What does GOTS-certified screen printing mean?

In August 2024, KH-Print became the first screen printing company in Finland to be awarded the GOTS certificate, which grants the right to sell GOTS-certified garments and to print and market textile prints as GOTS-certified.

When both the garments and the prints are GOTS-certified, the customer receives a fully certified, responsibly produced package — now also from a Finnish family business and our own print shop.

We are proud of this achievement.

GOTS-certified screen printer

What is GOTS?

Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) is a certification for ecological and ethical textile production.

GOTS is one of the most recognized and respected certifications in the textile industry for organic textiles. It covers both environmental and social criteria and ensures that products bearing the GOTS label meet strict standards for organic farming, processing (manufacturing and printing), while also ensuring fair working conditions and prohibiting forced or child labor.

In order for a product printed by us to be certified, every operator in its supply chain, including KH-Print, must be GOTS-certified and comply with the certificate’s ecological requirements.

The certification is supervised by an independent third party. GOTS-certified products always feature the GOTS logo and license number, which can be verified in the public GOTS database.

If you see the GOTS mark on an unprinted garment, it means that the organic cotton grower is GOTS-certified and cultivates cotton using only organic methods. The clothing manufacturer sourcing the cotton is also GOTS-certified. Many GOTS garments also carry other certifications.

If, on the other hand, you see the GOTS mark on a printed garment, it means that the screen printer — such as KH-Print Oy — has undergone the full GOTS audit process and is therefore authorized to sell GOTS-certified unprinted garments as GOTS-certified printed products, from its own printing and production.

During the audit process, KH-Print’s environmental criteria, social criteria, quality criteria, chemical lists, operational principles, and risk assessments were all reviewed. All of this must be documented and kept up to date as GOTS requirements evolve.

For GOTS-certified garments, KH-Print primarily uses WBI Waterbased Ink (water-based screen printing inks) or DTG Direct to Garment digital printing — both of which are GOTS-certified methods.

You can view KH-Print Oy’s GOTS certification via this link.