The team is investigating how different fibres used in socks affect skin health, the research being funded by the New Zealand wool industry and the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment.
Department of applied sciences head Prof Raechel Laing, who worked on the research, said initial results showed wool was the kindest fabric on the skin.
The wool industry could use the results to help sell socks to growing numbers of ''worried well'', who were increasingly concerned about where products came from and how they might affect their health.
''The wool industry are interested in research which allows them to confidently make claims about the performance of their products.''
The research involved testing the effect of three different fabrics - cotton, acrylic and wool - on 16 Dunedin men who participated in the study.
The researchers measured the health of the skin by testing pH levels, water content and water loss from the skin.
To make sure the results were not skewed, each subject had to wear the same type of shoe - made by Dunedin company McKinlays.
Overall, wool came out on top, which came as a ''relief'' to the researchers.
Associate Prof Cheryl Wilson said being funded by the wool industry had no impact on the outcome.
''No-one had any idea what the outcome would be.''
The socks, made by NZ Socks in Ashburton, were coded so the researchers could be sure of the fabric and clearly marked for the left or right foot.
Prof Laing said this was not the only research members of the group had worked on aimed at finding the ideal sock.
''The perfect sock is elusive,'' she said.
Other research, led by Rebecca Van Amber, focused on how the properties of different fabrics could affect friction levels and potentially affect the likelihood of developing blisters.
That research, published in the Textile Research Journal, found that fabrics composed of fine wool created the least friction and acrylic the highest.
