A label with a legal standard behind it
Flip a shirt inside out and find the small tag near the seam. Federal law makes almost every piece of clothing sold in the US name the country it was made in. That tag is one of the few things on a garment the government checks.
"Made in USA" is the strictest version of it. The Federal Trade Commission, the agency that polices false advertising, says a product can only carry an unqualified Made in USA claim if it is "all or virtually all" made here. That means the final assembly happens in the US and the product contains no foreign content, or only a negligible amount. Since 2021, brands that break that rule on a label can face civil penalties.
For clothing, the bar is even more literal. The FTC says a garment can say "Made in U.S.A." only if it was made completely in the US from US-made materials. A shirt sewn in North Carolina from fabric woven in Portugal has to say so: "Made in U.S.A. of imported fabric."
The tag tells you where the work happened, and it says much less about what's in the fabric.
The rules on what's in adult clothing are thin
Most people assume someone checks clothing the way someone checks food. For adult clothing in the US, no federal agency sets limits on most of the chemicals that go into it.
Formaldehyde is the clearest example. Mills use it to make cotton wrinkle-resistant, the finish behind "no iron" shirts and "permanent press" khakis. In 2010, the US Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, reported that formaldehyde levels in clothing "are not regulated in the United States," while 13 other countries limit them.
The GAO had 180 items tested. Ten came in above the strictest foreign limit, 75 parts per million for clothes that touch your skin. More than half of those were labeled wrinkle-free or no-iron. The over-limit items included both American-made and imported pieces. The GAO named allergic skin reactions, the red, itchy rash doctors call contact dermatitis, as the health risk of greatest concern.
Children's clothing is the exception. Under federal rules, products made for kids 12 and under can't contain more than 100 parts per million of lead in any part a child can touch, and they have to pass third-party testing before they're sold. Those rules stop at children's sizes.
States are filling the gap
The strongest US rules on what's in clothing come from states. On January 1, 2025, California and New York both banned the sale of new clothing made with PFAS, the forever chemicals brands use for water and stain resistance. More states have passed PFAS limits for clothing that take effect over the next few years.
Those state laws cover everything sold in the state, wherever it was made. A legging sewn in Ohio and one sewn overseas face the same PFAS rule in a New York store.
If a piece was made in California, it carries our Made in California badge, which explains that state's rules in detail.
How the US compares
The table lines up the rules on what's inside your clothes in three places. The US column is federal law, which applies in every state.
| US (federal) | California | European Union | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PFAS in clothing | No federal limit | Banned since 2025 | PFHxA restricted since October 2026 |
| Formaldehyde | No limit | Warning required above set levels (Prop 65) | 75 mg/kg limit in clothing that touches skin |
| Azo dyes that can release cancer-linked chemicals | No limit | No specific limit | Banned in clothing worn against skin |
| Chemicals linked to cancer or fertility harm | No general limit for adult clothing | Warning required (Prop 65) | 33 substances restricted in clothing since 2020 |
| Lead in kids' clothing | Limited to 100 ppm, tested | Federal rule applies | Covered by general EU product rules |
Read more about the EU's rules in our guide to Made in Europe.
What making it here adds
A US factory works under federal environmental law, which limits what plants release into the air and water, and federal worker safety law. It answers to US regulators and US courts.
American manufacturing also tends to mean a shorter supply chain. When the fabric, the dyeing and the sewing all happen in one country, a brand has fewer places to lose track of what went into a garment. Some of the brands we list say they keep everything domestic, from the cotton field to the sewing floor.
None of that sets a chemical limit on the fabric itself. Treat Made in USA as a strong signal about how a garment was made, and read the fabric for what it's made of.
How to read a Made in USA tag
Before you buy
- Read the whole line. "Made in USA" means US materials too. "Made in USA of imported fabric" means the sewing happened here and the fabric didn't.
- Skip "wrinkle-free" and "no iron" if formaldehyde worries you. Those finishes are where the GAO found the highest levels. Wash new clothes before you wear them.
- Check the fiber first. A US-sewn polyester top is still polyester.
- Ask about PFAS on anything stain- or water-resistant. Brands selling in California and New York have to keep PFAS out of everyday clothing.
Why we flag it
The clothes you wear are a health choice, the same way food is, and the rules protecting you are a patchwork. Where something was made tells you which part of that patchwork its factory answered to.
We show the badge for that reason. It never changes a Toxome Score, which comes from the fabric itself. It's one more fact to have before you get dressed.
Keep reading
Sources
- Federal Trade Commission. Complying with the Made in USA Standard.
- Federal Trade Commission. Threading Your Way Through the Labeling Requirements Under the Textile and Wool Acts.
- US Government Accountability Office. (2010). Formaldehyde in Textiles: While Levels in Clothing Generally Appear to Be Low, Allergic Contact Dermatitis Is a Health Issue for Some People. GAO-10-875.
- US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Total Lead Content.
- US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Children's Products.
- New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Prohibitions Against the Use of PFAS in Apparel and Outdoor Apparel for Severe Wet Conditions.
- California Legislature. (2022). AB 1817, Product safety: textile articles: PFAS. Chapter 762.
FAQ
Under the FTC's rules, a garment can say "Made in U.S.A." only if it was made completely in the US from US-made materials. If the fabric came from abroad, the label has to say so, for example "Made in U.S.A. of imported fabric."
No. A 2010 report from the US Government Accountability Office found formaldehyde in clothing is not regulated in the United States, while 13 other countries limit it. Of 180 items GAO tested, 10 exceeded the strictest foreign limit, most of them labeled wrinkle-free or no-iron.
It's made under stronger factory oversight than many places, with US environmental and worker safety law behind it. Federal limits on chemicals in adult clothing are thin, though, so the fiber and finish matter most. That's what the Toxome Score measures.
California and New York both banned PFAS in new clothing starting January 1, 2025, and more states have passed laws that phase in over the next few years. These laws apply to everything sold in the state, wherever it was made.
No. Origin and process badges come from what the brand states about each product. We don't audit factories, so these badges are information, not verification. They never change a Toxome score, which comes from what the garment is made of.
