FITS socks are made with some of the best wool in the world, thanks to our sheep farming friends in the Midwest, and on the other side of the world in New Zealand and Australia. But the most important thing about our product is that we proudly manufacture all of our comfy, best-fitting socks right here in the USA.
Now, you might think that manufacturing a sock is pretty simple, but don’t let the size of our products trick you into thinking this. There are actually quite a few stops along the way as the product travels from the sheep in the field to your feet.
In short, the process looks like this: The sheep are sheared on the farm and the farmer ships off all the “greasy wool” to a processing facility. Quick side note on greasy wool...it is the raw or natural state of the sheep’s wool, with anything from oils and dirt, to grass and other unmentionables stuck in the wool. Once the greasy wool is received by a processing facility, it is cleaned through a rigorous process of washing and combing. It’s then packaged into clean bales, “bobbins,” or “wool top.”
Next the wool is sent to a dye house to receive color or sent directly to a yarn spinning facility. Once at the yarn spinning facility, the spinner takes the "wool top" and produces yarn based on FITS® Sock Technology requested specifications. Finally the wool yarn is complete and sent to the sock manufacturer who uses it along with other materials to craft socks like our wool socks for women and wool socks for men.
We’ve been fortunate to work with some of the best and most experienced wool handlers on the planet, and recently we had the chance to visit with our greasy wool processor, Chargeurs, in Jamestown, S.C. Chargeurs has been around since 1955 and is experienced in wool processing. In their 400,000 square foot facility, they specialize in producing worsted wool (wool top).
According to their website, worsted wool “has longer fibers that make a more light-weight and smoother fabric more suitable for knitted garments like socks and sweaters, as well as woven products like high fashion dresses and suits.” Chargeurs cleans and preps wool for FITS, and for hundreds of other manufacturers and brands around the world.
Quality socks and happy customers are our most important priorities, and it’s always a good reminder when visiting with our wool partners that we’re doing everything we can to ensure we have the best product on the planet.
Stay tuned for more behind-the-scenes information about our manufacturing process, as we’ll be spotlighting our other facilities and partners throughout the end of the year and into 2019.
