Darn Tough Vermont Hiker 1/4 Socks Cushion

SUSTAINABILITY

Darn Tough aims to improve the well-being of our community by locally designing and manufacturing the most comfortable, durable, best fitting socks while continuously reducing our environmental impacts.

MATERIALS IN OUR SOCKS

Every material we use in our socks has been carefully chosen and tested to meet our rigorous durability standards. We currently use natural and synthetic fibers, and only 3 types of fiber per sock. As you’d expect, we are actively investigating and testing new fibers and yarn blends that do not appear in our current products. We’ve prioritized Merino wool throughout our product lines and our goal of producing the most responsibly made product is reflected in our commitment to the success of the Responsible Wool Standard.

MERINO WOOL

Merino wool is the most important and relied upon fiber in our products and accounted for 56% of our yarn consumption by weight last year. For many years we’ve prioritized the use of Merino wool exclusively from sheep that have not been exposed to the practice of mulesing. In early 2019 we made a commitment to support the Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) and shift 100% of our wool supply to RWS-certified Merino wool.

RWS is a voluntary standard with strict guidelines to protect animal welfare and adhere to progressive, sustainable farm and land management practices while maintaining traceability throughout the entire supply chain.

Although the market share for RWS is only estimated at ~1% of global wool production, the number of certified sources has grown substantially over the last couple years. Today, 100% of the wool we procure is RWS-certified.

RECYCLED NYLON

We use REPREVE, a nylon 6 fiber made from pre-consumer industrial waste that would otherwise be landfilled or downcycled. Using REPREVE instead of virgin nylon allows us to offset the use of crude oil, benzene, cyclohexane, and other harmful hydrocarbons that are involved in the production of virgin fiber. In short, using recycled nylon conserves energy and water and reduces greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing. While we aim to reduce our use of virgin nylon in our products, recycled nylon only accounted for 4% of our nylon consumption last year.

We’re actively working with our suppliers to source more recycled nylon so we can incorporate it across our product lines. To date, nylons generated from pre-consumer waste material have held up well against our durability requirements, but we’d like to find an equally good source of post-consumer recycled nylon or yarns that blend both pre and post-consumer nylon.

SPANDEX/ELASTANE

We use Lycra to provide elasticity, strength, and form-fitting comfort. While spandex accounts for no more than 5% of the fiber used in our finished product, it represented 27% of the raw materials we procured last year. Like conventional nylon, spandex is derived from petroleum and has been important to the performance of our products. Unfortunately, it’s the most difficult material in our fiber mix to replace with a recycled alternative.

When it comes to synthetics, we’re primarily focused on converting virgin nylon and polyester to recycled alternatives. However, we’re also looking for functional, recycled spandex alternatives.