GOST 16958-71 PDF

Full title and description

GOST 16958-71 — "Изделия текстильные. Символы по уходу" (Textiles — Symbols for care). The standard establishes conventional graphical care symbols and their meanings for washing, bleaching, ironing, dry‑cleaning and drying, plus rules for their manufacture, application and placement on textile products and labels.

Abstract

GOST 16958-71 specifies the set of pictograms (care symbols) used to indicate recommended and prohibited care actions for textile articles. It defines primary symbols for washing, bleaching, ironing, chemical cleaning and drying, additional explanatory marks (temperature, mechanical action, restrictions), recommended sequence and placement on the label, and basic requirements for contrast and durability of the marking. The standard was adopted in the USSR and is aligned with corresponding COMECON/SEV recommendations.

General information

• Status: Active / in force (interstate standard adopted in USSR; restrictions on validity later lifted).
• Publication date: Adopted by decision of the State Committee for Standards (Gosstandart) on 11 May 1971; date of introduction into force 1 January 1973. Amendment No.1 approved March 1980.
• Publisher: Issued as an interstate standard under the authority of the State Committee for Standards of the USSR (Gosstandart) — currently maintained in Russian information bases and catalogues of GOST documents (Rosstandart heritage).
• ICS / categories: ICS 59.080 (Textiles — care and maintenance).
• Edition / version: Original designation GOST 16958-71 with Amendment No.1 (issued March 1980).
• Number of pages: Commonly published as a short document (typically 3 pages in many archival copies); some catalog entries list expanded or formatted copies up to 7 pages.

Scope

This standard applies to textile products and prescribes graphical care symbols and their interpretation for the main care operations: washing (including machine and hand wash, temperatures and mechanical action), bleaching (permitted or prohibited, chlorine/non‑chlorine), ironing (temperature/steam limits), chemical (professional) cleaning with specified solvent types, and drying after washing (methods and restrictions). It also covers rules for symbol appearance, placement and combinations when multiple care instructions are required.

Key topics and requirements

• Definition of primary care symbols for washing, bleaching, ironing, chemical cleaning and drying.
• Additional marks that modify primary symbols (temperature indicators, limits on mechanical action, hand‑wash only, do not wash, etc.). (xn-----6kcbaeeywflm3c1andac1au8v.xn--p1ai)
• Rules for sequence and combination of symbols on labels (recommended order: washing → bleaching → ironing → chemical cleaning → drying). (xn-----6kcbaeeywflm3c1andac1au8v.xn--p1ai)
• Requirements for contrast, durability and method of applying symbols (label tape or directly on the article); each item in a set must bear its own care symbols. (xn-----6kcbaeeywflm3c1andac1au8v.xn--p1ai)
• Compatibility and equivalence notes relative to COMECON/SEV care symbol recommendations (standard correspondence noted in the text).

Typical use and users

Manufacturers and finishers of textile goods (clothing, household textiles), private‑labelers and retailers, quality and compliance personnel, testing and certification bodies, professional laundries and dry‑cleaners, and regulatory authorities use this standard to define and interpret care instructions applied to textile products. Textile technologists and label designers rely on it to ensure consistent, machine‑readable and user‑understandable care information.

Related standards

GOST 16958-71 is historically related to COMECON/SEV recommendations (СТ СЭВ 1729-79) and to later national/adopted standards addressing care labelling such as national adoptions of ISO 3758 (care labelling) and subsequent GOST/GOST‑R documents (for example care‑labelling standards adopted or harmonized later). For modern implementation, users should also consult GOST R / ISO care‑labelling documents that may be used alongside or in place of older Soviet‑era interstate texts.

Keywords

GOST 16958-71, textile care symbols, care labelling, washing symbols, bleaching symbols, ironing symbols, dry‑cleaning symbols, drying symbols, Gosstandart, care instructions.

FAQ

Q: What is this standard?

A: GOST 16958-71 is an interstate (USSR) standard that defines conventional graphical symbols and their meanings for the care of textile articles — how items should be washed, bleached, ironed, dry‑cleaned and dried.

Q: What does it cover?

A: It covers the set of primary pictograms and explanatory marks (temperatures, mechanical action limits, prohibitions), rules for combining and sequencing symbols on labels, and basic requirements for the manufacture, contrast and attachment of care symbols on textile products and their labels. (xn-----6kcbaeeywflm3c1andac1au8v.xn--p1ai)

Q: Who typically uses it?

A: Textile manufacturers, label designers, retailers, laundries and dry‑cleaners, testing and certification bodies, and regulators — anyone who needs to apply or interpret standardized care instructions for textile goods.

Q: Is it current or superseded?

A: The document remains available as an interstate GOST text and archival copies are treated as in force in Russian information systems; the restriction on its period of validity was removed and Amendment No.1 (1980) was issued. However, many jurisdictions and manufacturers now refer to later national adoptions of ISO care‑labelling rules (for example GOST R / ISO implementations). Users should check national/regional legislation and current Rosstandart catalogues for any more recent, officially adopted replacements or harmonized versions.

Q: Is it part of a series?

A: It is an individual interstate standard addressing care symbols but is formally linked to related textile standards (marking, labelling and material‑specific technical specifications) and noted as corresponding to COMECON/SEV recommendations (СТ СЭВ 1729‑79). It is commonly listed among normative references in other textile GOST documents.

Q: What are the key keywords?

A: Care symbols, washing, bleaching, ironing, dry‑cleaning, drying, textile labelling, GOST 16958-71.