In-depth decryption of which details of a pair of sports socks affect performance-part three

The third part we use raw materials to analyze what kind of raw materials can make better sports socks

First of all, sports socks choose different raw materials in order to meet different sports characteristics, but they can be roughly divided into natural fibers such as cotton, linen, silk and wool, and artificial fibers based on polyester.

Among natural fibers, cotton fibers are mainly used, and other pure natural fibers are rarely used in sports socks. The man-made fiber is mainly polyester. Because polyester is synthetic, there are many variations, but in sports socks, two characteristics are mainly highlighted. One is wear resistance, the other is the perspiration wicking characteristics of modified polyester, and of course there is another. The important factor is the relatively low price of polyester.

Let's talk about cotton fiber. In fact, cotton is the most familiar natural fiber for mankind. Mankind has used cotton for about 7,000 years. In this long history, human genes have a natural favor for cotton.

Humans have also accumulated a lot of experience in the process of using cotton. From the point of origin of cotton, the highest quality long-staple cotton is generally in Egypt, and there is also a part of Xinjiang in my country. From picking and grading to evenness processing, it is divided into many grades. In the roughest classification method, we can divide the cotton sliver grade in this step into ordinary cotton, semi-combed cotton, and combed cotton.

Plain cotton is the most basic cotton yarn (in fact, there are also good, medium and poor grades in common cotton, but since they are all in the common cotton level, there is no need to go into it). Simply put, ordinary cotton can meet the basic needs of the textile process. Compared with combed cotton, cotton yarn is not so cleanly carded, has a harder texture, and contains more impurities. The combed cotton is more delicately combed, with soft and smooth texture, good skin-friendly feeling and less impurities. The semi-combed cotton is between ordinary cotton and combed cotton. In terms of cotton raw materials, the better cotton has longer and more delicate fibers to meet the requirements of the combing process. Therefore, the cotton grade used for combing must be better than ordinary cotton.

Knowing the basic grade of cotton fiber, let's take a look at the characteristics of cotton fiber.

Since cotton fiber is a natural fiber, it is also the fiber that has been used for the longest time by humans, so it is undoubtedly the best in terms of skin-friendliness and comfort. In addition, cotton fiber has the characteristics of moisture absorption, breathability and antibacterial.

However, cotton fiber has several characteristics that need to be paid attention to when making sports socks:

1 Cotton fiber absorbs moisture but is not easy to dry.

That is to say, if you sweat, cotton will quickly absorb the sweat, but the sweat is stored inside the fiber and is not easy to evaporate quickly, so pure cotton is generally not used in sportswear. They all use polyester fiber with quick sweat wicking function.

But this feature should be viewed separately in the field of sports socks.

Because the fields that have special requirements for the functions of sports socks can be roughly divided into two categories:

The first category is outdoor hiking socks that require long-term wear, quick-drying, warmth, and wear-resistant. Because this type of socks is used for long trips in the wild, the water-absorbing but not easy-to-dry characteristics of cotton will cause the socks to become wet when worn for a long time, and the warmth retention effect will decrease, which is the risk of toe frostbite in harsh outdoor environments. Therefore, professional outdoor socks will not use pure cotton.

However, in most ball games and running (except marathon and other long-distance running sports), professional sports equipment is replaced during general sports. The exercise duration generally does not exceed 3 hours. After the exercise, they will be replaced with daily wear. Therefore, in these exercises, rapid moisture absorption is an advantage, and slow drying can be ignored. Because it will be replaced immediately after exercise.

On the contrary, cotton fiber's skin-friendly, moisture absorption and breathability are more suitable for athletes who have requirements for quality and foot feel.

2 Cotton fiber is a natural fiber, and the surface roughness of its fiber is better than that of man-made fiber. Simply put, it has better anti-slip performance.

And after the cotton fiber gets wet, it has a better anti-slip effect. And the non-slip feel of cotton fiber is the most natural.

This is particularly critical for sports such as badminton and tennis that have a lot of sudden turns and stops.

