TPU membrane for outdoor footwear and sports shoes

TPU membrane is a kind of new material with wide range of performances, it is widely used for various products, one of the most important application is outdoor and sport shoes.

while due to different hardness of different parts of shoe, TPU particles with different hardness are used. Generally speaking, TPU material are used for shoes parts such as air pad, soles, and vamp parts of shoe, following are details of TPU membrane for each parts.

Air pad: for Sports shoes, it pursues high resilience and shock absorption effect. The air pad is located between the upper /bottom part of the shoe sole, and is a hollow air storage chamber that can store and press out air. The air storage chamber, together with the air inlet and outlet channels set on the shoe, forms a ventilation device. sports shoes with air pad are very lightweight to wear and can avoid damage caused by exercise.

PU, PVC, and TPU membrane are commonly used for this part, while the mechanical strength and hardness of TPU can be flexibly adjusted to meet the requirements of air pad. Besides, TPU can be fully transparent, which will increase the aesthetics of shoes.

Upper vamp: Usually, the upper vamp is multi-layer composite. TPU hot melt adhesive film is widely used for bonding between layers. Hot melt adhesive film is a very thin layer of TPU film, sandwiched between two layers of fabric, heated by a hot bonding machine, and the TPU is melted before curing to firmly bond the fabric together. TPU hot melt adhesive is used for shoe uppers with simple operation and convenient construction, greatly improving the production efficiency of shoes; Compared to traditional solvent based adhesives, TPU hot melt adhesive has 100% solid content and no VOC emissions. Whether it is in the production or wearing process of shoes, it will be no any harm to human health and the environment.

Sole: The outer layer of shoe sole that touches the ground is called a sole. The important requirements for the outsole are anti slip and wear resistance. Traditional shoe soles use rubber or EVA materials, and due to the wear resistance of TPU, they gradually occupy a place in shoe soles.

In addition to using TPU membrane for the entire sole, TPU membrane is also used for heel part of some slope heeled shoes, and a layer of TPU is put on the outer layer of the heel to protect the main part of the heel.

Shoe trims: for bright decorative parts on shoes, PVC and TPU are both available. while TPU membrane can be fully transparent and easily colored, making it easy to create colorful and bright shoe decorations.

Shoelaces: shoelaces not only have the function of fastening shoes, but also have the function of decorative adjustment. TPU shoelaces are lightweight, waterproof, dirt resistant, and easy to clean. More importantly, TPU has a certain degree of elasticity. Simply adjust the TPU shoelaces to a comfortable level of tightness and tie them all at once. In the future, there is no need to unfasten or retie the shoelaces when taking off or putting on shoes, which can help to shorten time and reduce trouble.