How socks are made

A town in Zhejiang, China, makes 8 billion pairs of socks a year, a third of the world's supply.

stations: 6
things upstream: 30
raw sources: 11
steps from the ground: 8

The short version

A circular knitting machine turns yarn into a continuous tube in 20 to 40 seconds, with hundreds of needles working around a rotating cylinder. The open toe is seamed or linked shut, and the socks are washed, then pulled over heated metal foot forms for boarding. Each is inspected, then matched into pairs and packed.

Prepare the yarn

Fibers are spun and plied into yarn, and colored either before spinning or as spun yarn. Multi-color patterns need each yarn dyed ahead of knitting. Blends of cotton, wool and nylon are combined during spinning or plying.

Goes in
Cotton yarn Wool yarn Nylon
Knit the tube

A rotating cylinder of needles grabs yarn and forms interlocking loops, one course per turn, knitting from cuff to toe. Needle count sets the fineness, with 84 to 108 needles for athletic socks and up to 200 for sheer ones.

20 to 40 seconds
Close the toe

The tube comes off open-ended, and a seaming or linking machine shuts the toe. Linking takes more labor, and some newer knitting machines close the toe in the same cycle.

Goes in
Sewing thread
Wash the batch

Knitted socks are washed before they are shaped. Simple uniform colors can be piece dyed here.

Goes in
Water
Board on foot forms

A baggy sock is pulled over a flat metal form shaped like a foot and passed through a setting machine with steam under pressure. It comes out holding that shape.
Inspect, pair and pack

Each sock is examined for defects, matched with its partner and packed for shipping. The whole job takes two to four hours of active production.

End of the lineSocks

Worth repeating

Machine-knit socks were first produced in the late 16th century, and William Lee invented the stocking frame in 1589.
Toe socks have a separate compartment for each toe, like fingers in a glove.