Communal laundry mixes everyone
Sleepaway camps wash whole cabins together. An unlabelled t-shirt does not come back wrong, it simply does not come back, because there is no way for anyone to work out whose it was.
Summer camp labels
Camp labels for clothing, towels and gear
Camp packing lists assume no laundry at home for a fortnight, and whatever is left in lost and found gets donated at the end of the session. Label it once, properly, before the trunk closes.
- Name plus scannable QR
- No app for the finder
- One profile, every label
- Reusable next summer
Why camp is the hardest labelling job
Nothing comes home unless it has a name on it
School loses one jumper at a time and you are there to notice. Camp loses things for a fortnight while you are two hundred miles away.
You are not there to spot it
At school you notice a missing coat that afternoon. At camp nobody notices until the trunk is unpacked at home, by which time lost and found has usually been cleared and donated.
The list is long and it is one evening
A one to two week list runs to fifty or sixty items once towels, bedding and kit are counted. It is the largest labelling job most families ever do, and it happens in a single sitting the week before.
Specifications
Built for volume and for the care tag
- Clothing and towels
- Iron-on labels apply to suitable garment fabric, or to the heat-safe care tag already sewn inside the item
- Hard gear
- Bottles, torches and equipment cases need a sticker rather than an iron-on. Our waterproof QR stickers are not open for orders yet, so ask us about availability
- Printed on the label
- Your child's first name, a colorful QR code that opens on any phone camera, and ContactMyParent.com
- For the finder
- No ContactMyParent account and no app. They point a phone camera at the code
- Privacy
- You choose whether a finder sees your saved details or only a message form that reaches you
- Returns
- 30 calendar days to request a return
What to label
The camp trunk, group by group
Camps vary and your joining pack wins over this list. Our summer camp packing list has one and two week quantities and a free printable.
Clothing
- T-shirts and tops
- Shorts and trousers
- Sweatshirt and fleece
- Underwear and socks
- Pyjamas
- Rain jacket
Bedding and bathroom
- Towels, including a beach towel
- Sleeping bag or bedding
- Pillowcase
- Wash bag
- Flannel
- Laundry bag
Kit and going home
- Swimming costume and goggles
- Sports kit and boots
- Trainers and sandals
- Sun hat and cap
- Duffel and day pack
- Comfort item from home
Packs
Choose by session length
Every pack includes one contact profile with free updates. The name label calculator has a camp preset that counts a one to two week list for you.
Day Camp Pack
Day camp, where most clothing comes home each evening
$14for 10 labels
- 10 iron-on labels
- 1 contact profile
- Free profile updates
One Week Pack
A short session, or topping up labels you already own
$24for 25 labels
- 25 iron-on labels
- 1 contact profile
- Free profile updates
Full Session Pack
A one to two week sleepaway list, including towels and bedding
$39for 50 labels
- 50 iron-on labels
- 1 contact profile
- Free profile updates
Getting set up
One sitting, the week before
Do it with the camp packing list in front of you rather than from memory. That list is the count.
- 1
Work the camp list
Camps send a packing list with quantities. Use it directly rather than guessing, because the towel and bedding lines are the ones families forget and they are bulky items to lose.
- 2
Label in one pass
Iron-on labels go onto suitable garment fabric or onto the care tag already inside the item. Working tag to tag is fastest when you have fifty items to get through.
- 3
Set up the profile
Enter the bundle code from your pack, add your child's first name and the numbers to reach you. Add a second contact, since camp sessions are exactly when one parent is unreachable.
- 4
Decide what is public
Choose whether a finder sees your details or only a message form. Most families publish a first name and one number, and nothing naming the camp or the child's home town.
What a finder sees
The thing that turns up in September
A duffel gets swapped, a fleece comes back in someone else's laundry, a water bottle surfaces at the coach park weeks later. Whoever ends up holding it points a phone at the code and reaches you, with nothing to install and no account to make.
- Works on iPhone and Android cameras with no app
- Shows only what you choose to publish
- Or hides your details behind a message form
- Same profile next summer, updated online
Questions parents ask
Frequently asked questions
How many labels do I need for summer camp?
More than for school, because camp packing lists assume no laundry at home for the whole session. A one to two week sleepaway list, counted properly, usually runs to somewhere around 50 to 60 items once clothing, towels, bedding and gear are included. The name label calculator on this site has a camp preset that counts it for you.
Does camp really require every item to be labelled?
Most sleepaway camps ask for it explicitly in the joining pack, and many day camps do too. The reason is communal laundry and shared cabins: an unlabelled sock has no route home. Camps typically donate whatever is left in lost and found at the end of the session, so an unlabelled item is usually gone for good.
Why would a camp label need a QR code?
Inside camp, it does not. Counsellors match a printed name to a camper from the roster, and any name label does that. The code matters for what happens after: an item that goes home in the wrong duffel, something handed in weeks later, or gear left at a bus stop or a swim meet. At that point a name tells a stranger nothing about how to reach you.
Where do the labels go on camp clothing?
Iron-on labels apply either to suitable garment fabric or to the heat-safe care tag already sewn inside the item. For camp, the care tag is usually easiest, because you are labelling a large volume of items quickly and the tag is a consistent target on almost everything.
Can I label towels, sleeping bags and sports kit?
Towels and most soft kit take an iron-on label the same way clothing does, on the care tag where there is one. Hard items such as water bottles, torches and equipment cases need a sticker rather than an iron-on, and our waterproof QR stickers are not open for orders yet, so ask us about availability for those.
My child goes to camp every year. Do labels need replacing?
The labels do not, and neither does the profile. The label points at a profile rather than at a printed phone number, so if your number or your emergency contact changes between one summer and the next, you update it online and every item already labelled is current.