FAQs

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How are your products packaged for shipment?

We know that if we packaged our legwear in pink envelopes with big bright red letters that said, "Here's the pantyhose you ordered, Mister!" that wouldn't get us a lot of happy customers or repeat business. So, we send our orders in plain envelopes that don't advertise anything about the contents. Even though we're proud of our products, we recognize that some people might be sensitive about others knowing what they wear, so we try to be as discreet as we can. For orders outside the USA we are required to declare the contents on a customs form, and it is usually identified simply as "clothing".

How durable are the tights / male pantyhose / mantyhose you are selling?

We know that men don’t have the word “disposable” in their wardrobe vocabulary, so we can’t make our products just like the industry generally does for women’s legwear. Instead, we use the best quality and most durable (read “more expensive”) nylon and spandex yarns we can buy, but it pays off. Our legwear lasts substantially longer than similar items made for women, and the cost per wearing (the economic life cycle cost) is usually much lower. With proper care, you can expect to wear our legwear dozens of times. Of course, wearing them under trousers protects them quite a bit; and the heavier weight opaque tights for men usually last longer than lighter weight sheer pantyhose for men. Care must also be exercised in washing and putting on men's legwear (see below). As for other manufacturer's products (like Emilio Cavallini and Adrian) we are carefully evaluating all product types before adding them to our store.
One word of caution: Men's shoes are generally not made to be "hosiery friendly" and you might find that certain shoes consistently cause holes in the toe or heel. The culprit may be sharp pieces of leather or paper, thread knots, or nails sticking up through the sole. Nylon is strong in tensile (pulling) but weak in abrasion (rubbing), and minor flaws which wouldn't cause a problem with heavier socks can easily damage finer hosiery. If you can't fix the problem, don't wear thin legwear with those shoes. Today's athletic footwear almost never causes problems, but dress and casual shoes can. One alternative that many men have discovered is to wear some of the many masculine style women's shoes, like loafers and clogs, that are made to be worn with fragile hose. Some of the styles are indistinguishable from men's shoes, and if they fit your foot, no one will ever know but you.

How do I wash and store men's legwear?

For longer life, use a mild detergent and hand wash, or machine wash men's legwear in a mesh bag. Wash light colors and dark colors separately to avoid staining the light colors. Hang the legwear to dry. The high heat of dryers can cause the spandex to degrade. Do not use bleach or harsh detergents, and do not iron.

We recommend washing all legwear before wearing them the first time. Washing is a chemical and mechanical action that will remove any residue left in the fabric from the dyeing and finishing process. The residue tends to “glue” the individual filaments and fibers together, giving the fabric an overall stiff and coarse feel to it. With washing and wearing the fabric will soften as the fibers in the yarns move independently.

Store at room temperature. There is a myth that storing in the freezer can prolong the life of hosiery, but we are unaware of scientific evidence that this is true. Do not store in hot places, or the spandex will deteriorate more rapidly, like brittle rubber bands.

Most people store their hosiery in a sock drawer. This is a mistake for a couple of reasons. First, fragile nylon fabrics can snag on wood splinters, and secondly, hosiery is not required to have labels, so you never know what the item is. Here's a better method. Get a banker's storage box (or several) from an office supply store, and buy a box of manilla folders. When you buy hosiery (ours or any brand) write the style on the tab of the folder, and keep the package with the hosiery. You can also include notes such as where you bought it and the date, what you paid for it, what you think of it, and you can track how many wearings you get from it. After you wear it each time, wash and dry it, and while you remember what it is, put it back in the folder. When it's time to replace it, you'll know exactly what it is, where you got it, how much it cost, and whether your records show you liked it or not. It's a great way to keep track of your wearing. You just have to think outside the drawer!

Do I need to wear underwear or socks with mantyhose?

