Free reference · Restricted substances in textiles

Nine states now regulate what your fabric is made of.

California has been in force since 2025 and tightens again in January. Maine, Vermont, and Minnesota came into force this January. Washington and Rhode Island are next.

Most brands under $25M have never checked which of these apply to them — and the ones who have usually checked the wrong row, because the scope varies as much as the dates do.

Three-question screen

You don't need a lab to know whether this is your problem. Answer these honestly.

01

Do you market anything as water-resistant, stain-resistant, wrinkle-free, or easy-care?

Those four phrases describe finish chemistry, not fabric. Each one names a treatment category that is now restricted somewhere you probably ship. Your own product page is the fastest way for a reviewer to find you.

02

If a retailer asked today, could you produce documentation for every finish on every SKU?

Not a supplier email saying the goods are compliant — the underlying substantiation. Most brands discover the gap during a retailer onboarding questionnaire, which is the worst possible moment to discover it.

03

Do you sell into California, Maine, Vermont, Minnesota, New York, or the EU?

Direct-to-consumer counts. So does a third-party marketplace. There is no volume threshold and no small-business exemption in most of these statutes.

Two or more yes answers means you have exposure you have not documented. The matrix below tells you exactly which jurisdictions, on what clock.

What's inside

PFAS Deadline MatrixCurrent to July 2026
CaliforniaAB 1817 · §108970 All textile articles — apparel, bedding, towels, home textiles. Broadest US scope. 2025-01-01
New YorkS.1322 / A.994 Apparel only. Home textiles and furnishings outside scope. 2023-12-31
MaineTitle 38 §1614 Most textile articles and upholstered furniture. Certain outdoor textiles excluded. 2026-01-01
VermontAct 54 / H.238 Clothing, textiles, menstrual and incontinence products, aftermarket treatments. 2026-01-01
WashingtonWAC 173-337-110 Indoor leather and textile furnishings live; apparel follows, reporting runs ahead. 2027-01-01
+ 14 more jurisdictions, thresholds, and carve-outs

Get the full matrix

Nineteen jurisdictions across the US and Europe, with scope boundaries, thresholds, effective dates, and the five things a deadline table can't tell you.

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Six columns, nineteen rows

Scope boundary

What each statute actually covers — the column most brands skip, and the one that determines whether the date matters to you at all.

Threshold & mechanism

Intentionally added versus numeric limits, and where a total organic fluorine number triggers an obligation.

Effective dates

Including the second and third phases — several states tighten after the initial date, and California drops to 50 ppm in January.

Reporting vs. prohibition

Washington, Connecticut, and Minnesota impose disclosure or reporting duties separately from any sales ban.

European exposure

France, Denmark, the REACH PFHxA limit at 25 ppb, and where the Digital Product Passport lands.

Five caveats

Why a supplier declaration isn't evidence, why TOF isn't a PFAS measurement, and why your marketing copy is your disclosure.

Who compiled this

I'm a public health researcher with fifteen years in regulated health data and clinical audit — HEDIS auditing across major payers, Medicaid analytics, chart abstraction, and public health surveillance. The work was always the same underneath: read a documentation set against a written standard and find, precisely, where it fails.

I compiled this matrix because textile restricted-substance law is now moving faster than most brands can track, and because the compliance question and the health question are the same question — asked by different departments. Most consultants can quote you a threshold. Fewer can tell you what the exposure literature actually shows, where it's strong, where it's thin, and how to describe it without overstating.

If you want to know which rows apply to your line specifically, that's a five-day Exposure Screen. Start with the matrix and reply to the email.

MPH, Community Health Promotion BS Health Sciences — HIM AAPC PMCC CITI Research HEDIS Clinical Audit