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Free tool · Children’s clothing

Which CPSC tests does your children’s garment need?

Clothing for children 12 and under needs a Children’s Product Certificate based on tests by a CPSC-accepted lab. The usual rules are lead content, lead in paint for coatings and prints whose ink scrapes off, and flammability — with sleepwear rules for pajamas. Many fabrics are excluded from the lead and flammability tests, but every rule stays listed on the certificate.

Rule text checked October 29, 2026 · A starting point for your lab order, not a determination · Not legal advice.

Build your test list

Answer for one product — one garment, in its sizes and colors, made and tested together. Nothing you enter leaves this page.

1. Who is it designed or intended for?

The rules behind the list

A children’s product — designed or intended primarily for children 12 or younger — must be certified on a Children’s Product Certificate, based on tests by a laboratory CPSC has accepted for each rule. Where an exclusion applies, the rule stays listed on the certificate and the exclusion replaces the test. CPSC adds that no lab is needed to decide whether an exclusion applies: the certifier can assess it.

Rules for children’s clothing, what they cover, and the exclusions the regulations allow
RuleCoversExclusion or note
Total lead content — 15 U.S.C. 1278aEvery garment: fabric, snaps, zippers, buttons, trimsTextiles that are dyed or undyed, with no non-dye treatments (16 CFR 1500.91(d)(7)); other materials CPSC lists in 16 CFR 1500.91
Lead in paint — 16 CFR part 1303Paint, coatings, and screen prints whose ink scrapes offInk that fuses with the fabric is tested with it for total lead (100 ppm) instead; ink absorbed like a dye counts as dyed fabric (CPSC Lead in Paint FAQ)
Clothing flammability — 16 CFR part 1610Day clothing and outerwear; tight-fitting sleepwear; infant garmentsPlain-surface fabric of 2.6 oz/yd² or more, or fabric made entirely of acrylic, modacrylic, nylon, olefin, polyester or wool (16 CFR 1610.1(d))
Children’s sleepwear — 16 CFR part 1615 (up to size 6X) or part 1616 (sizes 7–14)Pajamas, nightgowns and sleep robes that are not tight-fitting, and — up to 9 months — not infant garmentsNone: the sleepwear tests apply
Phthalates — 16 CFR part 1307Sleepwear for children 3 and younger, as CPSC staff applies the ruleApplies to child care articles, which facilitate sleep of children 3 and younger
Drawstrings — 16 CFR 1120.3(b)Upper outerwear in sizes 2T to 16 with drawstringsA design requirement (ASTM F1816-97), not a lab test
Tracking label — 15 U.S.C. 2063(a)(5)Every children’s productPermanent on textiles: CPSC says hangtags and adhesive labels do not qualify

Clothing for teens and adults is not a children’s product. It falls under the clothing flammability standard and a General Certificate of Conformity; for adult garments made only of fabrics exempt from flammability testing, CPSC exercises enforcement discretion. Buttons and other clothing accessories are exempt from the small-parts rule. Children’s products are retested at least once a year, unless a production testing plan or accredited-lab testing allows a longer interval.

How PortCert helps

Send us the garment’s details before you order tests. Our free check tells you, by email within one U.S. business day, which tests to order and which exclusions you can claim — so you pay the lab only for what the rules require. Then, from the lab reports, we write the CPC with every element of 16 CFR 1110.11, the Product Registry import file and the broker sheet: $79 per product, 2 U.S. business days.

Ask for the free check Sample: a children’s pajama set

Sources read October 29, 2026

  1. 15 U.S.C. 2063 — Certificates, third-party testing, tracking labels
  2. CPSC, Rules requiring third-party testing and a CPC
  3. 16 CFR 1500.91(d)(7) — Lead content determination for textiles
  4. 16 CFR 1610.1(d) — Exemptions from testing
  5. 16 CFR 1615.1(a) — Definition of children’s sleepwear
  6. 16 CFR 1615.1(o) — Tight-fitting garment
  7. 16 CFR part 1616 — Children’s sleepwear, sizes 7 through 14
  8. CPSC, FAQ: Infant garments and tight-fitting sleepwear
  9. 16 CFR 1307.2 — Definition of child care article
  10. CPSC, example CPC for children’s clothing
  11. 16 CFR 1120.3(b) — Drawstrings in children’s upper outerwear
  12. CPSC, Tracking Label FAQ
  13. 16 CFR 1501.3 — Small parts rule exemptions
  14. CPSC policy statement on adult wearing apparel exempt from testing, 81 FR 12587
  15. CPSC, FAQ: Lead in Paint (textile screen-printing inks)
  16. 16 CFR 1107.21 — Periodic testing
  17. 16 CFR 1110.11 — Certificate content