Swiftwick – their tagline is “do what moves you”. They already make the most technically advanced running socks on the market. That’s not enough for Swiftwick. Moved with a love for the outdoors and a love for really colorful awesome socks, Swiftwick stepped it up a notch with the Aspire series. It all starts at a very small but important moment in the life of the socks: Coloring the threads and fibers they are made from so you get vibrant, colorfast color. So, we wanted to know, how do you get the color you want in a fabric with minimal impact in the environment? We went to Swiftwick to find out.
The Swiftwick Aspire bright socks are a step ahead of the game environmentally because of the dying process used. Traditional commercial dip dyeing is a process where dyes, usually chemical, are added to water, thus creating water waste. Bad mojo for the environment. Instead, Swiftwick uses a process called Solution Dyeing – it avoids creating that water waste, uses less water overall, and less energy. The thread is produced from a liquid fiber solution that has the color added directly before it even becomes yarn. Solution dyeing is much more environmentally friendly than traditional dip dyeing methods.
The environmental impact is lessened but there is another benefit. Coloring the fibers while still in the liquid form means there is 100% color saturation throughout the fibers, not just on the surface of the thread. This results in colors that are some of the most colorfast fibers possible. These threads resist fading from sunlight and regular washing.
Swiftwick Aspire = Less Waste/Less Energy Used = Good for the Environment. They managed to take the most technically advanced running sock on the market and made them even better. Better for you (sweet colors that won’t fade) and better for the environment (no commercial dip dyeing).
For the sock lover and the tree hugger alike, there are good reasons to check out the Swiftwick Aspire collection.