Shoes / Footwear: physical testing

Physical tests in Footwear: generalities and particularities.

The shoe protects the foot from the roughness of the ground and climatic variations. Despite this, the foot is subject to significant physical stresses: it ensures balance in a static position, allows movement over various terrain, flat or uneven, up and down stairs, and responds to spontaneous acceleration.

During an activity, the shoe must respect the movements of the foot: it must neither oppose, nor promote or amplify its natural movements.

All of these consumer expectations for a shoe are incorporated by the manufacturer into what we call the fit. The footwear will be defined by the design office, and described in the functional specifications of the product. This integrates the specific needs related to the individual and the activity.

To be comfortable to wear, the shoe must best match the shape of the foot, but must also meet the requirements of the activity for which it is intended. There is thus a great diversity of ranges of shoes. We find the ranges segmenting the ages (child, woman, man and senior shoe), or the shoes classified by activity (sports shoe, safety shoe, etc.).

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Making a shoe

The consumer cannot imagine the number of operations necessary to make a shoe, from the thought of the stylist or designer, to putting the finished products in the store. Indeed, this process sees the intervention of a multitude of know-how, as well as a collaboration of the manufacturer with many suppliers.

Shoe manufacturing flowchart

 

There are several steps to creating a shoe:

• The design and production of the shape, which gives the aesthetic of the toe, the height of the heel and the fit;
• The design of the model flat and in volume, with the choice of materials and colors;
• The drawing of the lines of the model on the solid form;
• Details on the type of edge finish, and assembly methods, are also given for the upper.
• The drawing and details concerning the sole are also provided by the stylists or designers.

 

Elements of the shoe

CTC shoe expertise, a full range of footwear services

CTC, professional economic development committee for the footwear, leather goods, gloves and leather fashion sector, is the privileged interlocutor for all production, design, quality control and innovation issues in the footwear sector. The scope of our services affects all stages in the life of a shoe, from specifications to recycling.

 

• Advice on product design / improvement,
• Training,
• Physical and chemical tests,
• Factory audit,
• Laboratory audit,
• Wearing test,
• Shoe qualification,
• Inspection of finished product, inline inspection or Pre-shipment inspection,
• Certification and CE marking of safety shoes (PPE)

 

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Recommended physical tests in footwear

CTC recommends a series of basic tests in order to be able to qualify and evaluate the shoe. Here is the recommended test pack below.

RECOMMENDED TESTS
Component	Test designation	Standard
TOP	Tear Resistance	ISO 17696
LINING	Color resistance to translational friction (wet)	ISO 17700
OUTSOLE	Flexural strength	EN ISO 17707
	Abrasion resistance	EN 12770 ISO 20871
FULL SHOE	Resistance of upper / sole adhesion	EN ISO 17708
HEEL	Impact resistance (pendulum sheep)	CTC Method CTC-P-CH-016

 

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Additional physical tests on shoes

These additional tests are carried out on the different components of the shoe. The test that we recommend is carried out in accordance with a French, European or international standard.

Select the component to find out the corresponding tests and standards:

 

Color legend
Mechanical properties	Color fastness	Hygienic comfort	Other

 

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