . Fabric Ca re Guide , J ol iet , Ill . : A me ri can Inst itut e of Laundering .

45 . F ibers for C ont emporary Fabri c s , New York : Celanese F ibers Mark et ing Co . , 1 96 7 .

46 . F ib e rs a nd Fab ri c s , Wa shing t on , D. C . : Nat i onal Bureau of Standa rds , 197 0 .

47 .

48 .

49 .

· Fo rt re s s , F red , 11A F ou r-Way Involvement in the Marketpla ce , " Text il e T op i c s , New Yo rk : Celan e s e F ib e rs Market ing C o . , Wint e r , 1970 .

Guide t o Man-Made F ib e rs , New York : Man-Made Fib e r Producers A s sn . , Inc . , 1970 .

Here i s Your Federal Trade Commi s s i on , Wa shingt on , D . c . , u . s . G ove rnment Print ing Off ic e , 1 96 9 .

88

5 0 . Linden , Fab ian , The C onsumer o f the S event ie s , New York : Nat i onal Indust rial Conf e renc e Board , Inc . , 196 9 .

51 .

52 .

53 .

54 .

55 .

57 .

58 .

Look for That Lab e l , Wa shingt on , D . C . : Federal 'l'rade Comm i s s i on , 196 8 .

Nat i onal Fa i r Cla ims Guide for Consumer 'r ext ile Product s , S i lver Spring s , Md . : Nat i onal Inst itut e of Dry cleaning , 196 9 .

N ixon , Ri cha rd M • • Buye r ' s B tll o f R l ght s - :t<le � saQ:e f rom the Pre sident of the U � S . , Wa shington , D. C . : House of Repre sentat ive s Document 92-52 , Feb ruary 2 5 , 1 9 7 1 .

1 06 Que st i ons and Answe rs Re lat ing t o Text il e F iber Product s Ident i f i cat ion A ct and Regulat i ons , Washington , D . C . , 1 966 .

Que st i ons and P nswe rs P bout the Wool Mark of Quality , New York : The Wool Bureau , Inc .

Rule s and Re�ulat i ons Unde r the T ext ile F ib e r Product s Ident i f i cat i on Jl ct , Hashingt on , D . C . , Federal Trade Comm i s sion , 1966 and 197 0 .

Thompson , Thelma , £:abrics Worth Not ing Seri e s ( 1-4 ) , Berke l ey , Cali f . ; Unive rsity of. Cal if ornia , Agri cult ural Ext ens i on S erv i ce , 1964.

Will iams , Nad elyn , a.nd Schappe , Jane , Shopping Clue s for Fab ri c Ca re , Rev . e d . , B e rkeley : Unive rsity of California , A g ricultural Ext en s i on S e rv i ce , 1 968 *

ERIC M i c rofi ch e and Unpubli shed Mat erials

59. Bail ey , Lena , " Rev i ew and Synthe s i s on Consumer Homemaking Educat i on , " Inf ormat i on S e ri e s No . 3 3 . Columbus : Ohi o S tat e Univers ity , 1971 .

6 0 . "The New Approach t o Consumer Educat i on , " Proceedings of the F irst Reg i onal Confe rence on Con sume r Educati on , Yon1cers , N . Y . : Lincoln High S chool , Narch 1 5 , 1 96 8 , p . 2 8 .

6 1 . MoEachra.n , Ailsa Eve lyn , 11A S tudy of the Consumer ' s - Knowledge of Yardag e Fab ri c Informat i on , " unpubl i shed Na sters • the s is , Oreg on Stat e Univers ity , June , 1962 .

6 2 . Nava , Jul i an . Off i c ia l corre spond enc e from Mayor Sam Yorty t o Dr . Nava , ds.t ed May 21 , 1971 .

6 3 . Robb , A r..n Nagg s , " C onsumer Knowl edge of Hou s ehold Lab e l ing T e rm s ,11 unpub l i shed }'last e r s ' the s i s , Unive rs ity of Mi s s ouri , Augu s t , 196 8 .

