A test report names one standard and one sample. This page walks through the three layers a shoe passes through — material, whole shoe and chemical — so you can tell what a result covers, and what it does not.
Testing is not one event. It happens on three levels, often in different rooms and sometimes in different laboratories — which is why one shoe is tested more than once, at more than one stage.
| Layer | What it tests | Who usually asks |
|---|---|---|
| Material & component | Upper, lining, outsole, midsole and adhesives, as separate samples | Factory QC; the brand's lab |
| Whole shoe | The finished pair, on a flexing machine or a slip rig | Buyer QC; third-party lab |
| Chemical & regulatory | Restricted substances, split per homogeneous material | Compliance team; market rules |
The physical tests that appear in most athletic-footwear specifications. Pass values are agreed per order; the standard families are named so your own lab can map them.
| Test | What it looks at | Standard family |
|---|---|---|
| Whole-shoe flexing | Cracking, delamination and stitch failure after repeated bending | SATRA TM92 · ISO 17707 · GB/T 3903.1 |
| Sole adhesion (peel) | Force to separate the upper from the outsole | SATRA TM411 · ISO 17708 · GB/T 3903.3 |
| Outsole abrasion | Material lost after a set number of revolutions | SATRA TM174 · ISO 4649 · GB/T 3903.2 |
| Slip resistance | Grip on dry and on wet surfaces | SATRA TM144 · ISO 13287 · GB/T 3903.6 |
| Cushioning | Energy absorbed under a drop weight | SATRA TM142 · GB/T 30907 |
| Colour fastness | Transfer onto a white cloth, dry and wet | ISO 105-X12 · ISO 11640 |
A limit such as 0.1% applies per homogeneous material, not to the shoe as a whole. An athletic shoe is typically split into eight or more samples — upper, lining, outsole, midsole foam, adhesive, ink, laces, hardware — and each is tested on its own.
| Who runs it | What you get | What it is not |
|---|---|---|
| Factory QC | In-line and final inspection records | An independent opinion |
| Buyer QC or third-party inspector | An inspection report with photographs | A laboratory test report |
| Accredited laboratory | A test report against one named standard | A product certificate |
Three things to write down before you ask anyone for paper:
Market-specific reports, laboratory results and inspection records are shared under NDA — per order and per material. We do not list logos we cannot show.