We have tons of options when shopping for our children’s clothes, sheets, blankets and more… but they are not all created equal. 

For those of us looking for natural and organic options, 3 fabrics seem to be everywhere:

Organic cotton, Tencel and Bamboo.

Are they all ‘safe'/ non-toxic”? Is one ‘better’ than the other?

This is how I rate them:

#1 choice:   GOTS Certified (The Global Organic Textile Standard) cotton

Why: “Conventional’ clothing (cotton, polyester, nylons etc) often require and contain a long list of chemicals known to be harmful including (but certainly not limited to) :  

pesticides

 phthalates

flame retardants

azo dyes : some release carcinogenic compounds

organotin compounds

BPA

PFAS 

solvents

heavy metals including cadmium, lead, mercury and chromium, 

formaldehyde, 

nano particles

• "GOTS organic" textiles contain at least 95% certified organic natural fibers (NOTE: Textiles labeled only as “organic” can contain as little as 10% organic and 90% conventional cotton. When buyng organic you really should look for the GOTS label)

• GOTS means no chemicals can be used which have been proven to harm humans or the environment at any stage of the textile production process; from harvesting until it arrives in your home.

• must adhere to strict regulations on manufacturing (fair labour, waste water treatment) &  labelling (no PVC nor plastics allowed)

• non organic cotton uses huge amounts of pesticides and water- GOTS addresses both these issues- and is still a natural fabric
  
  
  

#2  OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 cotton

- prohibits the same long list of chemicals that GOTS prohibits

-  Oeko-Tex does not address environmental nor labour concerns during production nor chemicals used during products: it just confirms that the final garment does not contain any chemicals.

- It is NOT an organic certification. Oeko Tex fibers can be organic, but they can also be non organic. Both natural (cotton) and synthetic fabric (polyester, nylon, acrylic as well as viscose) is permitted.

- There are 4 Oeko-Tex® product classes;  Product Class 1, is the strictest & certifies that the textile is safe for babies & children up to the age of three

#3 Oeko Tex certified Lyocell Tencel 

- TENCEL® is a man made fabric made of eucalyptus that has undergone the Lyocell process, (a process that transforms wood into textile fiber)

•  Tencel is exclusively made by 1 company  

• Tencel is environmentally friendly: 

  • uses only FSC certified trees  

  • requires 99% of the water & solvent chemical used be recovered and reused again instead of contaminating the area surrounding production.

  • The solvent used is ‘low tox’ reportedly not harmful to humans and not as harmful to the environment as solvents used for other man made fabrics like bamboo fibers and polyesters

  • Tencel is biodegradable and compostable

• Tencel is a yarn:  companies buy the yarn and make fabric.  It is important to confirm that the dyes and chemicals used in this second stage are non-toxic too…. the best way to achieve this is finding Oeko Tex Certified Tencel

#3: Oeko Tex Certified BAMBOO VISCOSE

• man made fibers made of  bamboo

• final product is biodegradable 

• environmentally harmful chemicals are needed to transform the bamboo into a yarn. This process can be extremely polluting if a close loop system is not used and It can be hard to tell if you bamboo viscose was sustainably produced

• Always choose Oeko-Tex certified bamboo viscose because bamboo viscose can be treated with heavy metals and other toxic chemicals/ dyes during production of the yarn as well as when dyes are added.

• Choose sustainably sourced bamboo (FSC certified)

Clearly, this is a brief overview of three fabric types. Not mentioned here are other natural fabrics like, for example, hemp (which, while a great option, I did not include because I just have not seen hemp as widely available for children’s clothing). Also omitted are synthetic (man made) fabrics like polyester. Synthetic fabrics should be avoided whenever possible- they are plastics and thus petroleum based. Not only can they cause sensitivity issues on small children but every time we wash and dry our synthetic fabrics microplastics make their way into our environment contributing to the HUGE microplastic pollution problem we have.