Producing clothing in a factory each season is a nuisance under the best of circumstances. When that clothing is meant to be sustainable, that nuisance becomes a nightmare, at least for the greenhorn designer. Now I’ve belatedly learned that I need to get fabric care labels, which are required by FTC law. In my head, I’d thought people would just be able to figure it out; I never even look at care labels except when I’m cutting them off to stop the itching. Now that we’re shipping hundreds of pieces, including some made with hand-dyed silk, that’s not going to cut it.

PERC, the chemical traditionally used by dry cleaners, is a known carcinogen that will be banned from residential buildings—and all of California—by 2020. Even cleaners that claim to be “organic” aren’t necessarily great: Hydrocarbon solvent is petroleum-based, and doubts have been raised as to the safety of silicone solvents. Wet cleaning and liquid CO2 cleaning are the best options, but even I’ve had trouble finding them, and I live in New York City. The final verdict: I’m going to custom-print care labels that encourage the use of PERC-free dry cleaning. It costs more, and it’s probably too late to find a specialty printer who uses nontoxic ink, but such is the learning curve. (Can these labels be printed on organic fabric? We’ll find out in the morning. Would you be willing to pay a few dollars more knowing your garment’s care label was organic? Weigh in below.)

I’m not a fan of dry-cleaning anyway; I usually end up forgetting to pick it up. I prefer washing or spot-cleaning things in the sink if I have to. But then I like when things are wrinkled and imperfect.