Hello all!
I am planning on selling some crochet items online and am not sure what certification is needed to do so.
I know that with toys/plushes things need to be UKCA/CE certified but don’t know whether the same applies for hair accessories/clothing (mainly for people over 16).
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
I spent my life designing , making and selling crochet…mostly children’s and adult’s jumpers and clothing.
I also did many craft fairs and it is important to have wash care labels on everything, although the trading standards officer told me that it was OK. to enclose a leaflet with the instructions.
He also said that you must put the fibre content of each garment, although again, if your item has lots of different fibres, you were OK to put “mixed fibres”, or even “Fibre content unknown”
Lots of people have allergies to fibres so you need to cover yourself by showing this information.
I have never made toys but as you quite rightly say, these have to be CE tested…I am not altogether sure about knitted items that are not toys. Some people put “This is not a toy and is unsuitable for children under 3 years of age”…but someone else might know more about that side of things…You might need to check…and of course you must never sell knitted or crocheted items with copyrighted images on them.(Harry Potter etc ) Even if you have bought a pattern you cannot sell these items without permission or a licence…
Thank you so much, this is so useful!
I. Read up about CE for soft toys, even if you don’t market them as toys they do still need certification, you can get a self certification pack, sorry I lost the link. And it would be a good idea to get public liability, just in case someone were to make a claim for allergic reaction or something.
I know the US has quite strict requirements for labelling if you want to sell there - this is a useful site with info about other countries too Garment Labelling Requirements for Clothing (Full Guide) | Sewport
and ETA this seems to be the most recent version of the UK government’s guidance on labelling Labelling of textiles | Business Companion
Hi, that was a great question and very useful reply for me too, I hadn’t even considered labelling for selling at Craft Fairs, thank you both!
Very useful information, thank you!