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Helpful tips on foot care and how socks can help or hinder, selecting sock fabrics, washing socks, etc.It helps to think about socks like seats in a car--like seats, socks are your interface to the transportation shell and are vital to comfortable and healthy locomotion.

WHY SOCK CONSTRUCTION MATTERS IN FOOT CARE
Your feet may be the hardest working part of your body. They bear the entire weight of your body for every minute you are standing, walking, running, jumping, etc. and, together with the ankle, contain more than 26 bones, 33 joints (20 of which are actively articulated), and more than a hundred muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Bearing all this weight, maintaining balance and assisting in movement, the feet cannot be blamed for sweating a lot—up to a cup a day for an average male—from their 250,000 sweat glands.
So where does all of this moisture go? Not surprisingly, it is trapped inside the shoe and largely absorbed by the sock because modern shoes are poorly vented. And there it stays, providing theperfect environment for bacteria to grow---UNLESS the sock is able to transport the moisture up and out of the shoe or the shoe is, unlike most, well ventilated. Bottom line: socks can help you keep your feet healthy by removing the moisture that BACTERIA need to grow in and that causes BLISTERS in areas experiencing abrasion.

Low and behold, transporting that moisture is a job that has been engineered into many modern socks by inventive US sock manufacturers. This transport process is known as wicking. Lesson No. 1 is that it will not happen with cotton socks. Cotton soaks up perspiration like a towel and holds it.Cotton fiber retains three times the moisture of acrylic and fourteen times the moisture of CoolMax®.When exposed to ambient air, socks composed of cotton retain moisture ten times longer than acrylic. Natural fibers (cotton-wool) when laden with moisture, compress more easily than synthetic fibers like acrylic and CoolMax®. Thus, cotton and wool socks have a higher resistance to sweat transport by wicking. When wet, acrylic fibers swell less than 5% while cotton swells 45% and wool swells 35%. Swollen fibers that are compressed reduce air spaces and thus reduce moisture transport. It's no wonder that cotton socks exhibit a 2.4 times higher resistance to moisture transport than acrylic.

Cotton also tends to stretch and flatten out under the weight exerted by the body. Cotton loses all resilience when it becomes wet, ceases to cushion the foot and can become the source of blisters where it forms creases within the shoe or wherever there is any friction in a wet environment. So Lesson No. 2 is: KEEP YOUR FEET AS DRY AS POSSIBLE BY AVOIDING COTTON SOCKS.

Today, many of the shoes and boots we buy are made of synthetics that do not breathe. That means that even if you are wearing socks made of materials that wick the moisture away from your skin, there is usually only one way to vent that moisture—it must migrate up the sock and out the top of your shoe or boot. The American sock industry pioneered the use of synthetic fabrics to wick moisture away from your skin and special fabric combinations and knitted structures to channel moisture out the top of your shoe. The knitted structures are also intended to provide added support, to prevent the sock from sliding around on your foot—a potential source of discomfort and blisters-- and improve the way the sock conforms to the contours of your foot. Studies by the Marine Corp in the ‘90s found that synthetic yarn knitted with small loops, a bit like terrycloth, provided a cushioning and moisture transport environment that significantly reduced the incidence of blisters and enhanced comfort. A resilient fabric knitted into a cushioning structure can also protect your foot from some aspects of an imperfect fit of the shoe or boot. Lesson No. 3: LOOK FOR SOCKS WITH INTELLIGENT CONSTRUCTION WHICH AIDS IN KEEPING YOUR FEET DRY AND CONFORTABLE and also provides some CUSHIONING for activities like hiking—check the label for material content before you buy.

