Natural Rubber

LET'S TALK NATURAL RUBBER

ARE THEY AS DURABLE AS PLASTIC FLIP FLOPS?

Natural Rubber is incredibly elastic, which ensures our flip flops are super durable. We have walked more miles than we can remember wearing these, without any failure, and we have pulled and twisted the straps without them snapping, including testing for those dreaded "toe-plug blowouts".

HOW ARE OUR FLIP FLOPS MADE?

Our flip flops are made from natural rubber, sourced from rubber tree farms in Vietnam. The rubber is coloured using natural dyes. The rubber is then made into our beautiful flip flops using "cookie-cutter" moulds.

HOW DO YOU ENSURE THAT THE FLIP FLOPS ARE MADE ETHICALLY?

Our natural rubber comes from Vietnam. Our manufacturing process meets the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) standard which ensures the staff are paid a fair wage and work in the most environmentally friendly way possible.

We have recognised by PETA as an Approved Vegan company. This allows consumers to shop with confidence, safe in the knowledge that we are not supporting the exploitation of animals.

We are a Climate Positive company, meaning that we don't just offset our carbon footprint and the carbon footprint that comes from delivering your flip flops to you, but we are actually in credit!

HOW DOES NATURAL RUBBER BIODEGRADE?

Do not fear, just because our flip flops are biodegradable, it doesn't mean they will start falling apart as you are wearing them. When you are finished with your flip flops, you can send them back to us and we will recycle them, or you can compost them. Importantly, wherever your flip flops end up, they won't release any toxic chemicals like plastics do.

Here comes the science! Natural rubber is biodegradable for two reasons: because of natural oxidisation and chemical reaction to the environment, and because relatively common bacteria and fungi are able to break rubber down for use over their life cycles.

Natural rubber can be enzymatically broken into molecules helpful to microorganisms, creating water and carbon dioxide or methane as a byproduct. Some of these microorganisms get a boost when the chemistry of the environments starts the process through oxidisation.

Soils with a lot of microbial activity and complex compositions can accelerate this biodegradation.

Synthetic rubbers and plastics used in most flip flops do not break down this way, as microorganisms have not evolved to use them.

WHY DID WE CHOOSE NATURAL RUBBER?

Our priority was to never use plastic, even if it was recycled. We do not endorse plastic as a material, and we didn't want to add to the plastic pollution problem. From early on we made the decision to make our flip flops from natural rubber and we had no idea how the natural rubber would feel once we were wearing it. What we found out, when we had the flip flops on our feet was really exciting!

WHAT IS NATURAL RUBBER LIKE ON YOUR FEET?

Our flip flops provide a supportive, soft, and comfortable fit. Natural rubber moulds to your feet. It feels like you're walking on a cloud, and that reduced impact when you walk, is great for your joints. If you've suffered from flip flops pinching across the top of your foot, or if you're prone to blisters from the toe peg, you no longer have to worry about that, natural rubber is incredibly soft! Under extreme tension, they do not buckle and fold, as regular flip flops do. Often when flip flops get bent once, they lose their shape and are more likely to break or be uncomfortable.