10 Non-Toxic Activewear Brands Worth the Switch
You turn your leggings inside out looking for a fabric label, and it tells you 87% polyester, 13% elastane, made in a country you've heard of. Nothing about what was sprayed on the fabric to stop it smelling, or what the dye was fixed with. That's the gap that sends people searching for non-toxic activewear in the first place, and most of what comes back is a brand telling you it's clean without saying what it tested for. Here are 10 brands that put something checkable on the page.
What Does Non-Toxic Activewear Mean?
Non-toxic activewear is workout clothing made without the chemical finishes commonly applied to performance fabric, and verified by a standard someone else audits. No regulator defines the phrase, which is why it gets used loosely. The claims worth reading are the specific ones.
OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 is the one you'll see most. It tests finished fabric for a list of regulated and unregulated substances, including formaldehyde and certain azo dyes, and it certifies the textile rather than the company. A brand saying "OEKO-TEX certified" is making a claim you can check.
The other route is fibre choice. Merino, hemp and organic cotton don't need the anti-odour treatments that synthetic activewear usually carries, so the question of what got added mostly goes away. The trade-off is real: natural fibres dry slower and cost more per piece.
Worth knowing before you spend anything. A certification covering chemical residue says nothing about microplastic shedding, and recycled polyester answers a waste question rather than an exposure one. Those are two different problems and brands often blur them.
| Brand | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| MATE the Label | $58 to $98 | The clearest chemical claim on the page |
| Girlfriend Collective | $98 to $128 | OEKO-TEX leggings in XXS to 6XL |
| Boody | Mid-range | Base layers worn next to skin |
| Groceries Apparel | $58 to $108 | Fruit and vegetable dyes |
| Smartwool | $65 to $155 | Merino that still performs |
| Icebreaker | $60 to $90 | 100% merino base layers |
| Organic Basics | From €32 | TENCEL instead of polyester |
| Jungmaven | $40 to $215 | Hemp for low-sweat training |
| Toad&Co | $70 to $125 | The walk-to-the-studio wardrobe |
| Tentree | Mid-range | Third-party climate verification |
MATE the Label
MATE the Label is a Los Angeles organic cotton brand whose Move line is the rare case of a company naming the compounds it excludes. The site states its products are free from pesticides, microplastics, formaldehyde, carcinogens, endocrine disruptors and non-organic dyes. Most brands in this space stop at "clean".
The Move by MATE range is small and priced accordingly. You're choosing between the Organic Stretch Sports Bra ($58), the Organic Stretch Midi Legging ($88) and the Organic Stretch Full Length Legging ($98). MATE holds B Corp and Climate Neutral certification, both of which are audited by outside bodies.
Organic cotton stretch behaves differently from compression synthetics. It softens with wear and it doesn't hold its shape through a heavy session the way a nylon-elastane legging does, so this suits yoga and pilates more than running.
Best for: the reader who wants the chemical claim written out rather than implied.
Girlfriend Collective
Girlfriend Collective makes compression leggings and bras from recycled materials in OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 certified fabric, sized XXS to 6XL. That size range is the widest here by a distance, and it's the reason the brand keeps showing up in searches that have nothing to do with chemistry.
The Compressive High-Rise Legging ($108) is the one people buy. The Luxe Legging ($128) uses a softer hand for lower-intensity days, and the FLOAT Ultralight Legging ($108) is the summer weight. The Luxe High-Rise Capri ($98) is the cheapest way in.
Here's the honest limit. This is recycled polyester, so the OEKO-TEX certificate covers what's in and on the fabric, not what comes off it in the wash. If shedding is your concern rather than dye and finish chemistry, a merino or hemp brand further down this list answers the question better. Our guide to brands like Girlfriend Collective covers the wider eco-activewear field.
Best for: squat-proof compression with a certificate behind the fabric, in sizes most activewear brands skip.
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Boody
Boody makes bamboo viscose basics and states plainly on its site that its fabric is "PFAs free, low-tox, and OEKO-TEX® certified". The brand also holds B Corp certification and FSC certification for its fibre sourcing.
What Boody sells is base layers rather than performance kit. Bras, underwear, undershorts and socks, in seamfree knits and its FreeMesh and Lyolyte fabrics. For the pieces that sit against skin for the whole session, that focus is the more useful one.
Boody prices sit mid-range, and the site doesn't publish them on its collection pages in a way we could verify, so check before you fill a basket.
Best for: the layer underneath everything else.
Groceries Apparel
Groceries Apparel dyes its activewear with upcycled fruit and vegetable matter, naming avocado, pomegranate and coffee as sources. Dye chemistry is where a lot of the concern about workout clothes sits, and this is the only brand here that makes it the headline.
The Active range covers the basics: the Momo Midi Legging 19" ($98), the Strappy Sports Bra ($68) and the Box Crop Top ($68). Hemp turns up in the Hemp Vee Tank ($58) and the Hemp Pant ($108). The site runs frequent discounts, so those figures are the list prices rather than what you'll pay on a given week.
