Primus Lite Knit Natural
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About
a barefoot trainer with a knitted sock upper that is 92% tencel, the wood-pulp fiber spun in a closed loop, with 7% hotmelt adhesive and 1% roica stretch holding it together. the sole is recycled polyurethane topped with cork, so this is a natural upper on a plastic sole rather than a plastic-free shoe, and the score says so. wide toe box, thin flexible sole, made for sockless wear. in dusty green.
Materials
Upper: 92% Tencel, 7% hotmelt, 1% Roica. Sole: recycled polyurethane with a cork top layer.
What the brand names mean
Trademarks on a label describe the fiber, not your exposure. Here is what each one is and what it does not cover. None of it moves the score.
The only stretch fiber carrying a Cradle to Cradle Material Health Gold certificate, which screens the full chemical inventory for carcinogens and reproductive toxicants. That aims at the real problem with spandex on skin: leftover diisocyanates from making it, which are what cause stretch-fabric rashes.
It is still polyurethane. It still sheds plastic microfibers, and the certificate does not cover shedding. Under ISO 14855-1 composting it degraded about 55 percent over 24 months, and Asahi Kasei states that does not reach the level the OK Compost standard requires to call a yarn biodegradable, so treat biodegradable stretch as marketing.
The spelled-out TENCEL name guarantees the closed-loop process: the solvent is non-toxic and over 99 percent of it is captured and reused instead of discharged. It is the cleanest regenerated fiber we score.
It covers the fiber, not the finished piece. Dyes and wrinkle-proof coatings go on after spinning, and that is where formaldehyde shows up. Look for OEKO-TEX on the garment too.