My darn tough socks that I bought before becoming vegan are finally wearing out and given that the environment is one of my main reasons for being vegan, replacing them with darn tough's synthetic socks just seems wrong.

So, what natural, non-animal materials or brands have you guys found to hold up well or maybe even have a darn tough-like warranty?

Edit: "Just use animal products anyways" is not a valid suggestion. Also, Thank you to whoever reported me to Reddit cares, that's a real good look.

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GoodArtichoke1559 t1_j9zbc4c wrote on February 25, 2023 at 5:53 PM

Secondhand animal products. Not socks, though new socks show up on Poshmark and other places that are in the original packaging because someone overbought or didn’t like another pair that they bought or changed their mind etc.

frostbiyt OP t1_j9zr87a wrote on February 25, 2023 at 7:38 PM

I'm not necessarily against that for one-off items, but that's not really a good general solution.

Matzie138 t1_j9zsju5 wrote on February 25, 2023 at 7:47 PM

If you are ok with a small amount of synthetic for stretch, we have a local to MN company called Hippy Feet with majority cotton socks (in addition to wool) that are made in the US.

They also give 50% of their profit to nonprofits that support homeless kids, which is cool. However they don’t have a lifetime warranty.

The only other one I know about is farm to feet, which are all wool (from/made in us), but they do the the lifetime guarantee.

ConBroMitch t1_ja35crj wrote on February 26, 2023 at 2:30 PM

I understand the sentiment here - but keep in mind that sheep will literally die if they are not sheared.

It’s necessary (and humane), us humans are lucky enough to benefit from the the outcome. It would be such a shame to waste.

frostbiyt OP t1_ja3f6vl wrote on February 26, 2023 at 3:41 PM

Like any other farm animal, sheep are often abused and kept in terrible conditions. Little care is given to the welfare of an animal beyond what is necessary for it to make products for us. There are certainly farms out there that treat their sheep very well, but there's no guarantee that that's where your wool comes from.

I haven't looked into the environmental impact of wool specifically, but other animals use significantly more land, use more water, and produce more waste that gets into the natural waterways than plant based alternatives.

The fact that sheep would die if not sheered is irrelevant. They shouldn't exist. They are fucked up mutants created to make a product for humans.

Altoidlover987 t1_ja4f31s wrote on February 26, 2023 at 7:38 PM

If you want no wool or synthetic, your choices for clothing are quite constrained. In materials you are left with plant fibers; cotton, linen, hemp, or you can go semi-synthetic with rayon, bamboo, tencel, lyocel, viscose, etc (broadly, all are variations of viscose)

Excluding wool/synthetics is not necessarily better for the environment. Some examples, socks usually contain some nylon or similar to help with durability. Arguably a bit of nylon in your socks is better than wearing through more socks more quickly. Viscose, rayon bamboo, etc, are often greenwashed and marketed as green alternative fibers, in reality making these fibers is a toxic chemical process executed in third world countries where the environment gets destroyed as a result. Cotton requires much water and pesticides.

Dressing for the cold or wet will be hard without wool or synthetic

Ideally I recommend you buy only what you need, and try to find european/american production, or shop from reputable brands, also secondhand shopping and repair what you can.

Conscientious shopping is a great step in the right direction

Lonely-Connection-37 t1_ja0lb1c wrote on February 25, 2023 at 11:09 PM

Good old fashioned wool rich or heavy felt shirts

Foreign-Cookie-2871 t1_j9zv2e0 wrote on February 25, 2023 at 8:04 PM

I don't really have a brand, but before switching to wool I liked cotton sponge socks, they last a long time (I still have them) and are decently warm

Titanium_Light_ t1_ja0a27l wrote on February 25, 2023 at 9:47 PM

Modal is the best material you can get for clothing. It's made from birch trees and lasts forever without pilling. Extremely soft.

frostbiyt OP t1_ja0h6ty wrote on February 25, 2023 at 10:39 PM

Looks interesting, any brand recommendations?

Titanium_Light_ t1_ja0ih7n wrote on February 25, 2023 at 10:48 PM

For underwear, mens Obviously Primeman are worth the money

Quail-a-lot t1_ja21x1w wrote on February 26, 2023 at 6:44 AM

Linen and hemp

frostbiyt OP t1_ja220ga wrote on February 26, 2023 at 6:45 AM

Got any good brand recs?

Quail-a-lot t1_ja24d66 wrote on February 26, 2023 at 7:14 AM

Patagonia makes a good hemp blend and Tentree has some nice stuff too (they also have organic cotton of good quality), but mostly you just have to hunt for them. I tend to thrift mine so they often don't have tags, but another common place to find them is little hippie clothing shops and fair-trade type stores. Hemp in particular is very durable and what jeans often used to be made out of!

If you are looking for the most ecologically sound - avoid bamboo. And read up on it. The process is not very friendly and bamboo plantations are not either currently. Bamboo fabric is a type of "viscose rayon" which is made by dissolving the cellulose in the bamboo and then extruding it. I'd avoid anything rayon or viscose if that is your goal in fact, including modal. Tencel Lyocell is the best of this family since it uses much safer and recyclable solvents.

Gold-Natural8906 t1_jaawnxl wrote on February 28, 2023 at 2:44 AM

I know you said no wool but not all wool comes from industrial farms. I am big into knitting and a big lover of wool. All of the wool I work with comes from small scale farms that live their sheep more than themselves. I really recommend looking for local, small scale farmers who shear their sheep and create wool products. If you dove into the knitting community you would find a community of people dedicated to sustainable fashion who live their sheep. If you really want to go further look into knitters/producers who are part of “shave em to save em”. It’s a program built to preserve traditional sheep breeds that are threatened or endangered. The whole premise being “make their wool valuable so they are preserved by farmers”. You are right about commercial wool being tricky but there are tons of small scale producers that will make quality 100% wool socks from sheep that are well-loved.

ETA: I almost never post on reddit so if I formatted things wrong I apologize, but that lends credence to how much love I have for wool and small scale shepherds!