Plant dyes shift with wear and washing. If you want your black leggings to stay exactly that black for three years, this isn't the brand.
Best for: readers whose specific worry is what the colour was made from.
Smartwool
Smartwool builds its active range around merino wool, which sidesteps the anti-odour finishes that synthetic activewear usually needs. Wool manages smell on its own, so there's nothing to add.
The Women's Active Mesh Racerback Tank ($65) and Women's Active Lined 4" Short ($75) are the summer training pieces. The Men's Merino 7" Cargo Hike Short ($85) and Men's Active Mesh Hoodie ($110) cover the same ground for men. For cold weather the Women's Classic Thermal Merino Base Layer 1/2 Zip Hoodie ($155) is the piece the brand is known for.
Merino costs more per garment than polyester and it wears through faster at friction points. You buy fewer pieces and wash them less often, which is where the maths comes back.
Best for: training outdoors in a natural fibre without losing performance.
Icebreaker
Icebreaker sells merino base layers in both blended and 100% merino constructions, and it labels which is which. That distinction matters if your reason for buying wool is avoiding synthetics, because a merino blend still contains them.
The Women's Merino 150 Siren Bra ($60) is the entry piece and it's 100% merino. The Women's Merino Blend 125 ZoneKnit Racerback Bra ($85) trades some of that for a lighter, faster-drying knit. Men's options run to the Merino Blend 125 ZoneKnit Boxers ($65) and the Merino Blend 125 Cool-Lite Sphere Short Sleeve Tee ($90).
Best for: reading the fibre percentage before you buy, and being able to.
Organic Basics
Organic Basics is a Danish brand building its activewear from organic cotton, TENCEL Lyocell and TENCEL Modal rather than virgin polyester. Its Flex range is the movement line, starting at the Flex Tank Top (€32), the Flex Cami (€33) and the Flex Tee (€36).
Prices show in euros and ship from Europe, which is worth factoring in from the US. The brand also uses recycled nylon and LENZING ECOVERO viscose across the wider range, and it lists organic cotton content by percentage rather than leaving it vague. For closer alternatives, see brands like Organic Basics.
Best for: swapping the polyester layer for TENCEL without giving up a technical fit.
Jungmaven
Jungmaven makes hemp and organic cotton pieces in the USA, and publishes the fibre split on each one. The Highline Mesh Tee ($75) runs 29% hemp, 69% organic cotton and 2% spandex. The Venice Short ($170) is 54% hemp, 43% organic cotton and 3% Lycra.
Hemp gets softer every wash and it resists odour without treatment, which is the same argument as merino at a different price point. The Grom Tee starts at $40 if you want to test the fabric before committing.
Be clear about what this is. Jungmaven makes hemp casualwear that works for walking, lifting and yoga. It isn't performance kit, and the brand doesn't pretend otherwise.
Best for: low-sweat training and everything you do either side of it.
Toad&Co
Toad&Co covers the movement-adjacent wardrobe using organic cotton, hemp, TENCEL Lyocell and recycled fibres. The Rosalie Long Sleeve Square Neck Tee ($70) and the Earthworks Wide Leg Crop Pant ($110) are the pieces that bridge a class and the rest of the day.
The range runs wider than activewear, up to the Re-Form Flannel Western Shirt ($98) and the Rose Midi Dress ($110). The brand links an eco-certifications page from its footer, though it doesn't name a specific standard on the pages we checked, so treat the fibre list as the verifiable part.
Best for: the clothes you put on over the workout clothes.
Tentree
Tentree holds four outside verifications at once: B Corp certification, The Climate Label, Science Based Targets and the Restorative Coalition. For a shopper trying to sort real claims from marketing, that stack is the most independently checked on this list.
The clothes are everyday layers built from organic cotton and recycled polyester, sold under fabric names like TreeFleece and TreeBlend. Prices sit mid-range, though the site doesn't surface them until you're inside a product page.
Note what the certifications cover. B Corp and Science Based Targets assess the company and its emissions, not the chemistry of a given fabric. Tentree is here for governance rather than for a chemical claim, and those are different reasons to buy.
Best for: readers who trust an audited company over an audited fabric.
How to Choose Non-Toxic Activewear for Your Workout
Start with what you sweat in. For heavy training you want compression and fast drying, so Girlfriend Collective with its OEKO-TEX certified fabric is the practical answer, and you accept that recycled polyester is still polyester. For yoga, walking and lifting, the natural-fibre brands work and you get the chemistry question off the table entirely.
If your worry is specific, buy against it. Dye chemistry points to Groceries Apparel. Anti-odour finishes point to Smartwool or Icebreaker, where wool does the job without help. A named list of excluded compounds points to MATE the Label.
Budget shapes the rest. Under $60 gets you a merino bra from Icebreaker or a hemp tee from Jungmaven. Around $100 is where most of these leggings sit. Buying two pieces you wash less often beats buying six, which is the same argument for merino as for everything else in a wardrobe.
Our guide to telling a sustainable brand from greenwashing covers how to read these claims in general, and the best sustainable clothing brands applies the same test outside the gym.
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Written by
Ash Read
