Unit i Study Material Cs

7/25/2019 Unit i Study Material Cs

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FT6601 CLOTHING SCIENCE L T P C

3 0 0 3

UNIT I 9

Comfort types and definition; human clothing system, comfort perception and preferences

Introduction

The human environment must be aesthetically pleasing and must provide light, air and thermal comfort. The

benefits of human-friendly atmosphere are:

Increased attention to wor resulting in increased productivity, improved !uality of products and

services with fewer errors

"educed absenteeism

#esser number of accidents

$inimi%ed health ha%ards.

In most societies the clothing is for the purpose of e&pressing wealth, status, occupation, age, occasion, gender,

'tc. There are various factors which influence the selection of clothing type. The factors which influence the

selection of clothing can be divided broadly into four ma(or groups, i.e. social factor, economic factor,

environmental factor and physical factor see in the below fi!ure. )ll these factors play significant roles in

selection of clothing of a person.


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The environmental factors is very important factor and its include climatic conditions *too cold, too

hot, raining, chilled wind, etc.+, protection from e&treme environment, unusual places *space or under

water+, etc. epending on the environmental conditions the clothing need changes. ere, the

performance factors are the dominating parameters. ne re!uires different clothing for different

climatic conditions.

) person, going to e&treme cold place, will definitely lie to protect himself from e&treme cold by

wearing e&treme cold protecting clothing. /ut, the same person will not use the same clothing in

normal environment.

epending on the climatic temperature the garments are broadly divided into two categories, namely

winter wear and summer wear. 0imilarly, in rainy days we re!uire clothing which is waterproof.

)nother one important factor is is physical conditions of a person, which include age, condition of

health of person, body structure, physiological response of body, activity level, etc.

The clothing pattern changes with the age of person due to the psychological and physiological changes

with time. ) child needs different type of clothing than an aged person.

0imilarly the clothing need also changes with the physical health of a person. 0omeone with specific

problem with a particular fibre, lie allergy, irritation, would lie to avoid wearing that particular

clothing made with these fibres.

Clothing selection also depends on the physical built of body, i.e. whether fat or thin, tall or short, etc.

1hysiological response of body varies widely from person to person and so does the clothing need. In a

given environmental condition a particular person may feel more cold or heat or sweat than others. This

is due to the fact that the thermo-physiological responses are different for different persons. The

selection of clothing also depends on the level of activity of a person. 2nder heavy activity the human

body generates more heat and sweat. The clothing, he wears, should be able to dissipate and transmit

the heat and sweat !uicly to eep the body heat under control.

) sports person needs special sportswear depending on the type of sports or a worer needs specific

wors wear depending on his activity. 1eople in challenging activities and sports could use smartclothing, that is, clothing that can sense the wearer3s condition or situation and, in turn, modify its own

structure to protect him or her, for e&ample to eep the body warm or cool.

Te&tile clothing is vital role to protect the human in various adverse environmental situations lie

insects, rain, heat and cold etc., and maing him feel comfortable. )nd also it gives good appearance

for the human.

Comfort characteristic is an important functionality of clothing to mae useable. uman thermo

physiological comfort is associated with the thermal balance of human body, which is highly dependent

on metabolism rate, physical activities, ambient temperature, and thermal and moisture transmission

behavior of the worn clothing.

Clothing creates a microclimate between the sin and the environment, which supports the body3s

thermoregulatory system to eep its temperature within a safe range, even when the e&ternal

environment temperature and humidity changes to !uite an e&tent.

DEFINITION OF COMFORT

Comfort is a fundamental and universal need of a human being. owever, it is very comple& and is very

difficult to define. $any researchers have defined comfort in relation to clothing

Comfort is influenced by the physiological reaction of the wearer.

Comfort is temperature regulation of the body.

Comfort is the absence of unpleasantness or discomfort.


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4ourt and ollies suggest comfort involves thermal and non-thermal components and is related to wear

situations such as woring, non-critical and critical conditions. The physiological responses of the

human body to a given combination of clothing and environmental conditions are predictable when the

system reaches steady state.

0later proposed comfort is a pleasant state of physiological, psychological, neurophysiological and

physical harmony between a human being and the environment.

atch point out comfort is 5freedom from pain and from discomfort as a neutral state3.

)ccording to 6othari and 0anyal *7889+, comfort is not easy to define because it covers both

!uantifiable and sub(ective considerations. Comfort is a situation where temperature differences

between body members are small with low sin humidity and the physiological effort of thermal

regulation is reduced to a minimum.

/arer *7887+ stated that comfort is not only a function of the physical properties of materials and

clothing variables, but also must be interpreted within the entire conte&t of human physiological and

psychological responses. 1ersonal e&pectation or stored modifiers that sort out or influence our

(udgment about comfort based on personal e&periences must be also considered.

olcombe *oC for them to function

properly, otherwise the metabolic system can be e&tensively disrupted and sustained abnormal

temperature will lead to death. Temperature control is achieved by changing sin temperature through

changes to blood flow and by evaporation of water at the sin surface.

