I thought I’d blog about seamless socks this time round, as this is a question that often crops up here at socksforliving.com. There are many misconceptions about these socks and the truth is, in the strictest sense, there is no such thing as a completely seamless sock. We often here these claims but think about it. Socks are made from materials, whether it be wool, cotton, Coolmax or a combination of all. The point is they are made from materials and like clothing are joined together using seams. Some seams may be invisible, hand knitted or even flat locked, however there are seams joining everything together.
On better socks you will find a seam somewhere, which is important because the seams allow the manufacturer flexibility to provide a much better fitting and more comfortable sock!!! Sure once upon a time sock seams felt like ridges. They were uncomfortable. You could run your finger along the seam and it was rough and noticeable. They looked like a small mountain range!
Fortunately things have changed since then and the better manufactures use different techniques for joining materials together, including flat locked seams, hand knitted seams, toe seams and invisible seams to name a few. Take flat locked and hand knitted seams; these seams are integrated into the sock, achieving something similar to that of the old tube sock. You don’t really see or feel them, as they are seamless in construction, but they are there.
Red Robin use soft toe seams (soft cotton) to make their seams more comfortable for kids. On the other hand Lorpen use a seam that runs across the top of the toes, which avoids rubbing (most friction occurs underneath or on the side of the foot but not the top). The toe style seams provide some support, sort of like holding the sock in place meaning a much better fit.
But what about seamless socks – do they actually exist?
They did and I suspect in some outlets they still do. These socks were made using one piece of material shaped for the foot and had a seam at the ankle joining it altogether. The unfortunate thing about true seamless socks, is the lack of seams is somewhat counter productive, resulting in a poor fitting sock which is prone to slippage and bunching. If you’ve ever worn a really cheap pair of socks, you were probably wearing a tube sock. It’s important to note these socks are cheap for a reason i.e. less seams means less work and less work means less cost.
I hope I’ve provided some insight into seamless socks and what’s the deal with them.
