Shoes should provide normal conditions during the entire cycle of socks. In the work, the main objects for research were: acrylic emulsion A-1, polyvinyl ethinyl dihydroxychlorosilane, industrial oil IA-20, penetrator and widely used polyethyl hydrosiloxane. Based on them, a composition of water repellents was prepared in various initial ratios. Water repellents were prepared by sequentially mixing the above materials at a temperature of 20–22, ° C for 3-4 hours. It seems to us that in order to determine the role of sorption and permeability of materials in the implementation of moisture exchange processes, it is necessary to compare the amount of human skin's moisture loss while wearing shoes with the ability of the material to absorb moisture and remove it through vapor permeability. The analysis showed that natural experimental hydrophobized skin in all treatment options, unlike the control one, is able to remove a significant amount of moisture from the shoe area due to its high sorption ability. However, a comparison of the human skin’s moisture loss with the sorption capacity of natural skin showed that sorption capacity alone is not enough to completely remove the released moisture. Since the possibilities of increasing the sorption capacity of genuine leather are extremely limited, the only way to improve the hygienic properties of shoes made from genuine leather is to less disturb the high permeability of this natural material as little as possible.