Bamboo footies and ankle socks – The invisible socks for sneakers

Short answer: A footie has to do two things: stay below the shoe line and not slip off the heel. The first is a question of height, the second of a silicone strip and the right size. Bamboo viscose solves the third thing, which is keeping the foot from turning clammy inside a closed trainer.

Footie or ankle sock

A footie is cut below the shoe line and does not show in a low trainer or a loafer. The price is that there is less fabric to move moisture and less holding it in place. An ankle height sock, often called a tennis sock, comes just above the shoe and stays put by itself. It moves more moisture and wears more slowly, because there is more fabric around the heel. Choose by the shoe: footies for low shoes, ankle height for trainers.

How to stop it slipping off

The heel slips for three reasons: the sock is too large, the heel is not shaped, or the silicone strip is worn. Choose the smaller size in your range if you are unsure, and look for a shaped heel rather than a straight tube. The silicone strip lasts longest if the sock is washed inside out and without fabric softener, because the softener settles on the silicone too and makes it slick. See bamboo footies for women and bamboo footies for men.

When the shoe is a trainer

In a trainer with a rubber sole and a synthetic lining there is neither ventilation nor anything that absorbs moisture. That is why summer feet fare worse in trainers than in leather. An ankle height bamboo sock covers more of the foot, takes the moisture into the fibre and releases it above the shoe line, where there is air. See bamboo tennis socks for women and bamboo tennis socks for men.

Blisters and seams

Most blisters appear in two places: the heel and the toe. At the heel the cause is moisture plus friction, and a smooth bamboo fibre rubs less than a fuzzy cotton one. At the toe it is almost always a seam sitting in the wrong place. Turn the sock over and feel for the seam before you put it on, and choose styles with a flat toe seam if you walk far. A sock that is too large folds and causes the same problem.

Washing and replacing

Wash at thirty degrees inside out and without softener, and dry on the line or on the lowest heat. Footies wear out faster than high socks, because the whole load sits on a small piece of fabric, so expect to replace them more often. Buy several of the same style rather than one pair of each, so you do not end up with odd ones. The rest sits under all bamboo socks for women, bamboo for women and bamboo for men.