Shoelaces strings are made of organic cotton, a material completely different from other types of strings, which are often produced following the industrial technique of artificial fibers. This allows us to produce safe, hypoallergenic and protected materials, and to preserve consumer health.
However, there are laces coming from chemical fibers, which are produced by man through some chemical-physical industrial processes, also called “mad-made” fibers.
There are two large families to which the chemical fibers belong: one artificial and one synthetic. Although quite different from each other, their common denominator is to come from a fluid, composed of macromolecules (also known as polymers) obtained by mixing together some small molecules (called monomers) that pass through a series of holes one of which will come out underneath form of parallel filaments. As soon as they are joined together, the lace comes to life: their union has given life to a continuous thread. Instead, artificial fibers derive from the processing of natural products and renewable raw materials, such as wood cellulose and cotton linters. These tools, through precise and particular chemical processes, become soluble at the end of the course. Based on the required length, the solutions obtained previously are solidified. Synthetic fibers, instead, as easily understood by the name, derive from substances coming from the petrochemical industry and are obtained through particular aggregations of different polymers. The difference compared to artificial ones is that the synthetic ones come from petroleum derivatives.
Producing the laces through these fibers turns out to be advantageous because the materials involved in question cost less and are easily colored. The cons, however, is that they are dangerous to use, they burn with flame. Besides being counterproductive for our body, the use of a series of procedures in which chemicals are used are very risky for the environmental impact.
Shoelaces’ green optics does not allow its products to be used through these methods, and therefore opts for a long series of specific measures that start from the cultivation of the plant until it is harvested and processed, so as to bring to the customer an absolutely safe eco-friendly product.
