OEKO-TEX certifies a product, not a company
OEKO-TEX Standard 100 tests a textile for harmful substances against a list, by product class, and certifies that specific article. A mill that holds the certificate for one fabric does not hold it for every fabric it makes.
So the question to a supplier is never do you have OEKO-TEX. It is: is the fabric you are selling me covered by a current certificate, and can I see it with the article number on it.
REACH is a restriction, not a certificate
REACH is European regulation restricting specific substances. There is no REACH certificate to buy. There is only a test report showing that your product does not contain the restricted substances above the limits.
A supplier who offers you a REACH certificate is telling you something about their understanding of the regulation. Ask for a test report on your article, from an accredited laboratory, and read the substance list.
What a buyer will actually ask you for
A European retail buyer will typically want the fibre composition test, the care label validation, colour fastness results, a restricted-substance test report, and increasingly some form of social compliance audit of the factory.
None of this is exotic and all of it takes time. Start it when you place the order, not when the buyer asks, because the test on a production batch cannot be done retroactively once the container has sailed.
The practical sequence
- Fix the fabric and get the mill's existing certificates with article numbers.
- Test the production fabric or the finished garment through an accredited laboratory.
- Validate the care label against the actual composition and the wash test.
- Keep the reports with the batch reference. A report without a batch is a story.
- OEKO-TEX certifies an article. Ask whether your fabric is covered, with the article number.
- There is no REACH certificate. There is a test report against a restricted-substance list.
- Start compliance testing when you place the order. It cannot be done retroactively.
- Keep every report tied to a batch reference, or it proves nothing.
