A certification is a document about a facility, a shipment or a farm rather than a verdict on a garment. GOTS proves organic fiber and a controlled processing chain. GRS proves a declared share of recycled content. RWS proves the wool came from farms meeting an animal welfare standard. Each covers a different question, and a garment can hold all three and still be made in a way nobody would call responsible.
Skip memorizing logos; the useful skill is knowing which question each standard answers, so you can tell whether a claim printed on a hangtag is being made about something the certificate covers, or something next to it.
What each standard covers, and what it does not
Four fiber and factory standards side by side
| Standard | What it certifies | Threshold | What it does not cover |
|---|---|---|---|
| GOTS | Certified organic fiber through ginning, spinning, dyeing and sewing | A high organic minimum for the organic grade, a lower one for made with organic; check the label grade | Water use in growing, and the carbon footprint of the finished garment |
| GRS | Recycled content, with chain of custody at every processing site | At least 20 percent recycled content to certify, 50 percent to use the logo | Where the waste came from, or whether it was textile waste rather than a bottle |
| RWS | Wool from farms meeting animal welfare and land management criteria | Applies from the farm through the supply chain to the finished product | Chemical use in processing, and the wages of the people sewing |
| OEKO-TEX Standard 100 | The finished article against limit values for harmful substances | Per product, tested by article rather than by fiber | Fiber origin, labour conditions and factory emissions |
The detail that separates a real certificate from a logo
GOTS requires certification at every processing stage, including the factory that cuts and sews the garment. If the logo appears on a garment whose sewing floor is not certified, the label is wrong, whatever the fabric certificate says. Each certified site holds a scope certificate, and each shipment moves on a transaction certificate recording the weight and the fiber.
GRS works the same way: the certification sits with the facility, and the recycled content travels along the chain in transaction certificates. That is what makes the percentage meaningful. It does not require the feedstock to be clothing rather than packaging, which is why a garment can be GRS-certified and made mostly from melted drinks bottles.
- A certificate covers a site, not a wardrobe — The same factory can make certified and uncertified products on different lines. Certification tells you about the order, not about the brand.
- Certification is annual and audit-based — Audits are mostly announced, which is normal practice in social compliance and also a limit on what the paperwork can promise.
- Threshold wording is where claims stretch — A product just over the made-with-organic floor can't use the GOTS organic grade, and per Textile Exchange, a product with 21 percent recycled content can be GRS-certified business to business but can't carry the consumer-facing GRS label, which needs at least 50 percent.
- Chain of custody is expensive, which limits supply — Certified fiber costs more and takes longer to book, so brands ration it across a small share of their range and market that share heavily.
B Corp, bluesign and the Higg index are doing other jobs
B Corp certifies a whole company rather than a product. A business scores at least 80 points on the B Impact Assessment, commits to a legal change in its governance, and recertifies every three years. That says something about how a company is run, and nothing about a single garment: a B Corp can sell a fully conventional polyester jacket. That 80-point minimum is out of a possible 200.
bluesign manages chemical inputs at the mill, screening substances and auditing the site. It applies to materials rather than to a finished product. The Higg index is a measurement tool rather than a label, and its standing changed after the Norwegian Consumer Authority told the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, H&M and Norrøna in June 2022 that consumer-facing use of Higg data was potentially misleading. The comparison was withdrawn, and the organization behind it now trades as Cascale. Cascale, formerly the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, owns and develops the Higg Index.
Six pieces whose paperwork is worth reading
Every item here carries a claim that a certificate number can be checked against. Prices are shown only where we confirmed them on the brand or retailer page in Oct 2026.
Checkable claimOrganic Basics
Organic Cotton Tee
A plain tee is the easiest place to check certification honestly, because there is one fiber and one supply chain rather than six.
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Patagonia
Responsible Wool Beanie
Wool is where RWS does real work. The standard applies from the farm onward, and the claim can be checked against the certificate register.
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Girlfriend Collective
Compressive Legging
A rare case where the recycled content claim is precise about the feedstock. Read the percentage before the word recycled, and note that most of it is bottle-derived.
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KnowledgeCotton Apparel
GOTS Organic Sweatshirt
The version of the standard that means the sewing floor is certified too, which is the detail most GOTS-labeled goods quietly cannot support.
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Nudie Jeans
Dry Selvedge Jeans
The repair guarantee is the part of the offer a certificate cannot replicate. Longevity is the claim, and it is verifiable in a shop rather than a database.
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Certified wool coat, unlabelled brand
A coat already in circulation has displaced new production, which is a better outcome than a certified claim on a new garment. Paperwork matters most when you are buying new.
Compare listingsChecking one in two minutes
- 1
Find the number
It is printed near the logo, usually in the smallest type on the label. No number means no certificate worth the space it occupies.
- 2
Search the register
Look up the number and check the certified scope: which product categories, which site, and which operation. A spinning mill is not a sewing floor.
- 3
Check the threshold wording
GOTS has a higher threshold for "organic" than for "made with organic." GRS needs 20 percent recycled content to certify and 50 percent for consumer-facing labels, per Textile Exchange.
- 4
Read what the standard excludes
RWS does not cover dyeing. GRS does not cover fiber origin. OEKO-TEX does not cover labor. Note the gap before repeating the claim.
