GOTS, OEKO-TEX and “organic”

Organic

“Organic” describes a fibre, not a finished product

On a label, “organic” usually refers to how the raw fibre was farmed: without synthetic pesticides or fertilisers. That is a real thing, and it matters. But on its own the word tells you nothing about what happened to the fibre afterwards — how it was bleached, dyed, printed or finished, and under what conditions it was sewn.

It also says nothing about how much of the product is organic. A garment can be described as “organic cotton” while the organic fibre is a minority of the material, or while the trims, threads and prints are conventional.

For textiles, the word is not protected the way it is for food in the EU. That is precisely the gap the two certifications below exist to close: each one is audited by an independent body and issues a licence number you can check.

The same question applies to animal fibres, and the answer is close. Wool and silk can be certified organic, and GOTS covers them on the same terms as cotton, with the same 95% and 70% thresholds — so a woollen or silk item can carry exactly the same label. Two differences matter. On an animal fibre, “organic” describes how the animals were kept and fed rather than how the fibre was later processed; and certified organic wool and silk are far rarer than organic cotton, so the absence of a certificate tells you less here than on a T-shirt. Animal welfare is a separate question that organic farming rules answer only in part: the Responsible Wool Standard exists for it, covering welfare and land management, not organic status, and it rules out mulesing. For silk, “peace silk” describes a method — letting the moth leave the cocoon — not an audited scheme with a licence number to check.

GOTS

Global Organic Textile Standard — organic fibre, plus the whole chain

GOTS certifies both the fibre content and every processing step from the field to the finished article. It exists in two grades, and the difference is printed on the label: “organic” requires at least 95% certified organic fibres, “made with organic” at least 70%.

Beyond fibre content, GOTS restricts what may be used in processing — many dyes, finishes and auxiliaries are prohibited — and requires wastewater treatment at wet-processing sites. It is one of the few textile standards that also carries social criteria, based on the core conventions of the International Labour Organization, covering the people who make the product.

A genuine GOTS product carries the logo together with the licence number of the certifying body. That number is what makes the claim checkable.

OEKO-TEX

STANDARD 100 — tested for harmful substances, whatever the fibre

OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 answers a different question: does the finished article release substances known to be harmful? Every component is tested — the fabric, but also the thread, buttons, zips, prints and coatings — against limits that go beyond what regulation requires in several cases.

The standard has product classes, and the strictest applies to articles for babies and toddlers, on the reasoning that a child mouths and lies against them. An item certified in that class has been tested against the tightest limits in the scheme.

What it does not do is say anything about organic farming, about fibre origin, or about working conditions. A fully synthetic product can be OEKO-TEX certified, and that is not a contradiction — it means it was tested and found free of the listed substances.

IVN BEST

IVN BEST — the strictest of the four, and the rarest

IVN BEST is issued by the Internationaler Verband der Naturtextilwirtschaft, the German natural-textile association that co-founded GOTS. It covers the same ground — fibre, processing, wastewater, working conditions — and sets the bar higher at almost every point.

Where GOTS accepts 95% certified organic fibre for its top grade, IVN BEST requires 100%, and holds the trims and accessories to the standard as well. Its list of permitted dyes and auxiliaries is shorter, its residue limits tighter, and it applies to the entire supply chain rather than to a share of it.

The practical consequence is scarcity. Very few products carry it, so its absence tells you almost nothing — an excellent organic item will usually be GOTS rather than IVN BEST. Its presence, on the other hand, is the strongest claim in common use on a textile.

Like the others it is audited by an independent body and issued to a named licensee, so the claim can be checked at the source rather than taken on trust.