Functional Insole Design with Moisture Comfort Performance

An innovative multi-layer structure functional insole has been developed and reported in this paper that is named as Moisture Comfort Insole (MCI). MCI can be used to manage moisture transfer behaviors in the micro-climate system of shoe to provide better wearing sensation. Designed MCI structure comprises three layers: The material of top and the middle layer is made from Moisture Management Fabric (MMF). A technical sandwich mesh fabric is further employed as bottom layer to improve ventilation and increase sweat evaporation rate in the in-shoe micro-climate. Material physical properties were evaluated including transmission capability on liquid, according to the standard AATCC 195. Ten subjects aging from 25 to 45 participated wear trail experiment for comparative study between MCI and Commercial Insole (Cl). Subjective investigation results disclosed that multi-layer MCI has better wearing experience than CI in perceived comfort sensation under various sweating conditions. Better moisture management capacity was found under low sweating condition from the evaluation.