EUROPEAN OEKO -TEX CERTIFIED SOCKS AND OTHER APPAREL

The earliest saved pair of socks dates back to 300-500 AD and was found in Oxyrhynchus on the Nile in Egypt. It is split toe, something in between shoes and firm material to be able to walk. More like house sleepers. 

Greeks in the 8th century BC produced “pilol” made from animal hair. At the same time, Romans wrapped their feet in leather fabrics. Around the 2nd century, Romans began sewing pieces together making what’s called “udones”. By the 5th century AD, Europeans began to produce “puttes” and these were worn by holy people to symbolize purity.

In the 1600's, people began producing socks using hand knitting technique. Back at that time, it was leather or animal hair. At the end of the 16th century, a new method was introduced - hand knitting and era of experimenting with different materials started. Around 1800’s machine knitting was introduced and slowly production transitioned into machine-knitting that became the predominant method of socks production. 

Cotton: Material is grown on shrubs. During harvest, cotton balls from these shrubs are taken and spun into yarn to make soft and breathable material. There are four types of cotton. Cheapest cotton will be growing in Asia. Due to the climate, asian cotton is not as soft and durable compared to the one growing in middle east. Nowadays, two new species of cotton are introduced and these are GMO - genetically modified species and by far quality is not as good as naturally grown cotton, but a lot cheaper. Egyptian and Turkish cotton are the best and the most expensive in the world. At Soxessory, you are getting only the best quality cotton socks made from Turkish cotton. 

There are several chemical steps involved to wash cotton from pests and dirt particles. During this process, cotton is boiled in the solution called “alkali”. After that, bleaching takes place that removes impurities from cotton. From that point, cotton is ready for production, unless manufacturer process it further into mercerized cotton. 

Cooton Mercerization is a process that takes cotton fabric and applying caustic soda solution to swell the fibers. This process improves strength, lustre and dye affinity.  During this process all left over alkali must be washed or during mercerization cotton will shrink. Many makers do not care about washing all alkali solution off and that’s why you see your socks shrink after few washes. At Soxessory, we are only offering top of the line mercerized cotton socks that gets washed twice before the production to ensure no shrinking when you wash it in the washing machine.

Bamboo: In order for the wooden sticks to become bamboo rayon, there a few ways to make it. Healthy and not so healthy. Not so healthy method is used by “cheap” manufacturers, for example China and that involves chemically induced process. In that case, 50% of the chemicals released to the nature and it pollutes the land.

There another eco friendly process of creating bamboo rayon. Soxessory brand only sells socks with this material - eco bamboo rayon.

Only buy socks and other fabrics that are OEKO TEX certified. OEKO TEX is your insurance that clothing you are wearing is free of residual chemicals. If your product is not OEKO TEX certified, you never know about manufacturing process and there is no way to tell if there left over chemicals that can harm you. All Soxessory branded products are OEKO TEX 100 and 200 certified.

Every pair of socks comes out of production machine looking like it was wrapped around a tube. In order for this material to become a sock, it needs to be linked together. Manufacturers link both of these sides at the seam, right above your toes. There are few types of seam: handlinked, smooth, truly seamless and side by side. 

Truly seamless socks do exist, but might not be as comfortable in other areas. The best seam is the one that’s hand linked. Each pair of socks goes through hands of person who is linking seams together. That person uses thin and super soft string in order to link seams together. Machine is not capable of creating such smooth seam and that’s why when you are wearing it, handlinked seam is by far much more pleasant compared to machine linked seam. At Soxessory, you are getting not only the best eco bamboo and mercerized cotton materials, you are getting hand linked seamless socks.

There are several types you can buy at Soxessory site. There more popular ones and not so popular. Here are what we currently offering for sale:

Crew - The most popular. Great for outdoor, sports and hiking. Soxessory crew socks are made from the highest quality cotton that’s moisture wicking, anti bacterial and well ventilated cotton.

Quarter - These ones reach above the ankle and below the calf. Great protection from blisters and mosquito bites covering the most desirable area for the insects. Women prefer quarters over other types.

Ankle  or Low Cut, mostly preferred by men to wear sneakers and other low cut shoes for the boat and loafers. Looking sophisticated and preventing blisters.

No Show / Invisible - Very thin, usually hidden when you are wearing loafers or slippers. Great for those who are not into wearing socks.

Calf length - these are preference for the ones who like to wear shorts, skirts or any other casual wear. 

Winter - made out of wool to keep your feet warm while the weather is cold. At Soxessory, we have a great selection of winter socks for all ages - adults and kids.

A lot of medical supply stores carry different types of compression socks for people with various medical conditions. Helping your veins to push blood back to your heart. It helps ease swelling and help prevent or treat spider and varicose veins. Some conditions require more pressure in the leg and foot, some medical conditions require less. Healthy people prefer to wear these as well when flying long distance, sitting or standing all day long as legs get swollen due to poor blood circulation during the day. If your job requires you to sit or stay up all day, compression socks will be beneficial as well. Every type of compression sock comes with measurement - compression level. Copper infused will work better than any material, as material gets stretched. Copper infusion material is less stretchy, keeping it’s form a lot longer. At Soxessory, we carry copper infused compression socks, 15-20 mmHg (unit of pressure), that are anti odor as well. 

