How we score

Five scores, never merged into one

Every product on Qumash carries five separate results instead of a single verdict: a Material Profile (what the fibres actually are, by component), a Transparency Score (how completely and how well the brand has documented its claims), a Chemical-Evidence Status (what has and has not been checked, per claim — not a pass/fail chemistry test), a Personal Material Fit (how the product matches your own stated preferences), and a Performance Profile (breathability, stretch, drying speed and similar wearing properties, estimated from materials and refined by better evidence when it exists). We keep them separate on purpose. Collapsing five different questions into one number would hide exactly the distinctions a shopper needs — a garment can be thoroughly documented and still not suit your preferences, or suit your preferences well and still carry limited documentation. A claim can never score higher than the evidence behind it allows.

The evidence hierarchy behind every claim

Every claim we show — a fibre percentage, a certification, a finish, a chemical-testing status — carries one of four evidence levels, set out in full below. Independently verified means a valid certificate or recognized lab report, checked against the issuing body's own database. Supply-chain documented means a spec sheet, test certificate or supplier declaration on file, not yet checked against an issuer database. Brand-declared means the brand stated it, on a website, label or in writing, with no independent document behind it. Inferred means we estimated it from what is typical for that fibre, or from other wearers' reports — we never present that estimate as a laboratory finding.

We rate evidence, not chemistry

No camera or scan detects PFAS, formaldehyde or any other substance on the fabric in your hand. When you scan a label, extraction reads what is printed on it and looks up documented claims about the named fibres, finishes and certifications you can already see. Every score and badge on Qumash describes documentation quality and, where possible, independent verification — not a chemical read of the actual garment in front of you. A high evidence level means a claim is well-documented and checked where checking is possible; it is not a laboratory result, and it is not a claim about any single physical piece of fabric.

Missing information is shown as missing

Where a brand has not given us enough to assess a claim, the relevant section says so directly: "The brand has not provided enough information to assess this area." We do not fill that gap with an assumed good or bad result. Missing documentation lowers the Transparency Score specifically, because that score measures documentation completeness — it does not lower the Material Profile, the Chemical-Evidence Status or the Performance Profile by assumption, since we have no basis to assume anything about a property nobody has documented.

Conflict of interest: our own brand follows the same rules

Qumash Basics is our own product line, and it carries an "Our brand" tag everywhere its scores appear. Own-brand products go through the identical verification pipeline as every partner brand — the same evidence levels, the same rubric, the same scoring code — with no separate path and no default advantage. Sponsorship and commission never enter the scoring or ranking calculation: the ranking function has no field for sponsorship spend, commission rate or brand size, for our own products or anyone else's, so there is nothing to switch on even if we wanted to. A sponsored placement can be labelled and shown to you; it cannot change the score printed on that card.

How to request a correction

If you believe a fibre, finish, certification, evidence level or score shown for a product is wrong, use the report link on that product's page. We review every report against the underlying documents and correct the record where the evidence supports it; where it does not yet, we tell you what document or evidence would change our assessment.