Under the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act, the Wool Products Labeling Act (Wool Act), and their accompanying rules, there is a three percent tolerance for fiber content claims on labels. For example, if the label indicates that a product contains 40 percent cotton, the actual amount of cotton present may vary from 37 percent to 43 percent of the total fiber weight. However, knowing misrepresentations of fiber content are prohibited. The tolerance simply allows for a small amount of unintended inconsistency in the manufacturing process. Deviations larger than three percent constitute mislabeling, unless the company can prove that it was the result of unavoidable variations in manufacturing, despite the exercise of due care.

No tolerance is allowed if the label states that a product contains one fiber (exclusive of allowed amounts of ornamentation or decorative trim). For example, if a blouse contains 97 percent silk and three percent polyester, the blouse cannot label be labeled "100% silk" based on the three percent tolerance. The three percent polyester was intentionally added to the fabric. Therefore, labeling the blouse "100% silk" would be intentional mislabeling.

Wool Products

The Wool Act and rules do not provide any tolerance for the content of wool products. However, the Wool Act states that variations from stated fiber content will not be considered mislabeling if the deviation has resulted from unavoidable variations in manufacture and despite the exercise of due care to make accurate the statements on the label. The Federal Trade Commission has stated that it will apply the three percent tolerance allowed for other textile products to wool products.

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