There approximately 250 thousand of sweat glands in your feet. It is possible that they can excrete as much as half a pint of moisture each day. Wearing nylon or similar material will keep moisture inside, producing a bad smell and help fungus that causing bad smell to develop a lot faster. If you have sweaty feet, you need some kind of material that keeps your feet cool and allow moisture to evaporate. It starts with your shoes. Having leather shoes with holes, sandals, loafers, mocasines that allow your feet to breathe are great. With these type of shoes, mercerized cotton or eco bamboo will be the best combination. At Soxessory, we only sell top quality mercerized cotton and eco bamboo. There are plenty to choose from. When you are buying socks, make sure that there over 70% of cotton or bamboo and that these are as thin as possible. 

There moisture absorbing and moisture wicking materials. Absorbing material is designed to keep moisture from your feet in the fabric. These socks are made out of polyester that may be harmful for your feet due to absorbing sweat and keeping it next to your feet. It may promote bad smell, not allowing your feet to breathe properly, keeping your feet warm when it’s hot summer and producing bad smell. You need moisture wicking fabric, such as cotton or bamboo. WIth proper type of shoes or sandals, these socks will draw moisture away by allowing your feet to breathe and dry at the same time. Bamboo rayon or mercerized cotton will be the best for wicking moisture away from your feet, keeping your feet cool and feeling great.

How fast do you ship? - We are shipping from Seattle, WA - Pacific NorthWest - West Coast USA. Our shipping cut off time is at 5 PM PST. So for example if you place order before 8 PM EST - East Coast time, your order will be shipped that same day. Every customer gets detailed tracking information emailed several times during shipping. We ensure that every order gets delivered fast and secure.

Is your site secure? - Yes, we are simply hosting on Shopify platform - the most secure and up to date platform for e-commerce.

What’s your return policy? - We are offering 120 days money back guarantee. Within 120 days after you purchase, you can return order for a full refund within 120 days. Shipping is covered by our company. It cost you ZERO to try our products for 120 days. On top of that, after 120 days, we are offering you LIFETIME REPLACEMENT warranty, also free of charge. During a lifetime, you can request a replacement pair of socks you purchased from us. If for some reason we do not have your type in our inventory, we will mail you the most compatible item we have in stock.

What payment methods do you accept? - We use standard payment methods - all major credit cards - Visa, Master Card, Discover, American Express (AMEX), PayPal and AfterPay - where you can split payments in four without any interest.

What are the best diabetic Socks for Women and Men? - The best ones for diabetics are made from Bamboo Ryons. These are not only work as compression socks, but also help your feet to breathe and these are anti bacterial.  Another option will be copper infused compression socks. These will help more as far as compression.

What are the most comfortable socks for everyday life? - The most comfortable for everyday life will be crew length men’s bamboo or crew length women cotton socks.

What are the best socks for extremely sweaty feet? -  Bamboo will be the best. Bamboo Rayon help to evaporate moisture better than any other material. These are anti bacterial and material is very soft and pleasant if you have sensitive skin.

Will bamboo rayon shrink with washing? - Generally bamboo rayon will shrink and the reason is manufacturers, especially ones in China, are being cheap during production process. There are machines that cost a lot of money that steams and dries material during production process to ensure that when you wash these socks, they will not shrink. All Soxessory material we use goes through steam and dry process. So when you buy socks from Soxessory, we assure you that they will not shrink after proper wash. 

Is bamboo fabric really environmentally friendly? - Not all the time. There extremely harmful chemical process to create bamboo rayon that’s using harmful chemicals that affect reproductive organs and causing cancer and there another method, chemicals free. Chemicals free method is a lot longer and more expensive. At Soxessory, you buy socks that are eco friendly, used no chemicals in production and on top of that OEKO TEX 100 and 200 certified. 

What is the best fabric composition of men socks? - the best composition for men are the bamboo socks, single color crew length. These are the most comfortable, there plenty of colors to select from. These Soxessory socks will last a lot longer compared to any other brand.

Do black socks cause athlete's foot? - It depends on the material and not color. Black can be any type. Material that can cause athlete's foot will be nylon or polyester that are not breathable. You have plenty of products to select from at Soxessory. We sell mercerized cotton and eco bamboo socks that will allow your feet to breathe and will not cost athlete's feet.

What are the best and warmest winter socks? - It is very important to keep your feet warm during winter cold weather. At Soxessory we carry women’s wool socks with Christmas ornaments. Many wool makers, making their socks so thick that it’s impossible to wear snow boots on top. Soxessory wool socks are great to wear with your favorite boots, because they are not thick and can fit in any boots.