How is Oobi Made?

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You can read more by clicking on the Designer Blog of Alex, Oobi's design director for 15 years. Click the link to read the design blog.
Have you ever wanted to see inside our factory? And discover who made your garments? Here's beautiful Swati who sews our pretty pieces in our gorgeous, clean and bright small factory.
We are very proud that we can still keep the artisan skills of hand-screen printing alive and our handmade wooden blocks and screens are works of art. You can get a sense for the hands of the people that work on your Oobi pieces, the artisans, the makers, the crafts people, our Sydney Oobi team and all the various people that are employed by us to create timeless pieces for your little one.
Learn more about our charity - Oobi-Fy The World.
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Ethical Manufacturing Good On You Banner
Oobi have been given a "GREAT" Rating by Good on You. That is the TOP rating for ethical production, animal rights, humane work conditions and also for environmental practices. Wow, Go Oobi Go!
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Lux Life Award
Oh, hello! Oobi WON "Best Ethical Clothing Retailer" at the LUX Magazine Parent And Baby Awards! 😍🙌⭐️️2 years in a Row!
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Oobi is featured on Integrity's Ethical Brand Catalog for ethical and sustainable fashion options.
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OUR FACTORY AND MANUFACTURING PROCESS:
Your Oobi garments are made in India, Bangladesh and China. Our factories have been independently audited by SMETA and Oobi would not work with a company that did not receive a pass if audited by a Sedex Member - that is non-negotiable. 
Sedex is a not for profit, membership organisation which is dedicated to driving improvements in ethical and responsible business practices in global supply chains. You can find more information about Sedex here:  https://www.sedexglobal.com
Crucially, our ethical and charitable projects come at no extra cost to you. The finances for all of our projects are funded by us. Profits from our company are re-invested in ethical and sustainable projects and we are committed to keeping prices for our beautiful garments low and manageable for most budgets.
Cover and Summary of Results (above)
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Relevant Sedex report information is also attached for your information throughout this page. It is edited only where information about the name of our factory is included and lengthy information about the size of the building, capacity, etc. which is not relevant for human rights. While we would like to protect the name and details of our factory, we encourage questions or enquiries about our business practice any time, that includes our charitable program "Oobi-fy the World" and also our manufacturing principals. Please do contact us: hello@oobi.com.au should you require any further information.
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We would be happy to supply you with the SMETA report in its entirety upon request, however the name of the factory will be removed. Please note that as the report is very long, we have not included all the pages on our website so should you wish to receive the full report, we can send it to you via email in .pdf form.
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You can click on the link above for more information about our charity and can also check the Sedex report details attached. Our aim is that all questions are answered for you here. 
Type of audit, outlined above and areas where we can improve.
A guarantee by our factory to engage a person to communicate the human rights policy has been undertaken and will be re-assessed during the next SMETA visit. Edit: this was achieved in 2020 with a quarterly visit from a member of our team to reiterate and confirm our commitment to the rights of our team workers and manufacturers.
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Independent Quality Control companies are hired to visit factories unannounced, regularly when we are unable to visit ourselves. They check not only the quality of the garments, but ensure that our rigorous standards are upheld. You can see an example of a letter supplied by our QC regarding some unannounced inspections and their findings.
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Over 15 years Alex has visited India and China dozens of times, working closely with the makers, training them in her best practices, and working alongside them, sometimes for weeks at a time.
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Oobi work with two independent Quality Control agencies. MND and Vogue. MND is an Indian Owned and based QC company and Vogue is German owned. Both QC agencies visit our factory regularly, audit and assess.
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OOBI WINS BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
Oobi won the City of Sydney "Business of the Year" award for sustainable, ethical and charitable practices in Australia. The process for judging is extremely rigorous and Oobi took out the top award. This is almost unheard of for a small business as the standards are extremely hard to meet. Not only did we win Business of the Year, but we also won the best in our category - taking out the top 2 awards. Yeah Oobi!!!
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WASTE AND ENVIRONMENT
Running a paper-free office was one of the criteria for judging for the City of Sydney award and Oobi are proud to be digital. In light of this, your goods do not come with a paper invoice. Your invoice is sent to you via the email address supplied with your order. Should you require a paper invoice we can supply that on request - please put a comment in the "notes" section of your order or email us.
Whilst your garments come packed in a plastic shipping bag, we don't use any further packaging, tissue paper, wrapping, stickers or disposable packaging elements. Plastic packaging is used to protect the garments in shipping but we keep other waste items to a minimum wherever possible. 
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We understand that some companies like the "unboxing" element and offer flyers or printed materials, tissue paper, ribbons, etc. but we feel that this is wasteful and that it is mostly thrown away. If you require gift wrapping for a birthday, please contact us and, in some instances, this can be arranged for you.
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Using wooden screens is another way to reduce our impact. The method for printing fabrics is less taxing on the environment and is a "low-fi" and hands-on process that is also very beautiful.
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LEAD TESTING AND FABRIC
We have had all our fabrics tested for led by German Owned testing company, TUV Rheinland. Testing has been done independently and all fabrics have been found to have zero led.
Our fabric is sourced and spun in India by NSP Spinning Mills: http://www.aepcindia.com/members-directory/nsp-knitting-mills
NSP is a member of AEPC India.
Also Avaneetha in India: https://www.bloomberg.com/profiles/companies/1058574D:IN-avaneetha-textiles-pvt-ltd and their business profile can be found by clicking the link.
ORGANIC COTTONS & DYING
PLEASE NOTE: Only where we have mentioned "organic cotton" on our products are the garments organic, if it is not mentioned, we use lead-free dyes on regular cotton. We use organic cotton for 1/4 of all our collections, equating to approximately 2 full collections per year.
Our plan for 2020 is to double this commitment to organic cottons. These are also sourced and spun in India.
ENVIRONMENT & FACTORY & WASTE
Please see the following report on safety, factory and waste. 
Above: Independent Testing by Alpha Labs & Technologies to monitor our factory's Air Quality, Noise Pollution, Illumination, Stack Emilsson and Water Testing.
ANIMAL RIGHTS
Oobi do not use fur or animal products in their garment manufacturing. This is another non-negotiable. The humane treatment of animals is extremely important to us.
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WOMEN AT WORK
The women who work for our factory do so freely. Our factory hires about 22 female staff who are paid a living wage as outlined by Sedex. Working hours are from 8.30 in the morning to 5.30 in the evening with a one hour lunch break plus 2 other 15 minute breaks daily. Our staff have freedom of association (the right to join a union). We also have an exemplary safety record.
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ACCIDENT PREVENTION
Our incident and accident rate for the years 2017 and 2018 was 0% and safety is always at the forefront of our minds. Both SMETA and our independent audit found that fire extinguishers were available, serviced and prominent. There are also first aid kits and a doctor available for incidents should they occur.
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HUMAN RIGHTS/WORKER'S RIGHTS
As you can see from the above, staff who work at the factory have a favourable attitude and note:
Regular Employment
Freedom for Work
No Abuse
Supportive Management
Prompt Payment of Salary
No Forced Overtime
Fair & Respectful Treatment
No Gender or Caste Discrimination