I have experimented with polyester outdoor socks with sweat-wicking function, although the socks are very thick. However, because the sweat is quickly passed through the socks but cannot be discharged from the shoes, a water film will be formed between the socks and the shoes. Originally, the non-slip properties of polyester yarn are not good. Wearing this kind of socks feels like wearing a pair of socks. You can make up for this feeling by playing with water-tight but airtight plastic rain boots.

Although cotton fiber has good anti-slip properties, there are two points to note:

The better the first grade cotton fiber is, the richer it is in oil. Although processed, the high-grade cotton fiber may still have grease residue in the first few times of wearing. Of course, this amount is very small. Generally can be ignored.

The better the second grade, the smoother the carding of cotton fibers. The more neat the fibers.

Due to the above two points, sports socks made of high-grade cotton fibers may feel a bit slippery during the first few wearings, but after washing and passing it a few times, the grease is removed and the fibers are stepped away. This problem will not appear, and the slip resistance and foot feel will be significantly improved.

It's just that there are very few domestic sports socks made of high-grade cotton fiber, so everyone doesn't understand it.

Simu used to use high-quality combed cotton to make high-end badminton socks, but some people felt slippery the first time they wore them and often complained, but after a week, they would get excellent foot feelings.

3 The abrasion resistance of cotton fiber is not as good as polyester, but high-quality sports socks, such as simu, have also been mentioned above. The yarn count and number of yarns used have been strengthened, plus the thicker loop weaving method. There is no problem with durability.

Even simu's sports socks do not mix any man-made fibers, such as polyester. Its durability can also reach the level of metamorphosis. Generally at least 6 to 12 months, and some will not wear out even for 2 to 3 years.

4 Cotton fiber has no advantage in cost. Compared with man-made fibers, cotton fiber needs to be planted, grown, picked, sorted, processed (many processes) and transported to become a pair of socks with practical value.

Therefore, the price of cotton yarn must be much higher than polyester and other man-made fibers. The higher the quality of cotton yarn, the higher the cost. But for the fiber structure formed by natural fibers and the intimate touch with people, man-made fibers can't reach it.

Of course, there are also many processes for blending cotton and other man-made fibers, such as polyester-cotton blending. The ratio can be 50:50 or 40:60, etc., which can be blended arbitrarily. In order to reduce costs, and neutralize some of the properties of the fiber.

But as I said above, simu sports socks have overcome the disadvantages of cotton through the socks knitting process. Therefore, you will find that after wearing simu badminton socks (the cotton content can be as high as 90%, what is the remaining less than 10%? It is an indispensable elastic component for knitting socks, mainly spandex, elastic, etc.), and then wear Even socks that contain a little artificial fiber, such as sports socks with a cotton content of 50% to 70%, you will feel a little stuffy or itchy. In short, your feet will be raised.

Part Three Summary of Raw Materials

The raw materials for making sports socks are mainly natural fibers represented by cotton and man-made fibers represented by polyester

For intense ball sports and short-to-medium-distance running where you can change socks in time after exercise, cotton fiber has absolute advantages for skin-friendly, comfortable, breathable and moisture-absorbing, healthy and antibacterial, and can provide natural and high-quality non-slip foot feeling.

The weak point of insufficient abrasion resistance of cotton fiber can be completely eliminated by the knitting process in high-quality sports socks, so blending polyester and so on is more cost-saving consideration

However, the cotton fiber is not easy to dry because it can be replaced in time after these exercises, and it does not require special attention. After all, a pair of high-quality terry cotton sports socks will not be completely drenched and cause inconvenience after 3 hours of intense sweating exercise.

So an important reason that affects the use of high-quality cotton fiber in sports socks is expensive.

But how much more expensive do you say? The high-end badminton socks of big brands such as YY and LN will not use all cotton, but the price of genuine products is 60 yuan, or even more than 100 yuan.

Take Simu's full-terry protection feather socks as an example, the most expensive one at the official store of a treasure does not exceed 30 yuan.

(In 2021, for well-known reasons, various raw materials and labor have risen sharply, other brands don’t know, simu will maintain the original price despite cost pressure)