8 9

'·" . -

APPENDI CES :

A Que s t ionnaire #1

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _B ____ �ue s tJ. .. onnai re #2

C Que s t i onnaire #3

'·" _.r-

90

9 1

APPEN DI X A

Que s t i onnai r e #1

Thi s que s t i onnai re i s d e s i gned t o reve a l what you kno w abo u t wo rd <;, and phra s e s found o n l ab e l s a t t ached t o t e xt i l e pro duc t s . I n addi t i o n , w e wan t t o d e t e rmine your fami li ari ty wi th the provi s i o n s o f' t e xt i l e lab e l ing l egi s l a t i o n d e s i gned to pro t e c t yo u . Finally , we would like t o find out i f' you kno w of' l o c a l , s t a t e and fede ral agen c i e s to whi ch you may regi s t e r complai n t s about un s a t i s fa c t o ry t e xt i l e produc t s .

P e r sonal In fo rma t i o n .1 .

2 .

J .

Age group o f re spondent 18- 2 2

2 J- JO

J l - J 5

J6- 4o

41 or over

Sex Mal e

Female

Mari-t a l S t atus ___ _

a . SINGLE ( never marri e d , l iving at home ,

no t re spo n s i b l e fo r s e l e c t i on and c are of' o wn c l o thing )

b . SINGLE ( never marri e d , re spo n s ib l e f'o r s e l e c t i o n and c are o f' o wn c l o thing )

c . SINGLE ( never marr i e d � fo rmer ly mar­r i e d wi th some re spo n s i b i l i ty f'o r s e l e c t i on and c are o f fami ly t e xt i l e s and c lo thing )

d . MARRIED ( wi th chi ldren )

e . MARRIED ( no chi ldren)

Educ a t i o n

9 2

1 . Level in c o l l e ge

FRE SHMAN

SOPHOMORE

JUNI OR

SENI OR

GRADUATE

2 . Maj o r Min o r

J . ( a } Have you had previ o u s cour s e s i n Home Economi c s ?

Y e s ----

No ____ _

I f y e s , whe re ? juni o r hi gh ------

high s cho o l ------

------c o l l ege

I f ye s , was there any e mpha s i s on con­sumer educat i o n i n t e xt i l e s and c l o thing?

____ none ____ some much ----

(b ) Have yo u had any o the r c o n sume r e duc a t i on c l as s ?

_______ G i rl Scout s 4u -----

____ YWCA _______ O t he r ( Li s t } none

---

Di d any o f t he s e c l a s se s e xpo s e you t o a n analy s i s o f t e xt i l e lab e l ing?

Ye s ---

___ .No

4 . Do you s el e c t fabri c fo r c o n s tru c t i on i n t o garm en t s ?

Ye s ---

No ---

I f y e s , do you r e ad manufac ture r s ' label s on bol t s o f fabri c ?

alway s s ome t im e s ----

----o ft en n ever

Do you r e ad manufa c tur e r s '' l ab e l s o n the garmen t s you buy ?

----a lways some t ime s

o ft en n ever ----

93

· Te xt i le Pro du c t Lab e l i ng Terms

Have you ever s e en the �o l l o wing t e rms on e i ther a garment l ab e l or a bo l t o � �abri c ?

I � YES , what do you think the t e rm mean s ? I � meaning i s unknown , che ck UNKNOWN .

TERM . HAVE SEEN TEH� MEANING UNKNOWN Ye s No

1 . p e rmanent �

pre s s

2 . r e s i dual shrinkage

J . nylon

4 . doub l e kni t

5 · comb e d co t t o n

6 . po lye s t e r

7 . Mon s an t o " We ar Dat e d "

8 . s p onged & shrunk

9 . San�o r i zedR

1 0 . �ibe r�i l l - - ..

