Synthetic Leather and Cleats

We see hundreds of cleats that are listed as having synthetic leather uppers. We can almost say all synthetic leathers are made from plastic and probably 100% of the synthetic leather used in the manufacture of sports cleats (and their uppers) is plastic. The plastic can come from PU or from PVC. PU synthetic leather allows some "breathability" and is “cleanable”, while the PVC types do not “breathe” and are very difficult to clean. An interesting side note: PUMA has banned all PVC plastics from use in any of their products (shoes, clothes, etc…). PUMA states that the processing of PVC is both harmful to factory workers and the environment and therefore PUMA uses only PU. We now see that Mizuno has also followed in the path of PUMA and has banned all PVC.

It seems like there are hundreds of types of synthetic leather and that all of the major brands (Nike, Adidas, Puma, Mizuno, etc…) have their own “proprietary” versions of synthetic leather and it is very difficult to obtain quality information concerning these “proprietary” versions.

But the big question is… what is better for performance and injury risk reduction? Is a synthetic leather upper better than a kangaroo leather, natural leather, or a natural nubuck leather upper? What about mesh? What about microfiber uppers?

At this point, Cleats-Info will make the statement that “natural” leather is the standard and the benchmark. All other materials for uppers are trying to reach that standard. Quality leather “breaks-in” based upon your foot and therefore bends and flexes at natural points for your foot. Quality leather also gets better with time whereas the synthetic leather maybe starts out good, but can only go downhill from there.

In the attempt to synthesize leather, the most important characteristic of the plastic fiber is the size (measured in denier). The smaller we can make the size, the softer and more flexible the material. This size (denier) is very, very important! Let’s take a look at various denier sizes of different materials…

Course Stratchy Wool Fiber = 15 denier Cotton or Polyester = 3 – 6 denier Silk = 1 denier

Ultrasuede (a synthetic leather also called Alcantara in Europe) = 0.1 denier

Clarino (also synthetic leather) = 0.1 denier

The Fine Collagen Fibers of “Natural” Leather? = so small that they can not be measured on a denier scale!

Therefore we will make a statement that synthetic leather and microfibers probably still have a long way to go to match the comfort and performance of leather.

Here are some summaries of reviews about shoe uppers made from Lorica (microfiber / synthetic leather)…

1) It gets softer with use.

2) Is hot when its hot and cold when its cold.

3) Does not seem to be waterproof.

4) Doesn’t age with cracks like leather, but develops weird white fuzzy fibers.

5) Never really feels “broken in”.

6) I’m not a fan.

7) I’ll never get another Lorica.

8) My shoes have held up very well. They do develop this fuzzy stuff.

9) My shoes WERE waterproof.

10) Comfortable, waterproof, but did not “breathe” well. Everytime I played for more than a couple of hours my feet got “prunish” from inside moisture.

11) Completely “turned-off” by Lorica or anything like it.

Lastly, we will give another example of synthetic leather versus “natural” leather…

For the 2006-2007 NBA Basketball Season, the league made a switch from “natural” leather basketballs to a synthetic leather version made by Spalding. Very quickly into the season players started complaining. They stated the ball bounced differently both off of the floor and off of the rim. They also stated that the synthetic balls gave them tiny “paper scratches” all over their hands with day-in and day-out use. Needless to say, it was not very long (about 3 months), and the NBA switched back to the “old leather standard”!

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