Sarah
30 april 2025
I am amazed at some of the negative reviews of these socks, as I really like them, and find they are very good quality. For just under £2 per pair, I think the quality is excellent, as I don't find that £2 per pair is any way expensive. It is true that the elastic top is not tight, as these are comfort socks, and for me, this is really good, as my legs tend to swell up if I'm on my feet a lot, and tight elastic leaves deep ridges in my legs. But although these are very comfortable to wear, they still stay up well, I find, I have had no problems with them falling down at all. The top is elasticated, so these are not non-elastic socks, but it's less tight than normal, and the elastic is wider than the normal narrow strip, which also makes it more comfortable. The toe seams are very smooth, too, you can barely feel it is there. They are ankle socks, and come up a standard height for ankle socks. They are very generously sized - I bought the smaller size, which is supposed to be 2.5 (who has size 2.5 anyway?) - 5, and am a size 5, and while they're fine for me to wear, they are slightly generous in size, although I wouldn't actually say they're too big: they're just not fully stretched out: when putting them on, I have to be careful that I don't stretch them out too far, otherwise, the heel won't sit in the right place. They are about the same size as some other socks I bought that were labelled for sizes 4 - 8, and I think they'd be too large for anyone smaller than a size 4, and would probably be borderline too large for size 4. Having washed these now, I want to add that they shrunk a bit in the wash, and now fit me just right, although I washed them at 60 degrees, whereas the label said to wash at 40 degrees, so imagine that might make a difference - if you've got larger feet than size 5, would definitely not wash them hotter than recommended - for me, it's good they shrunk a bit. Otherwise, they've washed well, retained their shape and colour well, as I find bamboo socks do. They're made from 75% viskose (from bamboo), 20% polyamide and 5% elastane, and I find they are of normal thickness for socks - again, don't understand the reviews complaining that they're thick or warm, or don't absorb sweat... I think these socks would be perfectly ok for wearing under trainers - they're not especially thin, though, but also not especially thick. You can get very thin bamboo socks, but these are of normal thickness like cotton-mix socks would be. I think partly the negative reviews are due to unrealistic expectations of what bamboo fibre socks will do or not do. I notice they're described as breathable - I wouldn't say bamboo is any more "breathable" than any other sock fibres myself. Bamboo is supposed to have slight antibacterial properties, that doesn't mean they absorb sweat any better than other socks, though, or that they're necessarily any cooler to wear than normal cotton-mix socks. I like bamboo socks because the material feels really nice and smooth, and because bamboo is a greener alternative to cotton. The antibacterial properties of bamboo fibres probably get lost by the time it's been processed into fibres, from what I've read, anyway, so that's a bit of a gimmick, I think. But bamboo is really nice and smooth, and wears and washes better than cotton, in my experience. I've similar socks that I bought at the same time as 100% cotton and cotton-polyester mix socks, and the bamboo fibre socks are far less faded and worn, compared to both the 100% cotton and the cotton-mix socks. They still feel nice and smooth and still look nice after loads of wears and washes. I am very happy with these socks and would definitely recommend them. Have attached some photos - the colour has come out a bit weird, as I used flash, so they don't actually look grey or whitish, they're a really deep black (bamboo socks also tend to be a deeper black colour than cotton or cotton mix socks).