Imse

Most products are manufactured in Latvia or Turkey. Imse’s website states that they have strict requirements regarding environmental quality and working conditions. They carry out annual checks on the conditions in the factories to ensure that they meet their quality requirements, environmental requirements and working conditions. Not all organic cotton is GOTS certified so the organic certification does not always take into account ethical working conditions. They also do not provide proof of the GOTS certification.

Imse occasionally makes donations to charities, for example, they send maternity packages with their own products to a hospital in Tanzania, they have contributed to a playground at a Swedish hospital and they donate to the environmental organisation Greenpeace. 

Imse uses organic cotton and their aim is for all their products to comply with the OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 for textiles and thus be free from harmful substances, however whether this has been achieved yet we do not know. In this way the brand aims to provide their customers with a product that has a good impact on the climate and is also safe and pleasant to use on the skin.

All the cotton in their products is organically grown and comes from suppliers that have supposedly been inspected and certified by the Control Union Certification programme. From them, the products receive an Organic Content Standard or a GOTS label. Imse is working on GOTS certification. In order to label all their products as GOTS, Imse must be certified as a company, they indicate that they are not yet because it takes time and financial strength to proceed with that certification. They say the textiles they use and the suppliers are GOTS certified.

The sanitary napkins and nappies have a layer of PUL (polyurethane laminated polyester) between the organic cotton to make sure they do not leak. Unfortunately, this makes these products difficult to recycle but the addition of this layer is necessary for their functionality.

The most products are produced in Latvia or Turkey. Latvia is located near Imse’s headquarters on the Swedish island of Gotland. All menstrual products are manufactured either there or in Turkey. The cotton is grown in Turkey and all the cotton flannel products are also produced there. Imse has worked with this factory for many years. All cotton jersey products are made in Latvia in a factory that the brand has worked with for 20 years.

The products are mostly made of organic cotton and occasionally of polyester, for the production of which no animals are needed.

The founder started this brand because cotton reusable nappies were the solution for her child’s nappy eczema, so she started selling nappies and later menstrual products and skin care products such as cotton pads. The products are good for the environment as well as for your health and skin.

Imse offers a warranty on all products ranging from 2 to 10 years. If something is wrong with a product, you can have it repaired and if that fails, you will be sent a new product. 

Sanitary towels, nappies and cotton pads never go out of fashion. 

There is room for improvement for this brand in terms of transparency. Each product mentions the country of production, but nowhere does it say exactly in which factory it was made or where the cotton comes from, or provide certification proofs.