11 . o l e �i n

12 . 9�% repro c e s s-e d woo l , 4% o th e r �ib e r s

1 J . s o i l re l e a s e

14 . wash�a s t

15 . �lax

16 . RN67 4 2 1

17 . 100% t e xt ur e d po lye s t e r

18 . a bonded �abri c

19 . C e lane s e R

ac e ta t e

20 . 1 00% ac e t a t e '

t r i c o t �

·-· _.,._

94

C o n sum e r Legi s l a t i o n P l e a s e an s we r t he fo l l o wing by c i rc l i ng o n e

l e t t e r !rue , Fal s e , Qon ' t Kno w

T F D

T F D

T F D

T F D

T F D

T F D

T F D

T F D

T F D

1 . Te x t i l e pro duc t s you buy mus t b e l abe l e d wi th fib e r c o n t en t by p e r c ent ag e and gene ri c ( fami ly ) name .

2 . Text i l e pro duc t s you buy mus t be l ab e l e d wi t h c are in s t ru c t i on s .

J . The manufac tur e r ' s name o r regi s t e red numbe r mu s t appe ar o n the produ c t .

4 . I t i s l e gal t o dramat i ze the n ame o f a fur produc t . Fo r exampl e , dye d skunk may b e c a l l e d " Al a ska Sable . "

5 . I f a garm e n t has a lining and i n t e rlining , fibe r c o n t en t o f the i n t e rli ning ne ed no t be s t at e d .

6 . I mpo r t e d t e x t i l e pro duc t s mu s t give the name o f the c o un t ry whe r e manufac tured or pro c e s s e d .

7 . The Fl ammabl e Fabri c s Ac t s e t s fl ammabi li ty s t and ard s fo r al l t e xt i l e pro duc t s .

8 . I t i s l egal t o t ran s fe r fabri c from one bo l t t o ano ther wi thout t ran s ferring labe ling i n fo rm at i on pro vided by t he manufac ture r .

9 . S t a t emen t s c on c e rning po t e n t i al shrinkage are requi r e d by l aw .

T F D 10 . I f a garment such a s a shi r t i s s o l d t o you in a s e al e d con t aine r wi th the requi red l abeling i n fo rma t i o n imprin t ed on t he con t ain­e r , fur the r lab e ling on the garmen t i s no t requi re d .

'·· _.-•-

-.· - -

9 5

Agenc i e s : C o n sume r Int e re s t

The r e are �ederal , s t a t e and l o c al governmen t agenc i e s whi ch r e c e ive con sum e r compl ain t s and i nve s t i ga t e po s s i b l e indu s t ry vi o la t i o n s o � current l aws rel a t e d t o the manu�ac ture , l abel­ing and sale of t e xt i l e me rchandi s e . Also , many vo lun t ary privat e c i t i zen groups who s e aim i s t o �o s t e r con sumer educ at i o n and legi s l a t i o n , are gro wing i n numb e r throughou t the coun try .

The l i s t b e l o w i n c lude s the name s o � bo t h gov e rnmen t al and non-governmen t al agenc i e s r e spo n s i v e t o publ i c n e e d s . P l e a s e che ck t ho s e you kno w t o b e l egi t im a t e con sum e r i n t e r e s t agenc i e s now in op erat i o n nat ionally o r in the s t a t e o � C al i �orni a .

1 . Be t t e r Bus i n e s s Bure au

2 . Cali �orn i a Trade Standard s O ��i c e

J . The C al i fo rn i a S t a t e De partme n t o � Con sume r Pro t e c t i on

4 . C al i �o rn i a Jo i n t Law Enfo rc ement C o n sume r Pro t e c t i o n Commi t t e e

5 . The As s o c i a t i on o � Cali �orni a · Consumers

6 . O f�i c e o � the Spe c i al As s i s t an t t o t h e Pre s i de n t �o r Consume r Affa i r s

7 . C a l i fo rni a Hou s ewive s Enc ouraging Consume r Knowl e dge ( CHECK ) ·

