Certified technology

Textile production demonstrates a highly complex structure. Its characteristic features are distinctive division of labour, environmental standards which vary greatly between countries as far as the law is concerned and a varying sensitivity to the dangers of harmful substances in textiles. This is the starting point for the concept of the Oeko-Tex Standard 100 which was developed by the International Textile Research Centre at the Hohenstein Institutes, Bönnigheim, and the Vienna-based Austrian Textile Research Institute (ÖTI), and was made public in April 1992. This testing system enables potential entry sources of harmful substances to be ascertained and eliminated at every stage of processing. As soon as a textile product is recombined or its material chemically changed, the Oeko-Tex testing system provides a new test.

The Swiss testing institute Testex joined the organisation in 1993 and more European institutes were added to the international Oeko-Tex committee from 1994. Today the International Oeko-Tex Association with its 11 members has a total of 20 authorised testing institutes. This created an effective foundation on which a reliable network could be set up for international Oeko-Tex certification. The Oeko-Tex testing and certification system has become established as a uniform safety standard. The entire textile supply chain profits from this safety.

The Oeko-Tex 100 Standard comprehensively addresses the Human Ecology component of textile products. It evaluates and screens for any harmful substances present within processed textiles intended to come into contact with consumers. Please find more information at www.oeko-tex.com.