That's up to you. Some guys do. Most don't. Whatever makes you most comfortable. There really is no right or wrong way. Try it both ways and see which way you prefer it. The garments are made to be worn without underwear or socks, and most men are fine this way. Some men are squeamish about being seen in sheer hosiery. After a few weeks of wearing socks over their hose, they often try it without socks just to see what happens. When they find out that nobody notices or cares, they usually continue to wear it without socks from then on.

How do I put on men's legwear?

For waist high legwear, the best way to put it on is to sit down and hold the garment up by the waistband with both hands so that it faces the same way you are. In many styles there is a male comfort front panel that indicates which side is front. Now gather the fabric of the right leg in both hands so that your thumbs are in the toe of the garment, and put your foot directly into the toe area of the garment. Pull the fabric over your foot and up your leg over your knee, using your fingertips, but NOT your fingernails. Do the same thing with your left leg. Now stand up and alternately pull the fabric up over your hips and waist, adjusting for a smooth and comfortable fit as you go. You can also check out this illustrated guide on Mantyhose.net (click here).

For the thigh high legwear, sit down and gather the fabric of one leg in both hands so that your thumbs are in the toe of the garment. The seam of the top elastic band normally goes in back. Put your foot directly into the toe area of the garment. Pull the fabric over your foot and up your leg over the knee, using your fingertips, but NOT your fingernails. Stand up and continue pulling the fabric up to the top of your thigh, adjusting for a smooth and comfortable fit as you go. Do the same with the other leg.

Can I purchase your legwear locally in stores?

It is not in retail stores. Our own products (Activskin and Comfilon brands) are only available on this web site and at some other websites. See our links section!

What credit cards do you accept?

We accept Visa, Mastercard, and Discover/Novus. We also accept bank checks (not personal checks), US postal money orders (but only USA), and we have an account "gls@glieberman.com" at www.paypal.com. To order without a credit card, or to learn more about our payment options, click on Customer Support above and select Payment Methods.

Do You Sell to Customers in Countries Outside of the USA?

Yes, we ship everywhere in the world. We’ve had orders from every continent, including Antarctica! If you have a mailing address, we can get it there. A significant portion of our business is outside North America, making Activskin and Comfilon truly worldwide brands. Click on Shipping Costs under Customer Support above for more information on rates and delivery times.

We have distributors in various places in the world, too. While they may not carry all of our styles, you can usually get it faster from them, and save on shipping. You may pay a higher price because the distributor has already paid for shipping and customs duty from us here in the USA. See our links section!

I live outside the US. When I order products from you, it is very expensive to ship them to me, plus my country charges me a high customs duty or import fee. Can you mark the goods “gift” or specify a smaller value on the invoice so that I don’t have to pay that high fee?

While we are sympathetic to your situation, we have no control over what the postal service charges us for sending goods to you. We pay what they charge, and we pass that cost on to you accordingly. Regarding customs duties and import fees, we have no control over what your country charges you for importing products from the US. We cannot risk falsely claiming that the items are a gift or claiming a lesser value. There are serious fines and penalties for doing so, and we insist on being completely honest in our business.

Do you have a printed catalog?

We are an e-commerce company, and our web site is our catalog. We can change and update it frequently, avoiding the printing and mailing costs associated with conventional mail-order companies. In this way, we keep our costs down and pass the savings on to our customers. If you want a printed catalog, click on any pages here, and print them on your printer for future reference. Be sure to check back occasionally, because the web site changes frequently. Be sure to like & follow our Facebook page as well: https://www.facebook.com/activskin/

European hose often lists denier or decitex. What is that, a measure of sheerness? Why don’t you list the denier or decitex of your products?