SO IF NOT COTTON, THEN WHAT? The alternatives to cotton are typically some combination of the following: Wool, Alpaca, Acrylic, Elastic, Nylon, stretch nylon, Olefin (aka polypropylene), Polyester, and Spandex. Note that hydrophobic means repelling water and hydrophilic means attracting or absorbing water.
• Wool is an excellent natural fiber and is sometimes given a nylon coating to make it wear longer. It is a great insulator and can absorb up to 30% of its own weight in water before it feels damp. It retains its insulating properties even when wet. It does not crush like cotton when wet but it does not wick moisture particularly well. However, knitting small loops on the inside of the sock improves ventilation, cushioning and moisture flow. It is a fabulous cold weather fabric because of its insulating properties but for most applications, we think it works best when combined with synthetics to better manage moisture. Higher end socks generally use Merino wool because it is one of the softest types of wool available, having fibers that are finer with smaller scales, which reduces or eliminates the “itchy” feel normally associated with wool.
• Alpaca fiber is extraordinarily soft and many times stronger than Merino wool. Its hollow-cell structure provides superior insulation from heat and cold, the fibers resist compression and have a very low scale height making them extremely smooth thereby reducing friction and the resulting blisters. It needs no special care though we recommend hang-drying all quality socks.
• Silk is a very smooth, soft fiber with high tensile strength that does not conduct heat and which has some antimicrobial and odor-reducing properties. This is a natural fiber, like wool, but made by silk worms.
• Bamboo is a plant that can be converted into a soft, comfortable fiber. However , the conversion process is said to be environmentally unfriendly. As a result, we do not carry socks with bamboo content.
• Acrylic is a light-weight synthetic (man-made) fiber featuring both softness and warmth as well as high durability and the ability to hold bright colors. It tends to dry quickly and can be used in wicking sections of socks. There are some blended, branded versions of acrylic that provide some very advanced features. We think acrylic’s resilience makes it great for cushioning the foot. Because it does not absorb water, it helps keep the feet dry and does not tend to create the odors associated with some synthetics.
• Polyester & stretch Polyester are hydrophobic fibers known for their durability and colorfastness. This material is usually bended with other fibers to maximize the functionality of the sock. It has been used to create many special purpose and branded fibers such as:4-channel polyester (think of it like little hollow tubes) is designed to facilitate the movement of perspiration, termed “wicking,” and is fast drying.Coolmax ™ is a branded 4-channel polyester that is superior for wicking and fast drying. For some people, it can make the feet feel a bit hot. We think it is best blended. Our experience is that when used alone, it can reflect heat toward the foot and can sometime generate unpleasant odors after wear.Hollofil™ is a very light-weight polyester made with a hollow core which provides warmth and loft and is usually blended with other fibers.
• Nylon is a very strong, versatile and hard wearing fiber that can be silky thin or bulky. It is often used with other fibers to provide added stretch or durability. Nylon is a component in almost all modern socks, whether as a coating on natural fabrics or as a strengthening or stretching material.
• Polypropylene/Olefin is a superior water repelling fiber (hydrophobic) that is used with absorbent outer layers to wick moisture away from the skin. It is one of the strongest and lightest of the synthetic fibers but is easily damaged by heat.
• Spandex is an elastic synthetic fiber used in place of rubber in the arch and legs of socks to hold them in place and provide extra support.

CONCLUSION Use the above information to make intelligent selections when buying socks. Link2sox.com has used this information to select socks that will perform at a high level for its customers. We test dozens of socks before selecting the ones which we sell on our site. We try to identify socks that perform exceptionally well at various price points. READ OUR DESCRIPTIONS OF SOCKS ON THE WEBSITE AND PAY CAREFUL ATTENTION TO THE FIBER CONTENT.

Superior fabrics like Alpaca are more costly but have developed a dedicated following based upon their performance. Name brand fabrics are more expensive for manufactures to use. Some manufacturers like FoxRiver™ have done an exceptional job of designing products with generic fabrics which allow their products to perform like the more expensive products. In any event, we think socks are such an important element of clothing that the consumer should be careful to buy and use the best possible socks. You will be rewarded with surprising comfort and health. We also believe that Socklinks™ are vitally important in justifying the purchase of quality socks because they allow the consumer to get many times their money’s worth by preventing loss, simplifying the cleaning and drying process, saving energy and reducing the damage caused to the elasticity of the sock by dryers.

As a final note, American sock manufacturers have done an amazing job of evolving sock design and construction. Now some are taking that technology overseas to reduce manufacturing costs. The US created the specialized sock industry. We all need to help keep it HERE IN THE US and VIBRANT. BUY US MADE SOCKS. In a time of rising unemployment, we all have the power to protect existing jobs and create new jobs by avoiding the EVERYDAY LOW CHINESE PRICES and demanding and buying quality products MADE IN AMERICA. That is one big solution to the unemployment problem. When corporations understand that demand, they will stop shipping jobs overseas and produce more in the US because they thrive only when they cater to consumer demand. YOU HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND REVIVE THE ECONOMY IN A WAY THAT NO POLITICIAN CAN. USE YOUR POWER!

Socklink™ is patented. We will not allow it to be used on foreign-made products. You win the war against foreign competition by out-inventing them. This is our contribution to the effort to create more jobs in America.

Thanks for taking the time to read and understand this information. Please use the CONTACT tab to keep us abreast of your comments, suggestions and experiences. We are listening and striving to provide you with the best products possible.

WASHING: Follow the washing instructions on the socks--REALLY. Generally, manufacturers suggest that you avoid bleach when washing quality socks. Washing the socks inside-out is a good way to eliminate perspiration-caused bacteria—but clean any leaves, twigs and pebbles from the outside first.Using Socklinks to hang dry your socks is a great way to maintain sock shape and comfort and extend useful life. Dryers damage the stretch material used in socks. With proper care and use of Socklinks, your purchases will last years.
These small, environmental steps, done by millions of citizens, can have a very big impact in sustaining life for all on this wondrous, fragile planet we inhabit. We all need to think a little more about sustainability, not just the next, new-new thing, because otherwise, thinking might go the way of the dinosaurs

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