?ielsen *+ viewed comfort in a physical sense as the body being in a heat balance with the

environment *thermal comfort+, that the body is not being sub(ect to pressure from narrow or badly

designed clothing *movement comfort+ and that sin irritation does not occur from unpleasant contact

with clothing *sensorial comfort+.

Ishtia!ue *788+ stated that clothing comfort is governed by the interplay of three components: body

climate and clothing. The human body, its microclimate and its clothing form a mutually interactivesystem. The body and its microclimate are invariable; the clothing system is the only variable.

#i and @ong *788=+ summari%ed comfort into several components.

Comfort relates to sub(ective perception of various sensations.

Comfort involves many aspects of human senses such as visual *aesthetic comfort+, thermal

*comfort and warmth+, pain *pricling and itching+ and touch *smooth, rough, soft and stiff+.

The sub(ective perceptions involve a psychological process in which all relevant sensory

perceptions are formulated, weighed, combined and evaluated against past e&periences and present

desires to form an overall assessment of comfort status.

The bodyclothing interactions *thermal and mechanical+ play important roles in determining the

comfort status of the wearer.

'&ternal environment *physical, social and cultural+ has a great impact on the comfort status of the

wearer.

The discomfort arises from too hot, too cold, and odorous or stale atmosphere.

Comfort conditions are those that do not cause unpleasant sensation of temperature, drafts *unwanted local

cooling+, humidity or other aspects of the environment. In ideally conditioned space, people should be unaware

of noise, heat or air motion.

)ccording to #i, 788, Comfort depends on sub(ective perceptions of visual, thermal and tactile sensations,

psychological processes, bodyapparel interaction and e&ternal environmental effects


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ELEMENTS OF CLOTHING COMFORT

/roadly there are four basic elements of clothing comfort, namely thermo-physiological aspect, sensorial or

tactile aspect, physiological aspect and fitting comfort.

Ty!" o# co$#ort

0later identified the importance of environment to comfort and defined the following three types:

. 1hysiological comfort is related to the human body3s ability to maintain life,

7. 1sychological comfort to the mind3s ability to eep it functioning satisfactorily without e&ternal helpand

9. 1hysical comfort to the effect of the e&ternal environment on the body.

P%y"io&o'ic(& Co$#ort

It refers to maintenance of thermal balance of body. The proper relationship between body heat production and

loss and also concerns about the heat and moisture transmission characteristics through clothing. It3s also

called asthermo-physiological comfort i.e. transmission of heat, air, and moisture *li!uid and vapour+.

F(ctor")

Cardiovascular system

0eleto-muscular system

Central nervous system

1ulmonary system

igestive system

Thermoregulatory mechanism

P"yc%o&o'ic(& Co$#ort

It means that individuals need specific garments, fabrics, colors and design features to help them feel confident

and at ease within the conte&t of the various roles they assume.

The physiological comfort depends on the aesthetic properties of fabric, i.e. drape, luster, colour, crease

pilling, staining, etc.

F(ctor")

0elf-Image

"elationship with others: Trust, love and respect

?eed of privacy: 0olitude, silence, anonymity

P%y"ic(& *"!ct" o# Co$#ort

It refers to different sensations and feelings of discomfort andAor pain, which influence the two types of

comfort. It is also called as sensorial or tactile comfort.

It is related with the mechanical contact of the fabric with sin, i.e. how a fabric or garment feels when it is

worn ne&t to the sin. These are fabric handle or feel, softness, fullness, warmcool touch, static charge

generation, fle&ing, pricing, itching, etc.F(ctor")

Touch

0ight

earing

Taste

0mell

T%! #ittin' co$#ort

It deals with the si%e and fit of clothing.


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/artels refers wear comfort is a comple& phenomenon but in general it can be divided into four main aspects

. Thermo physiological wear comfort. This comprises heat and moisture transport processes through the

clothing and directly influences a person3s thermoregulation.

7. 0in sensorial wear comfort. This deals with the mechanical sensations caused by te&tiles as it is in

direct contact with the sin. 1leasant and unpleasant perceptions such as smoothness or softness,

scratchiness, stiffness, or clinging to sweat-wetted sin may be created by te&tiles.

9. 'rgonomic wear comfort. This is characterised by the fit of the clothing and the freedom of movement

it allows. The garmentBs construction and the elasticity of the materials are the main aspect ofergonomic wear comfort.

. 1sychological wear comfort. This is of importance as well. It is affected by fashion, personal

preferences and ideology.

Hu$(n C&ot%in' Sy"t!$

The clothing is the nearest mobile environment of human body in the environment.

The primary function of clothing is to protect the body against an unsuitable physical environment by forming

a layer or layers of barrier.

owever, clothing serves several functions in human life such as decoration, social status, protection and

modesty.