    Employees are encouraged to partake in the management of office standards and advise their supervisors of their needs. For the approximately 72 employees in the factory, 22 are female and have 7 toilets available to them. SMETA have stated that all the women working in our factory work there with no fear.

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    NO CHILD LABOUR - NEVER EVER
    Nobody under the age of 20 years works for our factories and the SMETA report shows that there are systems and measures in place to check ID cards to ensure this. There is no child labour.
    Above: Note the documentation required from staff to prove age.
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    MATCHING STANDARDS TO AUSTRALIA
    We believe that it is our role to ensure that the people that we work with have the same standards to those upheld in Australia. We also believe in human rights and animal rights. Our aim is to continue to improve on our carbon footprint and bring in all goods via sea. Sample-making is done in Australia to avoid costly and unnecessary air freight (high carbon emissions) of samples.
    Nobody that makes garments for Oobi have ever done so under duress or working environments that are less than satisfactory.
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    OUR ENVIRONMENT - ALWAYS IMPROVING
    Furthermore, we continue to run a paper-free office and are always striving to improve on our impact on the environment. In 2018 we banned plastic straws and water bottles from our office. Anyone caught bringing those in to Oobi HQ is forced to make cake and bring it to work :)
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    CARE FOR ANIMALS
    Oobi has never, and will never, use furs, animal products or cause any kind of animal cruelty or testing. Our products are 100% vegan.