Overview of the socks manufacturing process

Have you ever wondered how China socks manufacturers make custom printing socks? The procedure below reveals how custom socks are produced in a typical Chinese socks factory.

The entire socks manufacturing process involve a lot of steps, and the synchronization between these various steps makes the whole process timewasting. Overall there are seven steps that we will talk about and they are as follows:

• Pattern coding
• Yarn preparation
• Knitting socks
• Linking/Sewing socks
• Boarding
• Pairing & Labelling socks
• Packaging

1. Pattern coding

As our client, if you send us your socks custom design, we will forward your designs to our professional coding department who have a wealth of experience dealing with machine mechanism and socks pattern to bring your designs to life. The first thing the coding personnel will do is to convert your vector designs to bitmap and then to codes that the knitting equipment can interpret. Every pixel of your bitmap design is a signal that a thread with the specific color will be knitted through.

There are various knitting machine needles and what this means is that the widths of the bitmap designs will be different too. The various sizes (96N, 144N, 168N, 200N) of machines means that the widths will become 96, 144, 168 and 200 pixels respectively. Furthermore, the thread count limit is the major reason why custom knit socks can’t present gradient or comprehensive patterns.

2. Yarn Preparation

The yarn preparation has two important elements namely: Composition and Colors. These two elements help us to choose a suitable composition for your socks custom design.

What are Sock Materials (Socks Yarn)

You may be wondering what’s behind the gorgeous pair of socks in your possession. Well, it’s the yarns. Socks yarn is a term that refers to a specific type of yarn and also, it’s a general yarn category. Loosely defined, you can say sock yarn is whatever yarn that is used to knit custom socks. It can be worsted or lace-weight and can be made from any fiber beneath the sun.

There are different kinds of socks manufactured to serve different purposes.

Color accuracy

Color accuracy is an important element in the custom socks manufacturing process. To make sure the socks are the same color as intended, we recommend Pantone TCX color scheme, a product of Pantone LLC to our clients, which is meant for industrial use, most especially for fiber and cotton yarn. For combed and normal cotton, we’ve got over a 1000 colors in stock that can match your Pantone colors.

For other yarn such as the mercerized wool, cotton, etc, we’ll make custom dyed yarn based on your listed Pantone tcx colors.

3. Knitting socks

Through programmed codes, multiple needles are utilized to knit various threads into a sequence of intertwining loops. Computerized custom sock knitting machines function at high speeds and can effortlessly be programmed to make a wide variation of custom socks for cheap.

At this point, 1st inline-inspection is carried out to avoid errors like length, trimming, interlocking, etc.

4. Linking/Sewing custom socks

Knitting is achieved via a cylinder tube, which is why we need the sewing process to link the separated toe parts together. It is usually carried out by the machines, which is swift. In most cases, this process is manually done, which wastes a lot of time. Since the custom knit socks are sewed one at a time, our skillful workers can simply find faulty socks and clear them away from the majority, which is the 2nd inline-inspection.

5. Boarding socks

The boarding procedure ensures that the socks are kept in good shape, so they can be paired and packed easily. Another benefit of the boarding process is that it helps to keep the socks soft and clean by being subjected to steams under a fixed temperature and pressure. After the boarding process, the custom knit socks will naturally dry out.

6. Labelling & pairing socks

This is the last inspection phase to see if there’s any deflection on the custom socks. Both the left and right socks are paired and then transferred to be labeled. You can decide on bands or hangtags to label your socks.

7. Packaging

After the labeling phase, the socks pair is moved for packaging. It’s carried out based on customer style and demand. After packaging, the custom socks are ready to be shipped.

Socks can be used for Different purposes namely

Slipper Socks: These type of socks are used for spontaneous purposes.

Medical Socks: These type of Socks are used in the medical field. It is used for healing wounds, weight loss purpose and controlling diabetic.

Tube Socks: These are socks they’re longer in length, they have no heel and look like a tube. They are worn by athletes and can be worn casually.

Crew Socks/ Boot Sock/ Work Sock: These type of socks can cover your mid-calf and you can wear it straight-up, scrunched or cuffed. They are accessible in various textures or sizes “ribs” and may be altered as a boot sock or work sock by adding further cushioning and reinforcement for extra protection in heavy duty shoes.

Cuff Socks: These type of socks will cover your calf and ankle and might come in a single cuff. You can wear it for a longer period most especially with shorts & dresses. Furthermore, It has the ability to match all kinds of shoes.

Quarter Socks & Ankle Crew Socks: These type of socks will cover your foot up to your ankle and its best worn with casual & athletic shoes.

Lo Cut Socks / Low Cuff Sock / Footie Socks: These type of socks will cover your foot, it stops underneath the ankle. They’re popular in the hot weather and are sometimes embroidered with logo or stripes. They are best worn with casual & athletic shoes.

“No Show” Socks: These type of socks are concealed by a shoe for a “no socks” appearance. They’re prevalent in the hot weather.

Anti-Bacterial Socks: These type of socks are used to control the rapid growth of odor-causing microorganisms. Supports socks are manufactured from polyester and nylon, with more elastic and nylon fiber added to offer support to the foot and leg to reduce weariness.

Cushioned or Terry Socks: Terry textile is used to increase cushioning in socks. It’s mostly used in the foot of the sock and can be half or full terry around the sock.

Thermal Socks: These are used during winter, the raw materials used in manufacturing these type of socks are wool, heavy acrylic, blend of fibers or polypropylene.

What are the raw material used in manufacturing socks:

The quality of the raw material, construction and knitting type are the main parameters concerned with the performance and comfort of socks. In the socks manufacturing process, various fibers are used according to the client’s request and purpose. The Raw materials used for manufacturing socks are part of the following fiber varieties: Coolmax, Cotton, Nylon, Merino Wool, Polyester, Acrylic, Sulcool, Lycra, Elastic, Combed Yarn, Ring spun Yarn, Melange, Polypropylene, Twisted Yarn, Regenerated yarn and lots more

Conclusion

Before choosing the type of socks to put on, you have to consider the reason for wearing them in the first place. Athletic socks have different customized manufacturing technology when compared to sleeping or office socks.

Furthermore, you should wear dry and clean socks to stop foot contaminations. Regardless of the fabric used in producing a pair of custom socks, wet socks are known to always affect people’s feet negatively. Make sure you’re buying socks from the best china socks manufacturers.