What are sneakers made of?
Sneakers take cotton fabric, polyester, sewing thread, polyurethane, vulcanized rubber and adhesive directly. Trace them back and you pass 36 made things on the way to 13 raw materials.
How sneakers are made See it on the map
What goes straight in
From the ground: 13 raw materials
- Water through adhesive
- Natural rubber latex through vulcanized rubber
- Sulfur through vulcanized rubber
- Raw cotton through cotton fabric, cotton yarn
- Corn through cotton fabric, corn starch
- Crude oil through polyurethane, propylene
- Air through polyurethane, nitric acid
- Rock salt through polyurethane, chlorine
- Natural gas through polyester, PET plastic, ethylene
- Limestone through polyester, PET plastic, ethylene glycol, carbon dioxide
- Coal through vulcanized rubber, synthetic rubber, benzene, toluene
- Sugarcane through polyester, PET plastic, ethylene glycol, carbon dioxide, baker's yeast, molasses
- Sugar beet through polyester, PET plastic, ethylene glycol, carbon dioxide, baker's yeast, molasses
Made along the way: 30 things
Chemicals and fuels 21
PropyleneNitric acidChlorineCarbon blackParaffin waxPara-xyleneEthyleneEthylene glycolNaphthaAmmoniaSulfuric acidBenzeneStyreneMethanolPhenolAcetoneCaustic sodaHydrogenOxygen gasCarbon dioxideToluene