Don't be alarmed: this is how long the Dutch wear their socks!

Let's be honest: how often do you put on clean socks? For a sock salesman, it's perfectly normal to put on clean socks every day. But after eight years in the sock industry, Carlo Lanza suspected this wasn't the case for everyone. So he decided to investigate, and the results were shocking. Carlo quickly concluded that the average Dutch person's foot hygiene is poor.

The research

To answer his pressing question, Carlo joined forces with Bureau Fris (what's in a name?). He asked over 1,000 men and women from across the country and from all walks of life how often they put on clean socks. Carlo explains: "Because they could answer the question digitally, they could give an honest answer without embarrassment. This led to shocking results: 32% of respondents said they wear their socks for more than a day. Some even wear their socks for more than two days!" ( Market research May 2024, Carlo Lanza, in collaboration with Bureau Fris)

Worrying results

"Personally, I find the results concerning, especially because hygiene is very important to me," Carlo explains. Medical research also shows that poor foot hygiene significantly increases the risk of fungal infections, and these infections account for 23% of foot disorders in people and 50% of nail disorders, such as nail fungus*. In other words, to prevent or help cure these types of fungal infections, among other things, it's recommended to wear clean socks every day. We can conclude that poor foot hygiene costs the Netherlands a lot of money.

New sock line

Carlo continues: "After seeing these results, I can only conclude how unhygienic it is, and that there's a need for a new antibacterial sock line, treated with Polygiene. Polygiene not only combats odors but also limits bacterial growth and even extends the life of your garment because bacteria have less chance to spread and damage the fabric. Coincidentally, we were in contact with the distributor of this active ingredient last year. I hope I don't have to switch to socks treated with an antibacterial substance, but it seems like there's no other option!"

Sources:

Market research May 2025 Carlo Lanza BV in collaboration with Bureau Fris

Ferrari J. 2008. Fungal toenail infections. BMJ Clinical Evidence.