)esthetic clothing according to latest fashion gives the wearer mental comfort and a feeling of looing good,

while well-fitting and lu&urious dresses enhance the status of the wearer.

Clothing can provide a feeling of modesty and also the mental comfort of having the body covered properly as

per the standard of the society.

)t the interface between the human body and its surrounding environment, clothing plays a very important role

in determining the sub(ective perception of comfort status of a wearer. 0ometimes it is called a 5second sin3.

Clothing is the aspect of our environment with which we are in closest contact

Clothing is an integral part of human life and to some older adults becomes the part of their lives over which

they can maintain some degree of control.

The clothing characteristics include the physical characteristics of the fibres and materials from which theclothing is made, its tactile characteristics, design features of the clothing, brand labels, information on

fabricAgarment care, price, etc .

The wearer3s attitudes towards clothing are influenced by the sensory attributes of the clothing

*softnessAharshness, warmAcool touch etc.+, serviceability characteristic *e.g., durability, creasing, pilling+ and

most importantly by its e&pected comfort and satisfaction related attributes. These attitudes may be gathered

either through prior e&periences with the e&actly same or similar type of clothing, or from information

obtained about the clothing through interpersonal, advertising or retail channels.

#i D @ong identified there are four processes occurring interactively that determine the comfort status of the

wearer. The processes are:

1hysical processes in clothing and surrounding environments,

1hysiological processes in the body,

?europhysiological and

1sychological processes *788=a+.

These four types of processes occur concurrently.

The laws of physics are followed by the physical processes in the environment and clothing, which determine

the physical conditions for the survival and comfort of the body.

The laws of physiology are followed by the thermoregulatory responses of the body and the sensory responses

of sin nerve endings.


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#i D @ong stated that thermoregulatory and sensory systems react to the physical stimuli from clothing and

the environment to create certain appropriate physiological conditions for the survival of the body and to

inform the brain of various physical conditions that influence comfort status.

1+ C&ot%in' (" t%!r$(& ,(rri!r

Hindr(nc! to t%! r!&!("! o# ,ody %!(t

4ourt and ollies have e&pressed the clothing system as Ea !uasi - physiological system interacting with the

bodyF. This means the relationship between human body and clothing is a two-way process. /oth the clothing

and the wearer perform their specific activities for others.The clothing protects the wearer from the environmental ha%ards for which it has been designed, whether they

are heat, cold, fire, to&ic agents or any other thing. )t the same time the clothing does some adverse things to

the wearer, e.g. by unwanted thermal insulation when it is not re!uired, or by hindering the free evaporation of

sweat from sin.

1resence of clothing layer*s+ prevents the efficient evaporative cooling of human body, which is his sole

defence against severe heat. Thus the wearer faces the unbearable and dangerous conditions when he or she

wors near fire, lie overheating, dehydration, and sometime may also collapses.

In normal conditions, without any activity, the metabolic heat produced by a normal person is nearly about


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The heat, generated in the body, gets transmitted slowly through the clothing and the open body

surfaces *hands, arms, face, palms, etc.+.

*" t%! t!$!r(tur! o# t%! (t$o"%!r! dro" #urt%!r 4"(y ,!&o5 10C

The rate of heat loss from body to atmosphere increases rapidly and the wearer feels cold due to

thermal imbalance.

The best and easiest way to prevent this body heat loss is to have certain insulating layer around the

body, and that is done by wearing some additional layers of clothing *which also provide insulating still

air layer+.

2nder this condition, loss of body heat through clothing drops significantly and little amount of heat

loss still taes place through some opening of body surface.

In !/tr!$! co&d condition" 4"(y ,!&o5 70C

The loss of body heat is prevented by enhancing the thermal insulation of clothing and covering all the

body parts.

+ M!c%(ni"$" o# !n%(nc!$!nt o# ,ody %!(t r!&!("!

The symptoms of overheating or overstress due to e&cess number of clothing rapidly disappear when

the e&cess clothing is removed.

The transmission of body heat through clothing ensemble changes automatically by different

mechanisms.

)ctivity of the wearer influences the heat transmission characteristics of clothing. )s soon as the

wearer starts moving or waling or running the thermal insulation of clothing reduces because of a

combination of forced air circulation between and through the layers of clothing. This reduction in

thermal transmission is further enhanced by the typical bellows effect at various openings and also due

to movement the thermal insulation of the surrounding air reduces.

uring activity the clothing gets wet from sweat which also causes the drop in the thermal insulation.

This automatic reduction in thermal insulation of clothing during activity level may not be always

sufficient and in those cases the wearer becomes over-heated and sweats. This is due to the fact that theclothing layers actually hinder evaporation of sweat.

$a(ority of the generated sweat wets the clothing in normal environment or in cold environment

condenses in the outer layers. In either case the sweat removes less heat from the body than it does

when it is able to evaporate from the sin, and additional sweat therefore has to be secreted to maintain

the heat balance.

