How To Tell If Your Shoes Are Vegan
4 Ways To Tell If Your Shoes Are Vegan
Adjusting to a vegan lifestyle can be more complicated than you might originally think. While looking for vegan food alternatives will soon become the norm, slowly replacing items of clothing and shoes that have some sort of animal attribute can be a challenge. This is particularly the case with shoes, as many high-quality shoes are made from leather which is, of course, not vegan.
This quick and easy guide will take you through exactly how to tell if your shoes are vegan.
What Makes Shoes Vegan?
Before we begin, it’s important to understand what makes shoes vegan. Essentially, vegan shoes are given the ‘vegan’ stamp when absolutely no animals were harmed in the making of them. This means that leather, suede, shearling, fur, and wool are completely out of the question. To replace these products, vegan shoes use synthetic fabrics instead. You’ll find that most vegan leathers are made from polyurethane, which actually looks just like traditional leather.
How To Tell If Shoes Are Vegan
When shopping for vegan shoes, there will always be some tell-tale signs that will help you to establish whether they’re cruelty-free or not. Keep the following points in mind:
Labels
Pretty much all vegan shoes make themselves incredibly easy to distinguish with help from a label. There will either be a label that simply says ‘vegan’ or a label which says ‘100% synthetic’. These two types of labels provide the clearest indicator as to whether you can buy the shoes or not.
If there are no clear labels or the materials used are unclear, it is not worth the risk. The majority of shoes aren’t vegan and lack of clarity is never a good sign.
Symbols
Speaking of signs, symbols are another excellent way to establish whether a shoe is vegan or not. You have probably seen the leather symbol countless times, but what you may not know, is that it is in the shape of an animal hide. This alone proves that any shoe with that type of symbol certainly is not vegan!
Shoes made from natural or synthetic materials, however, will have a vegan-friendly or textile symbol instead. This helps you to understand what the shoes have been made out of.
Check The Company’s Branding or Website
The majority of brands that create vegan shoes have made a name of themselves. This means that one simple search will help you to establish whether you can purchase their shoes or not. If you are in-store and unsure as to whether a brand sticks by veganism or not, simply head on to their website and look for further information. The quickest way to get the information quickly is by going on to the product page of the shoes you like and checking out which materials have been used.
Smell
Leather has a very obvious smell which all of us can spot from a mile off. It’s incredibly difficult to replicate that smell, meaning one sniff of the shoes you’ve got your eye on should be enough to tell you if it’s real leather or not. Unfortunately, vegan leather sometimes has a ‘fishy’ smell when the shoes are new, and although not pleasant, it does help you to establish the type of material used.
Shop For Vegan Shoes With Confidence
Now that you know how to tell if your shoes are vegan, you’ll be able to shop with confidence and take comfort in knowing that you’re not contributing to the harm of any animals. Many people often find that vegan shoes are far more comfortable and long-wearing than alternative shoes, so before you know it, you’ll have a fully-vegan wardrobe!
