Assessment of Clothing Care Label Instruction Adherence in Clothing Care by Female Civil Servants in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State

Adherence to clothing care label instruction in clothing care by Female Civil Servants (FCS) in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State was studied. The study population comprised Female Civil Servants categorized as women in academics (WA) and those in administrative positions (WAP) in Nsukka LGA. Stratified random sampling technique was adopted to select 160 subjects. Data were collected using questionnaire and analyzed with descriptive statistics. Chi Square (X2) and t-test statistics tested two hypotheses of the study at 0.05 probability level. Findings reveal that majority of that (93.8%) buy ready to wear garments with care label, 45.2% read care label instructions. None of the FCS (0%) was given or shown care information or instruction when buying fabrics by the yard; none of the 34 identified clothing care label instructions was strictly adhered to by the respondents. There were no significant differences (P>.05) in percentage responses of women in academics (WA) and those in administrative positions (WAP) on adherence to washing (p=0.47), bleaching (p=0.80), dry cleaning (p=0.42), drying (p=0.52) and ironing (p=0.56) at 0.05 level of significance. About 30 problems militating against effective adherence to clothing care label instructions in clothing care by the respondents were identified. There were no significant differences (P>.05) in the mean responses of working class women in academics and those in administrative positions on problems relating to washing (p=0.49), bleaching (p-0.57), dry cleaning (p=0.49), drying (p=0.41), ironing (p=0.43) and manufacturer/fabric sellers’ (p=0.25) care label instruction adherence in clothing carel. Based on the result, it was concluded that Clothing care adherence saves a lot of damage on clothing. Care label instructions were not adhered to by FCS precipitating to 43 identified clothing care instruction adherence related problems encountered in clothing care. Based on the above findings, recommendations were made for clothing and textile manufacturers, retailers and clothing consumers.