Conse!uently the wearer is too hot while he is active, and when he later rests he becomes chilled

because of the reduced insulation of wet clothing and the continuing evaporation of water from it.

The over-heating of body can also be reduced by proper clothing design, i.e. by providing effective

ventilation in the clothing. The changes in clothing design may be effected by:i. Creating openings, to allow natural convection by chimney effect, at various places in the

clothing, e.g. nec, wrists, anle and waist.

ii. esigning loose fit clothing to have free convection of air and free interchange with outside air

by means of a bellows effect.

iii. 1roviding full-length %ippers in the clothing for specific applications.

iv. )voiding the use of impermeable materials, whenever possible, can further facilitate

evaporative cooling.

3+ Mu&ti&(y!r c&ot%in' "y"t!$


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$ost of the performance clothing assemblies are generally not a single layer system. These

generally consist of a number of layers and each layer performs its specific function.

These layers are generally of three types, i.e. inner layer, middle layer*s+ and outer layer.

) clothing ensemble that should function with high re!uirements to comfort and protection must be

put together methodically from the inside out.

4igure shows the typical functions of individual layers of a three layer clothing system, where the inner layer is

generally

i. 2nderwear which performs mainly the sweat absorption, direct cooling of the sin, transmission and

tactile functions;

ii. The middle layers are generally shirt or sweater which helps still-air entrapment to provide insulation

transmission etc.; and

iii. The outer is primarily a shell layer for protection from e&treme environmental factors, lie rain, wind,

chemical, heat, radiation, etc.

Und!r"t(ndin' c&ot%in' co$#ort

N!!d (nd con"u$!r tr!nd"

The basic and universal need of consumers in clothing is comfort and they loo for good feel and

comfort when they buy clothing and other te&tile materials.

Clothing is very important in our life that we use every day to obtain physiological and psychological

comfort and also to ensure physical conditions around our body suitable for survival.

4rom the viewpoint of the manufacturers of clothing and te&tile materials, understanding of clothing

comfort has substantial financial implications in the effort to satisfy the needs and wants of consumers

in order to obtain sustainable competitive advantages in modern consumer marets.

Consumer always e&pects some additional functional !ualities from the clothes they purchase. Clothing

is manufactured in a wide range of thermal, tactile and physical properties to meet consumer needs.

epending on the needs and e&pectations of the consumers, the clothing and te&tile manufacturers

provide wide range of options to enhance human comfort.

Consumers want everything from the clothing, i.e. it should loo good, feel good, perform well, would

lie their clothing to match with their chosen attitudes, roles and images.

Consumers are now allowing touch, smell, intuition, and emotion to influence their decision on

clothing selection more than their aesthetic sense.

)s a result, great importance is being attributed to the wearing e&perience and thus comfort is being

reinforced as a ey parameter in clothing.


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It is also true that re!uirements of consumers on comfort changes with products and situations. Clearly,

understanding and satisfying the needs of consumer towards clothing products are crucial for the long

term survival and growth of clothing and te&tile demand.

2nderstanding and enhancement of clothing comfort is definitely one of the important issues.

Sci!nti#ic (ro(c%!"

To have proper understanding of the clothing comfort and to predict comfort performance of clothing

during wear, one needs integrated scientific nowledge of physics, physiology, neurophysiology, and

psychology of comfort.

In long-term perspective, it is very important to have proper nowledge on clothing comfort to improve

the !uality of life and the survival of human beings.

#i reported that there are five levels of understanding clothing comfort. The important steps for

scientific understanding of clothing comfort are maret research, wear trials, ob(ective evaluation of

clothing characteristics and ob(ective evaluation of fabric characteristics.

The maret research is generally carried out by identification of target group, personal interviews and

consumer surveys to gather maret information on the products.

The wear trials can be conducted either in the field in which the clothing are used or in climatic

chambers for psychological sensory study, consumer focus group study and sub(ective evaluation of

clothing. The ob(ective evaluation of clothing characteristics, e.g. thermal and moisture transmission

are generally done either on human sub(ects or thermal maniins.

The ob(ective evaluation of fabric characteristics are carried out by testing transmission *moisture,

heat+, handle, tactile and aesthetic characteristics of fabrics.

The information on clothing comfort re!uirements should flow from customer to technical

specifications of fabrics and clothing to have a new product that can satisfy the re!uirements of

consumers. n the other hand, one can predict the consumer acceptability of particular clothing by proper

understanding of fabric and clothing characteristics, physical and psychophysical mechanisms.

2sing statistical and mathematical tools one can easily optimi%e the clothing parameters as per the

identified consumer3s re!uirements even before actual production.

P!rc!tion o# co$#ort

Comfort is a multidimensional sub(ect which is very difficult to define. In general, clothing comfort refers

to how the human feels.

