Coats Footwear, part of Coats Group, a world leader in thread manufacturing and structural components for apparel and footwear, has broadened its product line for medical and orthopaedic insole applications with the introduction of seven innovative Soft-Flowing materials.

Addressing market demand for increased flexibility in the design and production of specialist insoles and orthotics, the Rhenoflex and Texon materials offer a range of firmness options and are available in a variety of colours and thicknesses to meet customers’ individual needs.

Made from soft flowing thermoplastics, the materials have been designed to create insoles with incredibly soft edges for extra comfort but are also highly resistant to breakage and deliver excellent shape retention properties.

The seven Soft-Flowing products are all quick and easy to process, with no skiving or grinding required. Heat-activated, the materials feature an adhesive inside the polymer mass that delivers strong bonding. During thermoforming the edges of the material turn slightly fluid, creating a smooth finish and outflow that seamlessly fuses to different substrates after being pushed into place.

Made with fabrics that enable more stable handling when soft, each material is designed to create a strong reinforcement. Different colours and thickness options are available as follows:

Proform: This semi-firm thermoplastic material is available in white and achieves a good outflow.

Ultrafit: This soft to semi-firm thermoplastic material comes in beige and achieves a strong outflow.

Rx 31.8 / Rx 32.8: This firm to very firm thermoplastic material achieves a good outflow and is available in many colours including black, green, magenta, red, sand and gold plus eight different thickness options.

Orthofirm: This semi-firm thermoplastic material is available in anthracite and achieves a strong outflow.

Rx 41.2: This soft to semi-firm thermoplastic material is available in blue, orange and red and achieves an extremely high outflow.

Rx 44.2: This soft thermoplastic material achieves a strong outflow and is available in 1.10 – 1.20 mm in green and blue.

Orthoflex: This soft and flexible thermoplastic material has an extremely high resistance to cracking and repeated heavy bending and is available in blue at thicknesses ranging from 0.85 – 0.95 mm. It also achieves a good outflow.

Robert Grueneberg, Director Transformation & Procurement at Coats Footwear, said: “With the acquisitions of Texon and Rhenoflex in 2022, Coats has become a global market leader in the footwear industry for pioneering reinforcement solutions that can improve the production, integration and performance of structural components into all kinds of shoes and medical applications. These seven Soft-Flowing materials show us continuing to drive innovation and broadening the range of reinforcement options available for medical and orthopaedic footwear manufacturers.”

www.coats.com/en/industries/footwear