What OEKO-TEX means (and doesn’t)

OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 is one of the most recognisable certification logos in clothing, and also one of the most commonly misread. Understanding exactly what it tests — and what it does not — is worth five minutes.

What STANDARD 100 actually certifies

Every component of a certified article — the fabric, thread, buttons, prints, coatings — is tested against a defined list of substances at limit values set for the product's use class (stricter for babywear than for outerwear, for example). Passing means the tested components came in under those limits at the time of testing. It is a testing-and-limit-values scheme: a laboratory result against a published list, with a licence number a shopper can look up.

What it does not certify

STANDARD 100 says nothing about organic content, recycled content, water use, labour conditions, or biodegradability. A polyester garment made from virgin petrochemical feedstock can carry a valid STANDARD 100 certificate; so can an organic-cotton one. The two claims answer completely different questions and neither implies the other. It also is not a claim about comfort, softness, or suitability for any particular skin type — it is a chemical-limit test, not a wearer-experience guarantee.

MADE IN GREEN, the related scheme

OEKO-TEX also runs MADE IN GREEN, which adds chain-of-custody tracing and production-site auditing on top of the STANDARD 100 substance test. A MADE IN GREEN label tells you the article was traced through an audited supply chain in addition to passing the harmful-substance test — a broader claim than STANDARD 100 alone, but still not an organic or environmental-impact certification in the way GOTS or GRS are.

How we record this

We show a STANDARD 100 or MADE IN GREEN claim only with a licence number, and we treat "documented" and "independently verified" as different evidence levels depending on whether we have personally checked that number against OEKO-TEX's public database. A logo with no licence number earns no credit from us, regardless of how official it looks.

What to look for

• A licence number, checkable on OEKO-TEX's label-check tool.
• Whether the claim is STANDARD 100 or MADE IN GREEN — they certify different scopes.
• That the certificate says nothing about organic content, recycled content, or how the fabric will feel — those need separate evidence.
• Whether the product listing specifies the product class the test was run against, since limit values differ between a babywear class and an outerwear class.