What is it?

Every day we come across accreditation labeling in our lives for consumer products such as for Organic, Fairtrade, PETA, etc. A growing requirement in the Textile Industry is the Oeko-tex so we thought we should investigate exactly what this is.

The STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® label can be issued for textile products at all stages of production; yarns, fabrics, dyed or finished materials, accessories all the way through to a finished product such as baby clothes, clothing, sportswear, home textiles,furnishings for decorative purposes.

A final product certification according to STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® is only possible if all components of an end product comply with the required criteria – that means accessory parts such as buttons, zips, interlinings, hook-and-loop fasteners etc. in addition to the outer material and the sewing threads, or prints and coatings.

Each element is comprehensively and strictly tested for over 300 substances which are deemed unhealthy for human contact such as;

• Banned Azo colourants
• Formaldehyde
• Pentachlorophenol
• Cadmium
• Nickel
• and many more

They test for numerous other harmful chemicals independently of international legislation. This accreditation is not an ethical, organic or environmental award but purely assuring that no harm will come to the person from the article with which they are physically in contact.

However, it is a indicator of good and responsible practice and as such is likely to has a positive outcome in other areas. We hope that this request from retailers will be stringently applied worldwide and that it is not just playing lip service to a well meaning UK public. The textile and clothing industry need to raise the bar and this is one way to do it and welcomed by many leading companies such as Miroglio and Sublitex srl.