ORGANIC - Ochre and Ocre Ltd aim to produce the most ecologically responsible product possible. They want the people who work on their products to have a fair and adequate quality of life, good work satisfaction and a healthy working environment so have chosen to use Organic Cotton and Organic Linen for their collection, manufactured in Portugal and produced to Oeko-tex standards. Most of us are aware of the benefits of eating organic food, but it is equally important to consider the ecological benefits of using Organic products in your home.

Cotton crops suffer from heavy pest infections and 25% of the worlds pesticides are used on cotton crops. Organic cotton farming involves using beneficial insects, crop rotation and organic manure. Organic cottons are also guaranteed non GM. The quality of organic cotton is also much higher as the fibres have not been broken down by the chemicals used in production. The material is softer, but tougher and longer lasting and is less likely to cause or trigger allergies, due to the avoidance of the nasty chemicals. It will also smell cleaner as no formaldehyde is used to coat the fabric.

Farming organically also benefits the farmers; as well as receiving a higher price for their organic cotton, their health is substantially improved as they avoid the hazardous chemicals. (Cotton pesticides used on non organic crops are often broad spectrum organophosphates, pesticides originally developed as toxic nerve agents during World War II). It is a big step for farmers to go organic, as they need to learn new methods of farming and initially crop yields are lower.

The Organic Cotton used in this collection is grown in Turkey and woven in Portugal.

NATURAL - Ochre & Ocre's textiles are dyed using Oeko-tex standards which means they are tested for over 100 harmful substances to give the cleanest / greenest materials you can buy. The Oeko-tex standard is an international testing and certification system which was established in 1992 as a safety standard throughout the whole manufacturing chain, and checks are carried out at each stage of the process for the presence of pesticides. Textiles with the Oeko-tex mark do not contain allergenic, or carcinogenic dyestuffs, are free from formaldehyde, have a skin friendly PH, and are free from biologically active finishes. All of the colours used in the range are based on 'Ochres' - coloured clays which exist all over the world and can vary considerably in colour depending from where they are mined. Unfortunately textiles dyed with Ochre powders are not resistant to repeated washing in modern machines, but Ochre & Ocre have come up with dyes that give the nearest match to these beautiful colours.