Organic cotton, GOTS and OEKO-TEX: what the labels mean

Three different promises

Baby clothes often carry eco or safety labels, and they are easy to confuse. Organic cotton is about how the cotton was grown. GOTS is a standard that covers organic fibre and how the textile was processed. OEKO-TEX Standard 100 is about testing the finished textile for harmful substances. A garment can have one of these, two, all three or none.

Each answers a different question, so it helps to know which question matters to you: how the cotton was farmed, how the factory worked, or what is left in the fabric your baby wears.

Organic cotton

Organic cotton is grown without synthetic pesticides and fertilisers, under a certified farming system. It is mainly an environmental and farming claim. The fibre itself is still cotton: organic cotton isn’t automatically softer or stronger than conventional cotton, and a garment made from it can still be dyed and finished in many different ways. The words organic cotton on their own, without a certification mark, are hard to verify.

Certified organic cotton also has to be kept separate from conventional cotton through spinning and weaving, so it isn’t mixed along the way. Checking that separation is part of what a certification does.

GOTS

The Global Organic Textile Standard certifies textiles made with a minimum share of certified organic fibre: at least 95% for products labelled “organic”, and at least 70% for products labelled “made with organic”. It also sets rules for processing: which dyes and chemicals can be used, how wastewater is treated, and social criteria in factories. Certified products carry the GOTS logo along with the name of the certifying body and a licence number, which you can look up in the public database on the GOTS website.

OEKO-TEX Standard 100

OEKO-TEX Standard 100 means samples of the product, including threads, buttons and prints, have been tested against a list of substances that could be harmful. Its strictest limits are in product class I, for articles for babies and toddlers up to 3 years. It does not mean the fabric is organic and says nothing about how the farm or factory was run; it can also apply to synthetic fabrics such as polyester fleece. The label carries a certificate number you can check on the OEKO-TEX website.

OEKO-TEX also runs other programmes, including ones about how factories operate. The name printed on the label tells you which one applies.

How to check a claim

• Look for the logo and a certificate or licence number, not just the words.
• Check whether the claim covers the whole garment, only the fabric, or only part of a range.
• Look the number up on the standard’s own website.
• Remember that no label means not certified, not unsafe; many good garments carry no certification.
• Wash every new piece before the first wear, as our newborn checklist suggests.

What matters day to day

For your baby’s comfort, softness, breathability and a thorough first wash matter more than any logo. A certified organic bodysuit made from coarse yarn can feel rougher than a well-made conventional one in combed, ring-spun cotton. If certification matters to you for environmental or ethical reasons, it is a good guide; if your concern is sensitive skin or eczema, ask your doctor, and see the softest fabrics for newborn skin for what makes cotton feel soft.

Our position

We don’t claim any organic, GOTS or OEKO-TEX certification for our pieces, and if you need the exact fibre content of a piece, ask us on WhatsApp before you order. If a certified fabric matters to you, tell us through our custom request page or on WhatsApp, and we will tell you honestly what is available.

Quick answers