Fabrics Next to the Skin, in Plain Words

The problem

The label tells you the fibre, not what's in it

In the EU, a clothing label has to list the fibres, for example "100% cotton" or "95% polyester, 5% elastane". It doesn't have to list the dyes, finishes and processing chemicals used to make the garment. Many of these are not regulated in clothing at all.

• 60children's garments worn next to the skinbought in Swedish shops and tested in a Stockholm University lab, 2026
• 50textile chemicals screened in each oneincluding dye-related chemicals, phthalates and quinolines
• 10washes, to see what washes outplus a test of what moves into artificial sweat

The research

What the Swedish study found

• 100% polyester had the most chemicals, at the highest levels, and most of them were still there after ten washes.
• Light-coloured cotton had the fewest, at the lowest levels, and they washed out best.
• One catch: cotton released about three times more of its chemicals into artificial sweat than polyester did. Cotton gives them up more easily, which is also why washing works so well on it. That's the reason to wash new cotton before the first wear.
• The most frequent finds were groups that are mostly not regulated in clothing: quinolines, halogenated arylamines, phthalates and nitrobenzenes.

Bedding and the law

The new EU PFAS limit, and what it leaves out for now

PFHxA is one of the PFAS ("forever chemicals"). It has been used in some stain-, water- and oil-repellent finishes. A new EU rule limits it in textiles, in two steps:

Items already on the market before those dates are not covered, and the rule is about one PFAS group, not all of them. So for bedding especially, it still pays to check the finish.

Read it carefully

What this does not mean

It was a lab study. It measured fabric, not children. Nobody measured what reached the children's bodies, and no health effects were studied.

Only two fibre types were compared. Wool, linen, blends and other fabrics may behave differently.

Cotton isn't chemical-free. It simply had fewer chemicals in this study, and they washed out more easily.

It doesn't mean your child's sports kit is dangerous. It means the first wash, the colour and the fibre are worth thinking about for what children wear most, and sleep in.

What you can do

Five checks for clothes and bedding

1. Wash everything new before the first wear, especially what sits on the skin: underwear, pyjamas, baby clothes, bed linen.
2. For what's worn most and slept in, choose light-coloured natural fibre: cotton, linen, wool.
3. Skip finishes next to the skin. Words like "easy-care", "non-iron", "stain-resistant" or "water-repellent" usually mean a chemical finish.
4. Know what a label proves. OEKO-TEX Standard 100 lab-tests the finished product for a list of harmful substances and has banned PFAS since 2023, but it allows any fibre. GOTS covers organic fibre and restricts chemicals at every production step.
5. At home, air rooms daily and vacuum. Fabrics also shed tiny fibres into indoor air; Dutch lung researchers in Groningen give the same simple advice.

Our approach: the Evmara Fabric standard is natural fibre next to the skin, no easy-care or stain-proof finishes, certified, and washed before first use. Evmara Fabrics is in the making to this standard.