Denier and decitex are product specifications that are used mostly in Europe and the UK. American manufacturers don't use them much, at least not in their advertising or on their packaging. They are NOT a measure of sheerness. They are a measure of the weight of the yarn which is used in the fabric. Denier is defined as the weight, in grams, of 9000 meters of yarn. Decitex is the weight, in grams, of 10,000 meters of yarn. The heavier the yarn, the bigger the denier and decitex. The terms say nothing about how the yarns are put together in the finished knit fabric, how close the knit loops are, the sheerness or opacity, or the strength and durability of the fabric. For example, in two products we sell, the first has 70 denier yarns and is sheer, while the second has 60 denier yarns and is opaque. How is this possible? Because the opaque style has MORE yarns to make a heavier fabric. So we caution you not to get hung up with the terms denier or decitex. They really apply to yarn, not to finished fabric.

We do not list  these terms because (1) it is really meaningless unless you’re trying to engineer the fabric and (2) most fabrics use yarns of several different deniers or decitexes. For example a fabric might consist of two yarns in alternate courses: one course might be a 70 denier spandex yarn with a covering consisting of a single 20 denier nylon yarn containing 7 filaments and the second course might be a 20 denier nylon yarn consisting of 7 filaments. How do you apply a single denier number to that combination? It really makes no sense.

Your products are more expensive than women’s hosiery from the drug store or grocery store. Why is that?

We think the legwear we sell is priced fairly, but it IS more expensive than the women's hosiery commonly found in grocery and discount stores. There are good reasons:

1. Activskin legwear is made from the highest quality Lycra® spandex and nylon yarns available, and they do cost more than cheaper yarns used in cheaper hosiery. A better comparison would be to equate Activskin with higher quality women’s hose found in upscale department stores.

2. Bigger sizes for men require more raw materials.

3. Activskin legwear is all made in the USA, not in Mexico or the Caribbean, where labor rates are much cheaper.

4. Some styles of Activskin legwear have a front panel for male comfort and some styles have a fly opening, so there is extra manual labor involved in sewing.

5. The more complicated design means that production yields (percent of perfect products) is lower than for most women’s hose which is simpler in design and sewn by automatic machines which require no skilled labor.

6. The men's market is small, so we manufacture in small batches and cannot benefit from economies of scale like big retail chains can.

7. The same is true for Emilio Cavallini products, which are a true luxury item made of the highest quality materials in Italy, and for the Adrian product line from Poland.

All these factors make male tights / mantyhose / pantyhose for men more expensive to make than what you pay retail for the cheap women's hose. But, instead of comparing just the initial cost, consider the cost per wearing (economic life-cycle cost). Our product is designed to be more durable than your average women's hose, which is typically designed to last for three 8-hour wearings. Hosiery companies know that if a woman gets that kind of wear, she’s likely to buy that brand again. Our products cost more, but are more durable, and so on a cost per wearing basis they are quite comparable. However, because our products are all designed for men and male anatomy, they are much more comfortable. We don’t know how to quantify that benefit economically.

We will continue to develop products for men that are unique and provide comfort that women's hosiery cannot match. As the market grows, the prices will come down, but our prices will never be competitive with the cheapest women's hosiery.

My doctor doesn't know about Activskin and told me to get a pair of 8-15 mg Hg socks at the drug store. I did and they're awful. I put them in my drawer and never wore them after that first time. Are your products better?

Unaware of Activskin, many doctors prescribe medical compression hosiery for their male patients, Unlike medical hose, Activskin legwear isn't as tight, hot, itchy, or expensive, and it is much easier to get on. You'll actually LIKE wearing Activskin! Ask your physician if men’s full support (rather than medical support) legwear is right for you.

Because Activskin legwear is not a medical product, it is not required to have compression measurements in mm Hg (millimeters of mercury). Moreover, according to the Hosiery Technology Center in North Carolina, there are no agreed-upon industry standards for how to measure compression consistently from product to product and from company to company.

G. Lieberman & Sons, Ltd. makes no claim that a customer’s health condition will improve by wearing its products, nor do we assume any liability for health problems that might ensue as a result of wearing its products. Customers at risk should wear them only under the direction of a competent physician.

How do I contact you?

If you have any questions, problems, or comments regarding this web site, the ordering system, or any of our products, please contact us by clicking on Customer Support.