It is difficult to describe clothing comfort positively while discomfort can be easily defined by wearers with

terms including: hot, cold, wet, pricly, itchy, heavy, not breathing, non-absorbent, chill, stiff, sticyclammy, clingy, and rough.

uman perception of clothing comfort is an interaction between physical, physiological and psychological

factors with the surrounding environment when wearing a garment.

The researcher has been studied the clothing comfort for many years in various aspects. In 7889, Thirty

overviewed apparel comfort issues including the effect of environment, available test methods, fabric

handle, moisture and thermal management and psychological comfort.

The options that humans will typically have are: to forcefully stay in, to get out, or to adopt.

These options are driven by numerous factors, which can be e&plained in three main categories:

. 'nvironmental factors *air temperature, radiant temperature, humidity, etc.+,


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7. 1hysical factors *health and physical condition, activity level, etc.+, and

9. 1sychological factors *human psychological condition, past e&periences, future desires, etc.+.

In >>, 1ontrelli developed a Comfort3s Gestalt in which the variables influencing comfort status of a

wearer were listed and were classified into three groups:

. 1hysical variables of the environment and the clothing,

7. psycho-physiological parameters of the wearer, and

9. 1sychological filters of the brain.

There are several aspects of clothing comfort. ne of these aspects, thermo physiological comfort, is

associated with how cold or how hot the wearer feels. 1eople reach this type of comfort when they don3t

need to add or remove clothing in order to be satisfied with the temperature.

This type of comfort is influenced by the changes in physiological variables of the body, such as sin and

core temperatures, activity level of the wearer as well as fabric thermal and moisture transfer properties

*e.g., thermal resistance and moisture vapor transmission+. 'nvironmental variables, such as temperature

and humidity, also significantly affect the thermal comfort.

)nother aspect of comfort, namely neuro physiological, is associated with tactile sensations that result

from the fabricAsin contact. 4abric tactile properties *stiffness, friction, softness, etc.+, sin properties,

environmental conditions, activity level, and garment fit are some of the parameters influencing this type ofcomfort.

The third aspect of comfort, namely psychological, is associated with many factors, such as garment

design, fashion, cultural and social factors, price, brand, past e&periences, beliefs, and psychological status

of the wearer. 1sychological factors are very critical for comfort since these factors may outweigh the

actual physiological and other factors and become the primary determinants of consumer behavior.

/ecause of its sub(ective nature, psychological comfort differs from one person to another and it is very

difficult to analy%e. 2nder the same environmental conditions and using the same type of clothing, while one

person feels hot, the other may feel cold. #iewise, even though the core and sin temperatures of the two

people are e!ual, they may not perceive the same comfort level with the garments they wear.

4urther, even though all of the conditions and physical results may seem e!ual, two people may not feel

e!ually comfortable or e!ually uncomfortable. This is mainly because of the psychological factors and

physiological differences. 1sychological factors significantly impact not only the comfort level but also the

purchase decisions of consumers and it can become even more critical for the protective clothing.

Cardello points out the impact of soldier attitudes and beliefs regarding the efficacy of the protective aspects of

the clothing on the psychological comfort and e&plains that if the soldier does not have confidence in the

protective clothing in terms of its protection, then heAshe may e&perience a psychological discomfort.

0ub(ective perception of comfort involves complicated processes in which a large number of stimuli *visual,

thermal, pressure, tactile, etc.+ from clothing and e&ternal environments communicate to the brain through

multi-channels of sensory responses to form sub(ective perceptions.

These perceptions involve a psychological process in which all relevant sensory perceptions are formulated

weighed, combined, and evaluated against past e&periences and present desires to form an overall assessment

of comfort status. )nd also the brain can also influence the physiological status of the body by several

functions, such as sweating, blood flow, shivering, etc. It is very important to understand the woring

mechanism of the brain and the sensory system to be able to define and understand the comfort perception.


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Hu$(n" S!n"! Co$#ort

The overall comfort perception is a result of a comple& combination of inputs from various sensory

organs. 0ensory organs such as the sin, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth typically react to physical stimuli

including visual stimuli *color, light, etc+, thermal stimuli *heat and moisture+, and tactile stimul

*touch, pressure, etc+ by attempting to adopt or ad(ust.

These organs send neurophysiological impulses to the brain, which processes them, initiates human

perception to the stimuli, and performs comparative evaluation with past e&perience references or

inherent media. The way humans sense various stimuli can be oversimplified using the step-wise

mechanism shown in 4ig.

The flowchart for the sub(ective perception of comfort illustrates the process of how the sub(ective

perception of overall comfort is formulated given figure.

The physical processes provide the signals or stimuli to the sensory organs of the human body, which

will receive them, produce neuro-physiological impulses, send this to the brain, and tae action to

ad(ust sweating rate, blood flow, and sometimes heat production by shivering.