8 . Federal Trade Commi s s i o n

9 . u . s . Chambe r o f Commer c e

lO . The u . s . Department o f' Con sumer Sal e s & W e i gh t s & Measure s

11 . C o n sume r s Uni o n

· ; 1 2 . C o n sumer Fraud Divi s i on , C a l i �orn i a

CHECK LEGITIMATE AGENCIES

1 . ___ _

2 . ___ _

J . ----

4 . ___ _

5 . ___ _

6 . ____ _

? . ___ _

8 . ___ _

9 . ___ _

10 . ----11 . ___ _

At t o rney Gene ral ' s Offi c e 1 2 . ----

'·" --

APPENDIX B

Que s ti onnai re #2

LAR[l,IfiG A'/ID LEGISLATION

Ass ignment :

1 . Review Text* p p . 26-29 , 30-3 1 , 111-1 1 3 Read Chapter 3 4

2 . In a s t ore o f your choic2 , examine l abe l s on 3 ready-made garment s , incl uding one o f a s i ngle fiber , one blend , one o f wool .

In a fabr i c shop or in the fabric section of a department store, examine labe l s of 4 bol ts of fabric ( including one o f wool . }

Object ives : To l earn:

a. whether the manufacturer o f the average garment or bol t o f fabric l abel s products according to l egal requirement s .

b. whether care procedures on l abel s ( information not legal ly required} are adequate for �h2 average consumer .

INTRODUCTION

The text a s s i gnment above wi l l help you judge whether the garments and �l t s o f fabric you choo s e - to inve s t i gate are adequately l abeled according �o 1 aw. In addi t i o n , l i s t ed on the next page and def ined brieily are terms related to care frequen t l y found on labels and hangtags . This care guide was produced by the Consumer A f fairs Commi t t ee , Ameri can Apparel t!anu facturers Assn . , and i s a condensed version o f "A Voluntary Guide for Improved and fe�nent Care Label ing o f Consumer Texti l e Products . " The latter wfs ��veloped by an Industry Advisory Co��ittee for Texti le InfoDRat ion.

The gl ossary o f care t e rms inc l uded i n the Guide i s an attE10pt to establ ish uniform care terminology . Use o f the sugge s t ed wording and care

---�--- labeling o f any kind is s t i l l a vol<;ntary ma t ter . However , both Casper Weinberger , head of the Federal Trade Conmission nnd �Ir s . Virginia Knauer , fresident Nixon ' s a s s i s tant for consumer a f fai rs , have urged an of fici a l �rade re�ulat ion requiring mandatory washi n g and cleaning instructions on "extil es •

To date , though industry genera l l y recognizes a need fc., informed , .satis fied consumers , sugge s t i ons for mandatory care l abel ing tave met �onsiderable oppos i t ion. Reasons given range from e cono;nic cons iderations �o a reluct ance to a ccept any kind of .;;overnment coutro l . On the o ther nand , many o f the l arger producers of f ibers , fabri c s and garments L�e the G�ide to hel p them l abe l products e f fe c t ive l y . They do empha s i ze , ho.,.,v-er , that for labe l ing to be rea l l y e f fe c tive ,- the consumer must read , under�tand and f o l low

the instructions given . By reading the l abe l s and fol l owing directions you should begin to associate genera l care rules wi th f iber conlent and f i n i s h . Moreover . i f you f o l l ow di rections a n d the fabric or gac-mt:'nt ..&.-t e s n o t p�r lon'l:t sat i s factori ly , you wi l l have a legitiwatt" c.ornplaint foz the .:.tore or l"'lnufacturer .

��jory L . Joseph , Introductory Text i l e Scienc�. New York : Holt , R inehart & fl�nston, 1966.

� · �ef . Texti le Topi c s , Winte� , 1970 J ��� · Tex t i l e Month , Feb . 1970, P • 41

9 6

CONSUMER CARE GUIDE FOR APPA REL This Guide is

" made nvnilnblc to

help you underst:md and follow the brief care instructions found

on permanent bbcls on gnr­men ts. De sure to rend nll cnrc instructions!

