Which dress shoes and loafers have no plastic in the leather finish, the sole, the glue or the thread?
This category is being vetted. Nothing here is a recommendation yet.
Where plastic hides in dress shoes
A welted shoe is leather, cork and thread, and plastic gets in anyway. Patent and high-gloss leather is coated in polyurethane or lacquer, and most "finished" leather carries an acrylic topcoat; wax polish is the plastic-free shine. A leather sole is only leather. A rubber sole or heel lift is synthetic or polyurethane unless the page names natural rubber. Toe puffs and heel counters are thermoplastic in cheaper pairs and leather in better ones. A Goodyear welt sits over a cork filler and glue, and it is stitched with waxed polyester or linen thread. The leather edge is sealed with acrylic edge paint.
What to check before you buy
- Leather: unfinished, aniline, oil-tanned or waxed, or patent, high-gloss or corrected-grain?
- Sole: leather or named natural rubber, or synthetic rubber and polyurethane?
- Heel: stacked leather, or a rubber or polyurethane top lift?
- Lining and insole: leather, or polyester and foam?
- Stiffeners: leather or fiberboard, or thermoplastic counters and toe puffs?
- Stitching and glue: waxed cotton or linen thread and a named adhesive, or nylon and unnamed cement?
- Edges: burnished and waxed, or sealed with acrylic edge paint?