The brain will process the sensory signals to formulate sub(ective perception of various individual

sensations, and further evaluate and weigh them against past e&perience and desires, which is


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influenced by many factors such as physical, environmental, social and cultural surroundings, and state

of being.

S!n"(tion" (nd #(,ric"

@hile most people can tolerate the placement of a fabric on their sin without e&periencing unpleasant

sensations, contact with certain types of fabrics can cause discomfort for some people.

0ensitivity to fabrics differs widely, both within a population and between populations and also from one

age group to another. 0ome unpleasant sensations, such as pricliness and itchiness, are e&perienced when

fabric irritates sensory receptors and nerve fibers in the sin

0ome of the most common factors affecting the comfort of the wearer, such as pricliness, pressure,

itchiness, roughness, clinginess, and warmnessAcoolness discussed.

P!rc!tion o# touc% (nd r!""ur!. (nd $!c%(nic(& "ti$u&i

Touch is a basic and powerful necessity. The sense of touch has the ability to discriminate and recogni%e

comple& stimulus patterns. 'ach touch sensation is located at a particular place on the sin and is directly

related to the amount of neural representation at each area in the touch corte&.

uring fabricsin contact and mechanical interaction during wear, the garment applies a pressure and

dynamic mechanical stimulation to the sin and this triggers various mechanoreceptors and generates

different sensations of touch and pressure.

Hohansson et al. determined the discomfort and pain thresholds at the finger, the palm and the thinner area

It has also been found that pressures of less than =8 grams per s!uare meter e&erted by the fabric on the

body are usually (udged to be comfortable, pressures of =888 grams per s!uare meter to be

uncomfortable.

P!rc!tion" o# #(,ric ric8&! (nd itc%


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ne of the most irritating discomfort sensations for garments worn ne&t-to-sin is fabric pricle. Itch is

usually a component of the pricle sensation which stimulates the pain group of sensory receptors.

1ricliness is e&perienced when the fabric is patted or pressed onto hairy sin, but it is not felt on the

hairless sin such as on palms and fingers since pain nerve endings are very close to the surface in hairy

sin but not in glabrous sin. It has been found that moisture on the sin can significantly increase the

pricliness sensation.

Itch sensation is the result of the activation of some superficial sin pain receptors. )ccording to recent

research results, the sensation of itching is mediated by the same nerves as the sensation of pain.

The difference between these two sensations is a function of the degree of stimulation: itching results from

a mild stimulus and pain from a more severe stimulus. It was found that itches trigger activity in areas of

the brain that prompt arm movement, and that temperature can inhibit an itch

P!rc!tion o# #(,ric "$oot%n!"". rou'%n!"" (nd "cr(tc%in!""

"oughness occurs when fabric moving across the sin stimulates the touch group of sensory receptors.

isplacement of sin taes place, and as more sin is displaced under the fabric, the perception of fabric

roughness becomes greater.

"oughness causes friction between fabric and sin. $oisture also increases the friction causing larger

amounts of sin to be displaced under the moving fabric and therefore triggers more touch receptors. The

perception of fabric roughness is correlated with fabric surface roughness, compression properties, fiber

diameter and fiber tensile properties.

0cratchiness, which is another term to define discomfort, was found highly related to the sensation of

roughness in both consumer surveys and the sensory responses of sub(ects in wear trials.

T%!r$(& (nd $oi"tur! "ti$u&i

Thermal senses tell us about our internal and e&ternal thermal state. Thermic comfort is the effective

perception of temperature and depends on the difference between the thermoregulatory central set point

and body temperature. )ny measures which help to reduce this difference are felt as pleasant, and vice-

versa. $oisture in clothing has been accepted as one of the most important factors contributing to discomfort.

0tudies found that the sensation of humidity is correlated with sin wetness. )s indicated earlier, after a lot

of research, there is a consensus of opinion which indicates that there are no specific moisture detectors in

the human body and humidity might be perceived through some indirect methods. 4urthermore, the

dampness sensation might be a synthetic sensation that consists of a number of components such as fabric

temperature, pressure, and distribution of pressure during the contact between sin and fabric.

F(,ric 5(r$n!"" (nd coo&n!""

The warm or cool feelings of te&tiles are another important aspect. @hen fabric is placed on the sin, there

is a momentary sensation of warmness or coolness. The faster the heat transfer occurs between the fabric

and the body, the greater is the cold feel of the fabric.

The thermal character of the fabric determines the apparent difference between the temperature of the fiber

and the temperature of the sin. The differences in cold feel between fabrics are mainly determined by their

surface structure rather than by the fiber type.

The area of contact between the sin and fabric may be responsible for the rate of heat flow. )s the surface

area of the contact increases, heat flow from the sin also increases, so the fabric feels cooler.

In general, fabrics with fu%%y surfaces feel warmer than smooth-surfaced fabrics of the same fiber

composition *e.g., cotton percale bedsheets vs. cotton flannel bedsheets+.

