If you've read a SilkWide product page, you've probably seen the name OEKO-TEX Standard 100 somewhere near the bottom. It's a real certification, not a marketing flourish, but it's also one of the most commonly misread labels in textiles. Some shoppers assume it means "organic." Others assume it's interchangeable with GOTS. A few treat it as a dermatologist's stamp of approval. None of that is quite right. Here's what OEKO-TEX Standard 100 actually tests, what it leaves out, and how to check a label is genuine before you trust it.
In this article:
What OEKO-TEX Standard 100 Actually Tests For
OEKO-TEX Standard 100 is a chemical-safety certification, not an environmental or organic one. It checks a finished textile product against a catalogue of more than 1,000 substances that are regulated, restricted, or banned in textile manufacturing - banned azo dyes, formaldehyde, pentachlorophenol, heavy metals like cadmium and nickel, PFOA and PFOS, phthalates, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons among them. Testing is carried out exclusively by the independent member institutes of the OEKO-TEX Association, not by the brand selling the product and not by a single in-house lab, and the limit values used are deliberately set tighter than many national and international chemical regulations.
The standard is also calibrated to intended use: the more intensive the skin contact, and the more sensitive the skin it's likely to touch, the stricter the limit values a product has to meet. That's exactly the category our silk pillowcases sit in - a fabric that spends six to eight hours a night against a face is held to a tighter chemical-safety bar than, say, a coat lining.
The Four Product Classes
OEKO-TEX Standard 100 sorts products into four classes, and the class determines which limit values apply:
- Class I - items for babies and toddlers up to three years old, held to the strictest limits of all.
- Class II - items whose surface spends extended time directly against skin, such as underwear, shirts, and bed linen. This is the class most of SilkWide's sleep products fall into, including pillowcases, silk bonnets, sleep masks, and scrunchies.
- Class III - items with little or no direct skin contact, like a jacket shell or outdoor textile.
- Class IV - furnishing and decoration materials, such as curtains or upholstery fabric.
Certification is also an ongoing commitment rather than a one-time check: a STANDARD 100 certificate is valid for 12 months and can be renewed, and the OEKO-TEX institutes run control tests on at least a quarter of all issued certificates every year rather than taking the paperwork on trust.
Pro Tip: Don't take a logo on a swing tag at face value. Every genuine OEKO-TEX Standard 100 label carries an actual test number and the name of the testing institute that issued it - scan the QR code on the label, or enter that number directly into the OEKO-TEX Label Check at oeko-tex.com, and it will tell you whether it's currently valid.
What It Does Not Mean
This is the part that causes the most confusion, so it's worth being direct about it. OEKO-TEX Standard 100 does not mean a product is organic - it only tests the finished item for harmful substances, not how the raw fibre was grown, harvested, or farmed. A product can be fully OEKO-TEX certified without any organic claim at all, and that's true of SilkWide's silk.
It's also not the same thing as GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard), even though the two get confused constantly. GOTS requires a minimum share of certified organic fibre and sets criteria across the entire production chain - processing, manufacturing, and labour practices included. OEKO-TEX Standard 100 only ever looks at the finished textile for chemical residues. SilkWide currently holds OEKO-TEX Standard 100 and does not hold GOTS, and we'd rather say that plainly than let a shopper assume otherwise.
And it isn't a clinical "hypoallergenic" certification either - there's no dermatologist administering a patch test as part of the process. It's a limit-value chemical standard, full stop. We go into that distinction in more detail, including what silk can and can't do for sensitive skin, in Hypoallergenic Silk: Is It Right for Sensitive Skin and Allergies?
How to Check a Label Is Genuine
Three things are worth checking before you trust any OEKO-TEX label, on any brand's product, not just ours: does the label show a specific test number and testing institute name (a bare logo with nothing else is a red flag); does that number resolve to something real when you run it through the OEKO-TEX Label Check; and will the seller actually produce the certificate if you ask for it directly. A label alone was never meant to be sufficient proof on its own - OEKO-TEX's own guidance is that buyers should ask suppliers for the valid certificate rather than take a printed logo at its word.
What This Means for SilkWide's Products
SilkWide's mulberry silk is tested and certified to OEKO-TEX Standard 100 - that's the one certification we hold, and the one we'll keep pointing you back to rather than letting a vaguer claim stand in for it. We don't hold GOTS, and nothing on our site should imply otherwise. If you're shopping across our range, from pillowcases to our full silk bedding collection, this is the certification doing the actual chemical-safety work behind the scenes - not a marketing badge, but a tested, renewable, independently audited one.
FAQ
Does OEKO-TEX Standard 100 mean a product is organic?
No. It tests the finished product for harmful substances - it doesn't assess how the fibre was grown or farmed. A product can be OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certified without being organic, and SilkWide's silk is an example of exactly that.
Is OEKO-TEX Standard 100 the same as GOTS?
No. GOTS requires a minimum share of certified organic fibre plus environmental and labour criteria across the whole production chain. OEKO-TEX Standard 100 only checks the finished textile for chemical residues. SilkWide holds OEKO-TEX Standard 100 and does not hold GOTS.
Does OEKO-TEX Standard 100 mean a product is hypoallergenic?
Not in a clinical sense. It's a chemical-safety limit-value standard, not a dermatologist-administered allergy test. See Hypoallergenic Silk: Is It Right for Sensitive Skin and Allergies? for more on what silk can and can't do for sensitive skin.
How long is an OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certificate valid, and how do I check one is real?
A certificate is valid for 12 months and can be renewed. To check one, scan the QR code on the label or enter the certificate number into the OEKO-TEX Label Check at oeko-tex.com - a genuine label will show a real test number and testing institute that match what comes back.
