OEKO-TEX and GOTS: what the certifications test for

OEKO-TEX and GOTS are the two labels you’re most likely to see on clothes and sheets sold as safe or clean. They don’t certify the same thing, and one of them is happy to certify polyester.

What OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 certifies

OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 is a test of the finished product. A lab checks the fabric, thread, buttons and other parts against OEKO-TEX’s list of restricted substances, and the product passes if everything comes in under the limits. The certificate covers the product as it was made. OEKO-TEX says plainly that it isn’t a quality label, and the standard doesn’t cover how the fiber was grown or how the factory runs.

Limits depend on how close the product sits to skin. Class I is for babies up to 36 months, class II for things worn against the skin such as shirts and underwear, class III for things that barely touch it, and class IV for decoration like curtains.

What OEKO-TEX tests for

Substance	OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 limit (2026)
Formaldehyde	Not detectable (under 16 mg/kg) for babies, 75 mg/kg against skin, 150 and 300 mg/kg for classes III and IV
PFAS	No intentional use; 25 µg/kg for each listed PFAS and 250 µg/kg in total
Azo dyes that release carcinogenic amines	20 mg/kg for each amine
Allergenic disperse dyes	50 mg/kg
Extractable antimony	30 mg/kg for classes I to III
Bisphenols B, F, S and AF	200 mg/kg, added in 2026

OEKO-TEX announced a general ban on PFAS in 2023 and has tightened the limits since.

What GOTS certifies

GOTS, the Global Organic Textile Standard, certifies textiles made from organic fiber and the factories that process them. A product labeled “organic” under GOTS has to be at least 95% certified organic fiber; “made with organic” needs at least 70%. GOTS doesn’t certify farms. The cotton must already be certified organic under a national organic rule.

GOTS limits what can be blended in. Virgin polyester and acrylic are prohibited. Recycled synthetics, polyester included, are capped at 20% of the fiber, and virgin nylon or elastane at 10%.

Through spinning, dyeing and finishing, GOTS prohibits inputs that contain or release formaldehyde, all PFAS, genetically modified organisms and enzymes, azo dyes that release carcinogenic amines, heavy metals and synthetic antimicrobial finishes, and it allows only oxygen-based bleach. Finished goods are tested too: formaldehyde under 16 mg/kg and extractable antimony under 0.2 mg/kg. It also sets social criteria for every certified facility, including bans on forced and child labor.

The current version is GOTS 7.0. Version 8.0 was published in March 2026 and takes effect on 1 March 2027. It keeps the 95% and 70% grades and the ban on virgin polyester.

OEKO-TEX and GOTS side by side

	OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100	GOTS
What it certifies	A finished product’s tested residues	Organic fiber and every processing step after the farm
Fibers covered	Any fiber	At least 70% certified organic natural fiber
Polyester	Certified, including for babies	Virgin polyester banned; recycled up to 20%
Formaldehyde	Up to 75 mg/kg in clothes worn against skin	Banned as an input; under 16 mg/kg in the product
PFAS	No intentional use, with residue limits	All PFAS banned
Antimony	Up to 30 mg/kg extractable	Under 0.2 mg/kg extractable
Factory conditions	Not covered (separate STeP label)	Social criteria required

The other OEKO-TEX labels

OEKO-TEX runs several labels. MADE IN GREEN goes on a product that passed STANDARD 100 and was made in facilities certified under STeP, OEKO-TEX’s audit of chemical management, environmental performance and working conditions; each item gets an ID you can trace. ECO PASSPORT certifies the dyes and chemicals sold to mills rather than clothes. In 2025/26 OEKO-TEX issued 36,592 STANDARD 100 certificates and 20,427 MADE IN GREEN labels. GOTS had 17,800 certified facilities at the start of 2026.

Fibers in this guide

• Cotton: not plastic
• Polyester: plastic