-

W H H! LAm RHOS: Wa�al:ll• Machine washable

Homo laund•r onlv

No bleach

No starch

Cold wash Cold setting

I Cold rir,�e

UJ LUkewarm wa'!oh ...J "" Warm wash q; = Warm setting <I> ct. Warm rinse :: w :a: Mcc!ium wash

G Mcdi1.0m setting <:( �

Hot wash Hot setting

No spin

Delicate cyc�e Gentle cyclo

Durable

I press cycte

L Permanent

pre� cyde

Wash sepJrate!y

Jl#j} .1 �\

IT M EANS: Wash, �leach, dry and press by any custom·

ary m�thoU im:luding commercial laundering

Same as above but do not usc commercial laundering

Do not usc bleach

Do not usc starch

Usc cold w.,tcr from tap or cold washing machine setting

Usc wann water (hand comfortable) 90° to 1 J o• Fahrenheit

Usc warm water (medium WJshing rn�chinc setting) 1 10• to 130• fahrenheit

Usc hot water (hot washing machine setting} 1 30° Fahr�nhcit or hotter

Remove wash load before final machine spin cycle

Usc approprh•tc machine setting; otherwise wash by hand

Usc appropriate machine �ttin!j; otherwise us.c medium wash, cold rinse and shmt spin cycle

Wash alone or with like colors

-WBnl LJ\BEL READS:

w Hand washablo !!: .., Wash by hand � !::

Hand wash only <:( :0: "" "' "':' <:( Hand wosh S(:paratc!y g ::: ;: No blcilch Tum btu dry M:H:hinu Ury

!-- --··· ··-·-Tumble dry

C) r::ct,'\C,\1•! promptly z 1---··· :: Drip dry cc lbr'!!.) c.hy c::. Lin(! dry UJ � No :.quc.:-zo 0 = 1\!u wrina

�Jo tvJist f----· ---

Dry flat r------·· ··-

mock to dry

C) Coot iron 2 ;;; W\lrm iron "' UJ

Hot iron cc "'- !---------· 0: No iron 0 No prl!ss t:> 2 Steam iron 7- Stc�m prcn 0 e: Iron domp

;g Pr;c:\:�n only r '"''"'

� -P;olt::.:�Ol�;lly � c:!t.,;o\1� onty j Co;nmcrci;::lly � �:con only � - . :..: No dryc!c.ln

I

IT M EANS: Launder only b y hand in warm water. May be bleached. M�y be dryclcancd

Same as above, but do not dryclcan

!land wash alone or w ith like colors

Do not usc blench Dry in tutnh!c drJ cr :1t sp�!ciricd scuing .. high, m�dium, low nr no heat

Same a� �1bo\'c, but in ab!:l.!ncc of cnol�Uvwn cydc r�movc Lll once when tumblill£, Sh)p5

l l"ng we! and "ll<>w to dry with hand shap·

I ing only

"·"< "''· ,,. "" 0< ,, "" '"" � L1y g:mncnt ()!\ 11.11 !iurfacc

t-.Ltnl l.!il\ 01 ���tnat !ltzc attd �h:tpl! wht!c drying

Set iron at lowest setting I Set iron at medium setting

Set iron at hot setting ··-

Do not iron or pres, with heat

Iron or preS> with steam

Dampen garment before ironing

Ganncnt should be Jrycbncd only ·-·

Do not usc s�:lf-�t!rvicc dryclcaning

Usc rc-commcn<lrd �:uc instructions. No dry-dc.tniH� materials to bt; used.

"fhit Cafo Guido was produced by tho Consumet AHLain. Gomminee, A mer Lean App;uel Manufacturera A.I'VC:iation

Copyright t:JC9. l'hq ArruulcOJ.n App.�t"l Manulxturcrs ksoci:�tio,., Inc. !lilA \0 -..]

QUESTIONNAIRE

GARMENTS (3} - including one o f a s ingle fiber, one b lend , one of wool .

1 . List garments examined ; include fibe r - content

··-------------------------------------------------------

'b . ______________ __

c .

2 . Were the labels securely attached to these garments?

.. b. c.

� ti2.

