In Vivo Cutaneous and Perceived Comfort Response to Fabric

Abstract

We report on the perceived comfort data collected while ten female subjects exercised in the hot, humid environment ( 29.4°C, 75% RH) wearing garments made from the three experimental knit fabrics. These findings are related to the fabric thermophys iological comfort data reported in Part I, the mechanical and surface related comfort data in Part II, and the skin alteration data in Part III of this series. At four times during the wear protocol (after acclimation, after 10 minutes of wear, after 40 minutes of exercise, and after 20 minutes of rest following exercise), subjects were asked to indicate overall comfort and thermal, wetness, and contact sensations. There was no difference between the fabrics for wetness or thermal sensation, a result explainable in terms of the extremely small differences in water and heat transport data reported in Part I. The thermal insulation, permeability index, and comfort limit values we calculated predict that differences in perceived thermal and wetness sensation should be minimal. Skin temperature was a significant determinant of perceived thermal comfort in our regression model, but capillary blood flow was not. The regression model for wetness sensation showed that stratum corneum water content and evaporative water loss were statistically significant determinants. Use of wetness-related and contact sensation descriptors differed for the three experimental fabrics. Differences in the wetness-related descriptors appear related to the percent water uptake of the fabrics during exercise. Fiber denier and fabric mechanical and surface feature data were useful in explaining the difference in contact sensations. The fabrics differed in perceived overall comfort. In the regression analysis, capillary blood flow was the only physio logical factor with a statistically significant effect on overall comfort. We suspect a link between the mechanical and surface features and capillary blood flow.