Made From MIRUM®

Why Are We Using MIRUM®?

Manufactured with wind power that offsets in-house energy usage in Peoria, Illinois, MIRUM® produces an order of magnitude less greenhouse gas emissions compared to other synthetic leather-like materials. In addition to having an extremely low carbon footprint, MIRUM® requires no water during closed-loop manufacturing and dyeing.

MIRUM® is carefully engineered to avoid polluting the surrounding environment during its degradation process. When put back into the earth there are no microplastics, toxic leaching, and other adverse effects. As this material only uses biobased ingredients and non-toxic chemistry, MIRUM® can ultimately rejoin the earth’s nutrient cycle, (as apposed to building up in land-fill) closing the natural loop.

We are currently using Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) cotton as our backing for MIRUM®. GOTS prohibits the use of chemicals commonly used in textile processing that have been found to destroy eco-systems and biodiversity on a global scale.

How Is MIRUM® Made?

Step 1: Ingredient Selection

The process begins by selecting the correct biobased ingredients for the desired outcome, for us this included the following; Natural rubber, soybean oil, cotton, citric acid and depending on the colour of the shoe either bio charcoal for the black styles or minerals for our white styles.

Different ingredients impact the finished product with different qualities and attributes. For example, Natural Fiber Welding states that “MIRUM® for footwear needs to be strong and durable to wear, so ingredients are selected to help impart these physical characteristics. Nature provides a renewable, abundant, and diverse offering of inputs to select from to deliver the functionality and aesthetics you desire. MIRUM® is made with the utmost stewardship of nature in mind, for many of our ingredients this means using by-products of other industries.”

Next comes the addition of the curative to ensure the material is durable and that it enhances the resistance to premature degradation from natural wear and tear of the shoe. The Natural Fiber Welding patented curative is entirely plant-based and sourced from renewable feedstocks. This curative is an exciting alternative to other agents on the market which are usually derived from petrochemical-based additives.

Step 2: Mix & Form

Once the ingredients have been selected, they are dry-mixed and formed into the desired shape. The MIRUM® manufacturing process does not require additional water inputs which means there is no water wastage produced in the making of MIRUM®.

Step 3: Finish

The final step is to add a natural fabric backer to the MIRUM® and to emboss the surface to give it the desired finish. We opted for a cotton backing for its comfort, breathability and durability purposes as well as a leather look embossment to give the MIRUM® a similar finish to the leather. The fabric backer and MIRUM are moulded together with no petrochemical adhesives used during the process.