Modern toe puff and counter technology
Toe puffs and counters are often taken for granted. This is a mistake as they both perform important functions in the finished shoe. Toe puffs preserve toe shape and prevent that area of the shoe from collapsing and losing its visual appeal. Heel counters again preserve shape but also grip the heel and support it during walking. In the case of ladies fashion shoes, a strong counter plays an important part in keeping the shoe on the wearer’s foot. A great deal of work has gone into improving these two components over the years to meet the changing demands of modern footwear manufacturing which has led to some very clever technology.
Both components were originally cut from veg-tanned leather, soaked in water to soften them, pasted into the upper, lasted while still moist and then left for a few days to dry out. Increasing mechanisation created faster turn around times for the lasting process and so alternatives were developed. Toe puffs cut from a relatively soft cotton ply base impregnated with celluloid and activated with acetone were easy to last and provided a strong toe with good shape definition. The only problem was that they still needed time to dry out. Counters saw leather replaced by leather board which could be pre-moulded to match the heel of the last and produced a very strong and accurate backpart to the shoe. They are in fact still used for the best ladies shoes for that very reason.
Rapid change
Things began to change rapidly by the late 1940s and no more so than in Germany, where the Giulini brothers took the idea of plastic reinforced collars for shirts and applied it to footwear. This led to the founding of Rhenoflex GmbH in 1952. Its original toe puffs used woven fabric substrates that were saturated with urea formaldehyde resins that could be water-activated on the shoe production line. They proved popular as they were easy to use, did not affect operatives’ hands and did not give off unpleasant and possibly harmful odours. But, above all, they performed extremely well and quickly became popular so that Renoflex toe puffs were soon in use throughout Europe.
The mid-1950s also saw the development of heat-activated thermo-adhesive coated toe puffs based on saturated woven or non woven substrates. This technology also proved suitable for counters and soon began to replace leatherboard. The real change however came about in 1980 when Rhenoflex introduced its RX3000 range. This was a major breakthrough in that the adhesive was contained within the substrate rather than being an outer coating. This meant that skived edges would also stick to the upper material, thus improving the bonding area. The material was also easier to handle as it did not stick to the operator’s fingers. The fact that it was also made using a powder system with synthetic fillers and polyester fabric meant that it was also recyclable.
The final refinement introduced in the late 1980s was Rhenoprint, which was totally powder-based and, although it still contained natural fillers, all woven content had been removed. This meant that it could also be moulded in the required shape with all edge reductions included so that no edge skiving was needed. It also effectively eliminated all waste as everything could be re-ground and re-used. In 2005, Rhenoflex took this a stage further by replacing synthetic ingredients with natural ones. This made the product even more environmentally friendly and today, Rhenoprint toe puffs and counters contain up to 70% recycled content.
Modern technology
Most modern toe puff and counter materials are produced in roll form using a number of processes including filmic extrusion, powder coating or sintering and the impregnation of some type of substrate. They all need converting into sheet form for shipping to the customer, who then has to cut out and skive the reinforcement parts ready for applying them to the shoe upper. This takes time and costs money as these processes are difficult to automate.
The process used to produce Rhenoprint is different in that it takes the basic sintering process and, instead of producing a continuous sheet of material, it moulds fully finished toe puffs and counters that require no further processing.
Rhenoprint can be said to tick all the boxes as far as toe puffs and counters are concerned. It is highly customisable in that it offers different thicknesses and densities in almost any shape to suit the customer’s requirements. The puffs and counters come as ready to use components, rather than as sheet material requiring cutting and skiving, which saves time, money and offers zero waste. The fact they are produced so quickly and efficiently also means that their individual CO2 footprint is kept to a minimum. Toe puff and counter technology has indeed come a very long way and is a far cry from the way Rhenoflex started out 70 years ago.
All Credits: Rhenoflex
