Factory Strength & Manufacturing Capabilities for Streetwear

Side by side

A garment can hold OEKO-TEX without a gram of organic cotton, and a GOTS garment also has to meet chemical limits — GOTS includes them, but goes further into fibre, water, energy and labour.

What each one is good for

OEKO-TEX is the practical answer for a brand that needs to state the garment is safe against a recognised limit list, including for children's wear through product classes I to IV. It is what a European retailer will normally ask for on a fabric and trim file.

GOTS is the answer for an organic claim. It is also harder to arrange, because every operator in the chain has to be certified and each shipment needs a transaction certificate. A brand cannot decide to "add GOTS" at the packing stage.

How to verify a certificate, and what we can provide

OEKO-TEX certificates carry a number that can be checked in the OEKO-TEX buying guide, and the scope has to name the article or component. GOTS certificates can be checked in the public GOTS database, and the transaction certificate is the document that ties a specific shipment to a certified operator.

Certificates sit with the mill, the printer or the trim supplier that holds them, not with the garment factory. We request the scope that covers your specific fabric, print paste and trims, check that the article description matches, and pass the documents with your order file. We do not describe VANRD as certified for a standard we do not hold.

If a certificate's scope names a different quality code or a different mill, it does not cover your order, even if it is the same fibre.

Who handles what, and who pays

The principle is simple: a defect we caused is our cost at any stage; a defect caused after delivery is not. The grey area is wear and wash damage, which is why care labels and wash-test results are kept with the order file.

What cannot be repaired

Some faults are terminal: a hole in the body panel, a shade that is out of tolerance across the lot, a label with the wrong fibre content, or a decoration that has cured in the wrong position. These are replaced or credited, not repaired, because a repair would still leave a trace the customer can find.

Repairs are also capped. If more than a small share of a lot needs repair, the honest answer is to remake the affected size rather than ship a garment that has been through the needle twice.

Claims and traceability

Every carton carries a batch code that links to the cutting lot, the sewing line and the fabric roll. A claim with a photo and a batch code can be traced in a day; a claim with a photo alone usually ends in a negotiation.

The claim window is set in the contract, typically 30 days from delivery, and decorated styles usually ship with 1-3% spare units so a small number of defects does not become a reorder.

Step by step

The first 48 hours decide the outcome. If the goods are still in our warehouse the options are wide; once they are in a container or in your warehouse, the practical options narrow to replacement and credit.

What counts as not matching

A mismatch is a measurable difference from the approved standard: shade beyond the agreed Delta E, measurement outside the tolerance in the spec, a substituted trim or label, decoration in the wrong position or size, or a fabric hand and weight that no longer matches the approved quality code.

Normal variation inside tolerance is not a mismatch. Garment-dyed styles vary shade across a lot by nature, which is why the tolerance has to be agreed in Delta E before the wash recipe is approved, not after the goods arrive.

How the remedy is decided

If the deviation is a production error on our side, rework or remake is at our cost, and we cover the freight consequence of the delay. If it comes from a change the buyer approved late, from buyer-supplied fabric, or from a wash standard the buyer signed off, the cost is shared or carried by the buyer as the contract sets out.

Either way the remedy is written down with dates before work starts, so there is no second argument about what was agreed.

What the report contains

The report is written so that someone who has never seen the order can understand what was checked and what was found. It references the approved sample and the signed spec version, because a report against an outdated spec is worse than no report.

What the result actually means

A pass means the lot met the agreed AQL at the agreed level. It does not mean zero defects — a 2.5 AQL accepts a defined number of majors in the sample by design, and the customer should know that number before the order starts.

A conditional pass means the lot ships only after a named action is completed and evidenced, usually a 100% sort or a specific repair. A fail means the lot is held, and we issue a corrective action with a date.

Who else can see it

The report is yours to forward to your customer or to your own inspection company as a starting point. If you book a third-party inspection, our report and theirs sit side by side, and any difference between them is worth investigating before the container is loaded.

Reports are kept against the order for 12 months, so a claim six months later can be checked against what was actually inspected.

Where pilling actually comes from

Short fibres escape the yarn during abrasion, roll into small balls and stay anchored to the surface. Carded cotton with a high short-fibre content pills faster than combed cotton, and a loosely twisted yarn releases fibres faster than a firm one. Brushing the inside of a fleece improves the hand-feel but also raises more fibre ends.

Abrasion is not evenly distributed. Underarm, cuffs, the lower back where a bag rubs and the inside of the thigh are where pilling shows first, which is why a wear test on the whole garment hides the problem until the customer finds it.

How to test it before bulk

Two methods cover most buyer requirements. Martindale to ISO 12945-2 runs a set number of rubs, usually 2,000, against a standard abradant. The random tumble test, ASTM D3512, puts the sample in a chamber with cork or pumice for 30 minutes. Both produce a grade from 1 to 5, where 5 is no pilling.

We test on the finished fabric, not greige, because brushing, washing and softening all change the result. For a brushed fleece the inside face is graded separately from the outside, since that is where the customer sees pilling first.

What to write into the spec

Put a grade and a method in the spec, not an adjective. "No pilling" cannot be inspected; "Martindale ISO 12945-2, 2,000 rubs, grade 4 minimum, inside face" can be measured, argued and repeated.

If the brand sells at a premium price point, grade 4 is the realistic target. At volume price points grade 3 is common, and grade 3-4 is a sensible middle.