F(,ric c%(r'in' (nd c&in'


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Charged fabrics cling to the body and result in another unpleasant feeling and charged fabrics may cause

shocs when the wearer touches metal. 4abric cling results from the formation of an electrostatic charge on

the fabric and the induction of this charge on the body. uring wear, ad(acent layers of garment fabric and

surrounding fabrics are fre!uently pressed and rubbed together when the wearer is sitting or waling.

1ositive charges are produced on one surface and negative charges on the other surface during this contact.

@hen the wearer moves, since fabrics separate during this move, fabrics may become charged, one

positively and the other negatively.

@hen an electric field is generated from the charges, the fabric induces an opposite charge on the sin and

fabric cling may occur. The degree of the cling depends on the fabric types worn ne&t to each other.

$oisture will increase the electrical conductivity of most te&tile fabrics. The actual area of fabricAsin

contact, which is influenced by fabric structure, is one of the ey parameters impacting the fabric cling.

P"yc%o&o'ic(& #(ctor" (nd o-!r(&& co$#ort !rc!tion

The contact between sin and clothing produces a number of mechanical, thermal, electrical and chemical

stimuli. The sensations obtained from these stimuli influence human comfort status. The type of sensation

heavily depends on the fabricAsin interaction and the sensory receptors triggered.

The comfort level of clothing does not solely depend on the fabric properties and design features.

The perception of clothing comfort is a function of garment, environment, body, and psychological factors

The perception of comfort can be influenced by a variety of cognitive factors, such as beliefs, social and

cultural factors, past e&periences, and present desires.

nce the attitudes and beliefs toward the fabrics and clothing are formed, they may outweigh the actual

physiological factors and become the primary determinant of the consumer behavior.

It is very important for manufacturers and retailers to understand how consumers perceive the clothing and

formulate the preferences.

The overall sensory perception and preferences of the consumer are the result of a comple& combination of

sensory factors that come from various receptors. These sensory receptors are influenced by the

psychological and physiological state of the wearers. )ll sensory factors have two psychological dimensions: !uality and magnitude *intensity+.

0ensations combined with past e&periences, beliefs, attitudes, and present desires form the overal

perception.

In order to understand the psychological processes, measurement studies have been carried out in which

sub(ective perceptions were obtained by psychological scaling. There are a lot of problems involved in

psychological scaling, such as wide variations in opinions, statistical analysis problems, and inconsistencies

due to physiological, psychological, social, cultural, and environmental, etc. factors affecting the data.

The human preference may be divided into two categories:

a+ b(ect-related personal preference such as color, fashion, design, brand, and style. 'arlier e&perienceswith the fabric *or with similar fabric that person used+ and price, if it is nown or declared, may also

affect the human preference. 1revious e&periences with the fabric are very important since in human

sensory mechanism, the brain performs comparative evaluation with past e&perience references.

b+ Internal personal preference such as internal feelings at the time of (udgment *happiness, sadness

e&citement, depression, neutral, etc.+, sin sensitivity to touch *typically a factor of age, (ob, and normal

inherent environment+, ability of self e&pression or ability to relate to a given descriptor of the ob(ect,

ability to clearly distinguish between different descriptors or different ob(ects, and the e&tent of

sensitivity to the environment surrounding the (udgment location.

(riou" ("!ct" o# c&ot%in' co$#ort


15/19


16/19

0ensorial comfort is a perception of clothing comfort which is the sensory response of nerve endings to

e&ternal stimuli including thermal, pressure, pain etc. producing neuro-physiological impulses sent to the

brain.

These sensory signals are processed by the brain to formulate sub(ective perceptions of sensations and are

suitably responded to by ad(usting the blood flow, sweating rate or heat production by shivering.

#i investigated psychological sensory responses to clothing of consumers living in different countries and

7= sensory descriptors were selected. The sensory responses to these descriptors were analysed by obli!ue

principal component cluster analysis. 4or summer wear and sport-wear, the cluster analysis showed that the

7= sensory descriptors could be classified into four clusters as shown below:

. Tactile sensations pricly, ticling, rough, raggy, scratchy, itchy, picy, sticy.

7. $oisture sensations clammy, damp, wet, sticy, sultry, non-absorbent, clingy.

9. /ody fit *pressure+ sensations snug, loose, lightweight, heavy, soft, stiff;

. Thermal sensations cold, chilly, cool, warm, hot.

The components of tactile sensations are well defined and do not change much with type of clothing. 0ome

sensations from other clusters *such as heavy, stiff, etc.+ become closely associated with this cluster in certain

wear conditions.

$oisture sensations are also relatively stable and do not change with the type of clothing. owever, theyinteract with thermal sensations *hot and chilly+ in sportswear and with tactile sensations in summer wear.

The pressure and thermal sensations are not stable the components are not clearly clustered and change their

membership fre!uently.

