An RFID label sewn into a garment goes through the washer (water and detergent), the dryer (heat) and the iron (pressure and high heat), one after another. RFID-X is a sewn-in label designed to be waterproof and heat-resistant, with NFC (13.56MHz) and UHF (860–960MHz) on a single dot-sized chip. How many washes it lasts depends on the fabric and the wash conditions, so when you evaluate it, we test it under your actual conditions.
Why washing is hard
Water, detergent, spinning and heat test the label in turn
In the washer, the label is soaked in water and detergent and shaken hard in the spin cycle. In the dryer it takes hot air, and under the iron, pressure and high heat. The chip and antenna have to come through all of this without breaking.
Hang tags come off; sewn-in labels stay on the garment
Hard tags removed at checkout and hang tags removed before the garment is worn never go through the wash. A label sewn inside the garment stays with it for as long as the shopper wears and washes it, so it has to be built to withstand washing from the start.
Attaching labels by hand doesn't scale
Even with a label that survives washing, volume production is hard if someone has to attach it to each garment by hand. So we also developed a way to attach labels automatically on the sewing line, and registered it as a patent.
How RFID-X is built
NFC and UHF on one dot-sized chip
One chip connects to both an NFC coil and a UHF antenna. Shoppers read the label over NFC by holding a phone to it, while stores and logistics teams read it over UHF with handheld readers or gates, counting many garments at once.
Sewn inside the garment as a neck label or care label
It isn't a separate part added on; it becomes the garment's own label. Designed to be waterproof and heat-resistant, it is washed and dried along with the garment.
Specifications
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Frequency | NFC 13.56MHz + UHF 860–960MHz on one chip |
| Form | Sewn-in label, stitched inside the garment as a neck or care label |
| Durability | Waterproof, heat-resistant design |
| Wash cycles | Depends on fabric and wash conditions, so we test under real conditions |
| Read by | NFC with a shopper's phone, UHF with handheld, fixed and ceiling readers and gates |
| Read range | Varies with reader, antenna and store environment, so it's measured on site |
| Production | Sewn in with the garment at +82FACTORY (Geumcheon, Seoul). We also supply labels to other factories |
How to test
We determine wash life under real conditions
The same label can give different results depending on the fabric, the wash temperature and whether a dryer is used. So instead of promising a single number, we take the garments you'll use and your wash conditions, and test under those conditions.
- Send garments and conditionsTell us the fabric, the wash temperature and whether the garments are tumble-dried or ironed.
- Sew in placeWe sew the label exactly where it will go, as a neck label or care label.
- Wash and dryWe repeat washing, drying and ironing exactly to the conditions you gave us.
- Read NFC and UHF separatelyWe read it with a phone and with a reader, then look at both results together.
Related patents
| Registration no. | Title | Registration date |
|---|---|---|
| 10-2787573 | Washable RFID tag for apparel data | Mar 24, 2025 |
| 10-2745325 | Automatic attachment of RFID tags and garment management system using RFID tags | Dec 17, 2024 |
| 10-1993817 | RFID tag fiber | Jun 21, 2019 |
See all 7 registered patents →
Sources for this article
Specifications and patent details for RFID-X are provided by KOREANFRIENDS. You can look up each patent by registration number in KIPRIS, the Korean Intellectual Property Office's patent search service (kipris.or.kr)
