What is The Oeko-Tex® Standard 100?
As a leading manufacturer of silk pillowcases, and accessories, June The Six is committed to educating our clients about the many benefits of silk. Silk is wonderful for hair, skin, and overall wellness. Silk has unique properties when compared to other textile products, particularly cotton, which is absorbent and can dry out hair and skin. Along with being naturally gentle and moisturizing to hair and skin, silk is temperature regulating; non-irritating to skin; hypoallergenic; and naturally resistant to mold and mites.
At June The Six, we go a step further with our fabric. Along with ensuring that our silk accessories meet the highest standards of beauty, comfort and color fastness, all of our silk products are Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 Certified. This means that — from raw materials to end product — they’re free from harmful chemicals, including toxins and irritants. The silk items you bring into your home from June The Six are safe, natural, and healthy… even for a baby!
What is The Oeko-Tex® Standard 100?
The Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 was developed by European textile institutes as a means to reduce the environmental footprint of the textile industry. The Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 is a global testing and accreditation program; it sets standards for the screening of chemicals and harmful substances in fabrics and other consumer textiles. Textiles can only be certified if all components meet the rigorous test criteria submitted from raw materials through finished products.
Oeko Tex certification means that independent labs have analyzed the product against test criteria for a variety of harmful substances including formaldehyde, heavy metals, pesticides, phthalates, chlorinated phenols, colorants, solvents, and other chemicals; these are often used in producing fabric, including silk, organic cotton, and even natural fibers. Products are categorized and tested according to their intended use:
- Items for babies
- Products that have direct contact with the skin such as sheets and clothing
- Products without direct contact with the skin such as stuffing
- Decorative tablecloths wall coverings, curtains, upholstery fabrics
To receive certification, all components and materials of textile products must comply with the test criteria, many of which are significantly more stringent than government regulations require. At that time, the product is officially Oeko-Tex certified and is issued a designation stating “OEKO-TEX® CONFIDENCE IN TEXTILES — STANDARD 100 — Tested for harmful substances.”
How June The Six Products Get Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 Certified
The process for June The Six pure silk fabric to be Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 Certified is quite rigorous and must be renewed on an annual basis. It is a voluntary process and standard around the globe. Certification begins with our factories submitting an application to the OEKO-TEX® Institute for testing of textile products. Once accepted for certification, a sufficient quantity of pure silk raw materials, as well as finished items such as bedding, must be provided to the lab. The lab then determines the testing specifics based on the intended use of the product; as noted above, a textile used for bedding, or by children, would be tested differently than table linen or decorative wall hanging.
Next, an independent Oeko-Tex® lab tests the silk according to protocol and documents the process by specifying the date of the test; designation of the test sample (manufacturing batch, finishing batch, color, etc.); the person responsible for the test; and the results. Fabric is also subjected to random testing to assure quality.
Although silk is naturally hypoallergenic and generally non-irritating to even sensitive skin, it is important to be certain that the silk products you bring into your home are free from contaminants. Low-quality silk may contain pesticides, fertilizer, bleach, groundwater waste, and other harmful toxins and chemicals. At June The Six, the silk fabric used in our silk accessory collections conforms to the highest standards in the textile industry.
The Benefits of Silk for Hair and Skin
Along with being Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 certified to be free of harmful chemicals, June The Six products deliver significant benefits to hair, skin, and overall wellness. Knowing that all of our silk pillowcases, and accessories are entirely safe to use will give you peace of mind as you indulge in all the beauty benefits silk has to offer.
Let’s begin with hair. Whatever your hair type, if you wake with a head full of tangles, you can likely blame it on friction from your cotton pillowcase. Swapping your cotton pillowcase for silk will allow your hair to gently glide across the surface rather than snagging, no matter how much you toss and turn. You’ll wake with hair that’s smoother, silkier, and definitely tangle-free.
Along with tearing at your tresses, cotton also robs hair of essential moisture especially if your hair is coarse, curly or wiry.
Silk pillowcases are also gentle on the skin. As we noted above, cotton is by nature very drying and can undo the good work of even the priciest moisturizer. In contrast, silk is protein-based and can help your skin retain its natural moisture. Silk also reduces friction on delicate facial skin, which can minimize the occurrence of sleep creases and wrinkles. At the same time, silk is hypoallergenic and non-irritating, which means it’s gentle on even the most sensitive and even acne-prone skin.
Where to Find the Best Silk Fabric
When it comes to silk, quality is everything. At June The Six, all of our products are made from 100 percent, long-strand mulberry silk, which is widely recognized as the finest on Earth. Our Grade 6A silk from cocoons of a specific species of silkworm — Bombyx mori — whose diet consists of mulberry leaves. The environment of these silkworms is carefully controlled and monitored to allow the larvae to spin threads finer, smoother, and more consistently colored than any other.
The silk fabric used for our sheets and pillowcases is also OEKO-TEX® Certified (Standard 100) to be free of chemicals. This global testing and accreditation program sets the standards for the screening of harmful substances in consumer textiles and ensures that the silk products that you bring into your home are safe, natural and healthy.
June The Six: Accessible and Affordable Luxury Silk
We founded June The Six with one simple mission: to design the highest quality silk items in the market and offer them at an affordable price. And we’ve done just that, with a full range of silk products made from 100% pure mulberry long strand silk fabric. The silk fabric used for our sheets and pillowcases has also been OEKO-TEX® Certified (Standard 100) to be free of chemicals.