Tactile hand and wear comfort of flame-retardant rayon/anti-static polyethylene terephthalate imbedded woven fabrics

Abstract

This study examined the thermal wear comfort of clothing made from flame-retardant (FR) rayon- and cotton-blended fabric using a thermal manikin and wearer trials. In addition, the tactile hand property of the FR rayon-blended fabric was predicted and compared with that of the cotton-blended one using the Fabric Assurance Simple Testing system. The FR rayon-blended fabric exhibited a lower heat insulation rate than that of the cotton-blended one in the thermal manikin experiment and lower microclimate humidity during 40 min walking in the human subject experiment. The FR rayon-blended fabric was more extensible than the cotton-blended one, with a lower bending rigidity and shear modulus. This study showed that FR rayon-blended fabric has better thermal wear comfort and a superior tactile hand feel compared with the cotton-blended one, without any significant difference of pilling compared to the cotton-blended modacrylic one.