OEKO-TEX and GOTS: what textile certifications actually mean

Certification comes up in most enquiries now, usually as a single word in a specification: “OEKO-TEX”. It is worth knowing what each scheme actually covers, because they certify different things and none of them means “good fabric” in general.

OEKO-TEX Standard 100

What it certifies: that the tested article contains no harmful substances above defined limits — restricted dyes, formaldehyde, heavy metals, pesticides and similar. Limits are stricter for product classes with more skin contact, with baby articles held to the tightest.

What it does not certify: anything about organic content, environmental impact of production, labour conditions, or durability. A fully synthetic fabric made in a high-impact process can hold Standard 100 legitimately.

What to check: a certificate number and the issuing institute. Certificates are article-specific and time-limited, so a mill holding one for a different quality than the one you are buying does not cover your order.

GOTS — Global Organic Textile Standard

What it certifies: organic fibre content (minimum 70% for “made with organic”, 95% for “organic”), plus environmental and social criteria through the whole processing chain, with chain-of-custody documentation at every step.

What it does not certify: that the fabric performs better. Organic cotton is still cotton and behaves like it.

What to check: GOTS requires an unbroken certified chain. If the spinner is certified but the dyehouse is not, the finished fabric is not GOTS. This is where loose claims usually come apart, and it is the single most common overstatement in the trade.

GRS — Global Recycled Standard

What it certifies: recycled content (minimum 20%, or 50% to make a product claim), with chain of custody, plus social and environmental criteria and restrictions on chemical inputs.

Most relevant to: recycled polyester, which is now widely available and often barely more expensive than virgin. For buyers who need a sustainability line in a tender, rPET with a GRS transaction certificate is usually the most achievable option.

Others you may be asked for

• OEKO-TEX STeP — certifies the facility rather than the article: chemical management, environment, health and safety.
• BCI (Better Cotton) — a mass-balance sourcing programme, not a physical-content guarantee. Better Cotton is not organic cotton, and conflating them is a real risk.
• European Flax — traceability for European-grown flax linen.
• EN ISO 20471 — not sustainability at all; the performance standard for high-visibility clothing.

How to verify a claim

Ask for three things: the certificate itself as a document, the certificate number, and — for GOTS and GRS — the transaction certificate covering your specific shipment. Scheme certificates can be checked against the issuing body’s public database. A supplier who can produce a mill certificate but no transaction certificate cannot substantiate a claim about your goods.

Our position

We can source certified fabric across most of our range, and we will tell you plainly which scheme is realistically available for the quality, quantity and origin you need — and where a certified option would push cost or lead time beyond what your project can carry. What we will not do is repeat a mill’s certification claim without the paperwork behind it. If we say a fabric is certified, we can hand you the certificate.