3. How were the labels attached1

ewn in pinned plastic l ink on thru fabric

( 1 ) (2) ( 3) . .

b .

c .

a t t ached t o a s t rin� and ..-r·apped around a bu t ton (4)

o ther (be specific}

(5)

Of the labeling methods examine d , which do you prefer? Why? Circle one

� 1 2 3 4 5 Why? ________________________________________ __

4. Did label i nclude the generic name o f the fiber? or trademark of either the fiber or the fabric? n�e or FTC file number?

the company tradename the garment manufacturer ' s

generic nrune company tradename ga.rment ma.nutacturer s ( 1 } or trademark ( 2 ) name or FTC file nllmber (3)

es No Yes No Y.es No . .

b .

c: .

�tich a r e required by law? 1 2 3

9 8

What value can you see in knowing both the gener ic name of the fiber(s) and the manufacturer or his trademark?

5. On the garment of wool , vas the type of wool used clearly identified, according to the requirements summarized on p . 1 13 o f the text? Yes No. ________ __

a. If yes , what type of wool vas used? __________________________________ __

What does this mean?--------------------------------------------------

6. Did labels include care procedures? �: I

Yes No

A. Copy care directions her e : (I f more space i s needed continue on reverse Gide} CARE DIRECTIONS

.,.�en!;_{ a)

.

_ MIJ!!�!!Uhl___ f---'!." rme n t c

� a. Do you consider the direct ions clear and adequate for propar care of the

garments in question?

99

-

B. (:Ontinued

a .

b.

c .

If no, what changes in word ing do you sugges t ? OR

If care d irections were non-exis tent for a part i cul ar garment , refer to the Care Guide on page 2 and suggest care procedures for that item.

Suggested Changes Suiiested Label ini

c. If you should purchase one of these garments and fol lowed the care direct ions care full y , but i t d i d not per form sat i s factorily, to whom or to which agenci es would you register a complaint?

1101 1'S OF FABRIC: (Four)

1. Copy information found on each label . I f more space is needed , use reverse side . LABEL I NFORI'!ATION

Fabric( a)

Fabric (b)

Fabric ( c)

Fabric {d)

100

Fabric (a)

2. If suggested care procedures were not on the l abel , name fiber content , fabric s tructure and finish, i f any;-and outl ine . care procedures you would like to see on the label

Fiber Fabric Structure Finish Suggested Content ( t i ght , medium, Care

loose weave)

Fabric (b)

Fabric (c)

Fabric (d)

3. If properly cared for ( l aundered or dry cleaned) how would you rate the probable d imensional stabi l i ty of the fabric? (Think of fiber content fabric structure and/or fini sh)

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d) ·-

Exce l lent

Probable Dimensional Stability

Good Poor

1 0 1

Fabric

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

4. Because of fiber content and/or finish, can you expect your fabrics to h�ve high , medium or low resiliency?

Resiliency

Excel lent Good Poor

S. If you consider fiber content and fabric structure , what· can you expect in wearing comfo�t? (Think in ter;$ of air permeabi l ity, moisture absorption, vickab i l i ty and abrasiveness . )

Wearing Comfort

Fiber Fabric Hoisture Wick - Air Abrasive- Overal l Content Struc t . Absorp . abil ity Perme- ness (very Comfort

abi l i ty smooth , smooth1 @70°F , 357. RR (Indicate each as E • , gd • • rough) ( ex . , gd . , pr . )

pr . )

6. I f you consider fiber content , fabric structure and finish , what can you expect in durabil i t y (resistance to wear ) ?

Resistance to Wear

Excellent Good Poor

102

APPENDI X C

Qu e s t i onnai re #J

l O J

, In s t ruc t i o n s :

I .

PLEASE CHECK THE PROPER C O LUMN ON THE RIGHT , !?.£• whe r e appli c ab l e , ANSl¥ER IN YOUR OWN WORDS .

1 . In the pas t two ye ars have you purchas e d t e xt i l e go o d s ( fabri c o r re ady-made i t ems ) that l a t e r proved defe c t ive ?

2 . I f � ' did you r e turn the i t em to the pla c e o f purchas e ?

J . I f � ' why d i d you no t re t urn the i t em ?

4 . I £ � ' was the cl e rk o r s to r e manag e r : a . cour t eou s ? b . wi ll ing t o e xchange

the i t em or re fund c o s t ?

Ye s No

5 . I£ you re c e i v e d no s a t i s fa c t i o n at the s to r e , d i d you regi s t e r a c omplaint wi th any agency ? ___

6 . I £ � · whi c h agen cy di d you c o n t ac t ?

7 . We re you h e l pe d ?

B . I £ ye s , pl e a s e summari ze i n c i dent bri e fly . Include appro xima t e d a t e o £ thi s o c curren c e .

II . Ye s No

1 . When you are parti cul arly p l e a s e d wi th a t e x t i l e pro duc t , do you ever ment ion thi s £ac t t o a s al e s c l e rk o r s t o re manage r ?

2 . Have you ever wri t t en t o a garment o r fabri c manufa c ture r c ompl iment i ng him upon hi s produc t ?

104

I I I . 1 . I f you wer e preparing a curri culum outl ine fo r a l l

grade s , a t whi ch l eve l o r l evel s woul d y o u inc lude the fo ll owing c o n c e p t s r e l a t e d to consum e r e duc a t i o n i n t e xt i l e s ?

PLEASE USE THE APPROPRIATE LETTER TO INDI CATE THE EDUCATIONAL LEVEL AT WHICH YOU WOULD I NTRODUCE EACH TOPIC .

A = Grad e s 1- 6

B = Grade s 7-9 C = Grad e s 1 0-1 2 D = C o l l eg e

____ generi c n ame s o f fib e r s

f i b e r chara c t e ri s t i c s

an analys i s o f yarn and fabri c s t ru c ture ---

cho i c e o f fabri c s fo r di ffer e n t end u s e s

----�probab l e p e r fo rman c e o f fabri c s in wea r and care

t e rms r e l a t e d t o care of di fferent fabri c s ---

____ e ffe c tive us e o f c ar e pro duc t s such a s d e t e rgent s , e t c .

m e aning o f t erms found on fabri c and garmen t l ab e l s ---

____ c o n sumer c lo thing problems

s tain r emoval ---

____ t e x t i l e l ab e l ing r equi remen t s

---a revi ew o f a l l l egi s l a t ion covering manufa c tur e , i mpo r t , adver t i sing and l ab e ling o f t e xt i l e s

t radename s and t r ademark s -

____ i ndu s t ry q ua l i ty c o n t ro l and guaran t e e program s

____ a s tudy o f sourc e s o f c o n sum e r i n fo rma t i on such a s

Man-Made Fib e r Produ c e r s Assn.' s Man- Made Fiber Fac t Bo ok

a d i s cus s i o n o f c o n sumer r i gh t s and re spon s ibi li t i e s ---

a s tudy o f c o mp arat ive c o s t o f r e ady-made and home ---

s ewn i t em s

2 . Di d you find t h e l ab e l ing and l egi s l at i on que s ti onnaire a s s i gnmen t u s e ful ? Ye s ____ No

J . If a s i mi l ar , pe rhap s s impl i fi ed ver s i on were u s e d in high s cho o l , a t whi ch leve l would such a fi e ld s tudy be mo s � valuabl e :

l O th grade ==:1 1 th grade __ 1 2 th grade

--· _.,._

ADDENDUM

Sinc e the f'inal typing o f' thi s s tudy , the

Federal Trade Commi s si on has i s sued a Trade

Regul a t i on Rul e making mandat o ry the c are

l abe l i ng o f' t e x t i l e we aring appare l . Pi e c e

go o d s s o l d o v e r t h e coun t e r f'o r c o nve r s i on

by the c o n sumer in t o l'le aring appare l mu s t

al s o b e a c c o mpani ed by a l ab e l o r t ag whi ch

furni she s i n s t ruc t i o n s f'o r c are and mai nt enan c e

o f' the garme n t . Thi s ruling i s t o b e come

e f'f'e c t ive July J , 1972 • .

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