The pressure sensations interact with tactile and thermal sensations, while thermal sensations interact strongly

with moisture sensations.

Tactile comfort is associated with the sensations involving direct sinfabric mechanical interactions. This

factor responds largely with the pain receptors in the sin and relates mainly to the surface characteristics of

the fabric.

F(,ric ric8&in!""

4abric-evoed pricle has been identified as one of the most irritating discomfort sensations for clothing wear

ne&t-to-sin. The degree of discomfort caused by pricle varies from person to person and with the wear

situation, and prolonged irritation that evoes the action of scratching the affected area may lead to sin

inflammation.

4abric containing wool is unsatisfactory for underwear garments because it causes pricle or sin irritation.

Garnsworthy et al. identified a special type of pain nerve responsible for pricle sensation, which is triggered

by a threshold of force of about 8.>J m?. Individual protruding fibre ends from a fabric surface are responsible

for triggering the pain nerve endings during contact with the sin.

F(,ric itc%in!""

Itch is found to result from activation of some superficial pain receptors. It has been found that the perception

of itchiness in clothing is highly correlated with the perception of pricliness. #i observed that perception of

itchiness is correlated with fibre diameter, fabric thicness at low and high pressures, and fabric surface

roughness.

F(,ric "$oot%n!""

The friction and mechanical interaction between fabric and sin during contact are the ey factors determining

the perception of roughness, smoothness and scratchiness.

These are important tactile sensations determining the comfort performance of ne&t-to-sin wear. ) fabric that

is perceived to be comfortable at low-humidity conditions may be perceived to be uncomfortable at higher

humidity or sweating conditions.


17/19

The fabric roughness or smoothness is associated with a number of physical properties ob(ectively measured

such as surface roughness, friction, pricle, shear and bending stiffness, thicness and aerial density.

G(r$!nt #it (nd r!""ur! co$#ort

) garment needs to be cut neatly in appearance and should be able to maintain a reserve of comfort for the

wearer3s dynamic movements. 6ir and Ibrahim identified three essential components involved in meeting the

sin strain re!uirements garment fit, garment slip and fabric stretch.

5Garment fit3 provides the space allowance for sin strain, which is affected by the ratio of garment si%e tobody si%e and the nature of garment design.

The sin strain is also accommodated by another mechanism called 5garment slip3 which is mostly determined

by the coefficient of friction between sin and fabric and between different layers of garments.

54abric stretch3, an important factor in pressure comfort, depends largely on elastic characteristics and elastic

recovery properties of fabrics. If a fabric has high friction and stretching resistance, high clothing pressure is

liely to be e&erted on the body, which could result in discomfort sensations. They also identified that the

critical strain areas of the body are the nee, the seat, the bac and the elbows.

enton pointed out that there are four mechanical factors relating to garment comfort namely weight, ease of

movement, stretch and ventilation. 'ase of movement is largely dependent on garment design and the relative

si%e between body and clothing.

#oose fitting allows freedom of movement but may not be desirable in many situations. e also pointed out

that the discomfort level of clothing pressure was found to be between 78 and 8 gAcm7, depending on the

individual and the part of the body concerned, which is similar to blood pressure in the capillary blood vessels

near the sin surface.

F(,ric %(nd

The concept of fabric hand means that description of fabric !uality and performance. uring wear, clothing

continuously comes into contact and interacts dynamically with the sin of the whole body. The fabric hand

property is a sub(ective sensory comple& sensation obtained by active manipulation of neural sagaciousness of

our hands.) fabric hand or handle depicts the way a fabric feels when it is touched by a human hand and gives an

indication of te&ture of the fabric. arious psychological sensations such as stiffness, softness or hardness,

warm or cool, wet or dry are also perceived.

?euro-physiological researches have shown that the various sensations resulting from the sinfabric

interaction are triggered by three categories of sensory receptors which cover pain, temperature and touch

sensations. uring fabricsin contact, the fabric produces pressure and vibration on the sin and stimulates

touch receptors. 1eirce was first to describe the relationship of fabric properties and handle. e concluded that

fabric stiffness is the ey factor in deciding fabric handle.

6awabata and ?iwa separated handle into three levels

. $echanical properties,

7. 1rimary handle value and

9. Total handle value.

)ccording to )0T$ 0tandard 79 *7889+, the following terms are important for describing fabric handle:

4le&ibility ease of bending

Compressibility ease of s!uee%ing

'&tensibility ease of stretching

"esiliency ability to recover from deformation

ensity massAunit volume


18/19

0urface contour divergence of surface from the fabric plane

0urface friction resistance to slipping

Thermal character apparent temperature difference between fabric and sin.

The touch may be active or passive, synthetic or analytic. )ctive touch may be classified into four categories:

. Gliding touch

7. 0weeping touch

9. Grasping touch

. 6inematic touch.

?on-sensorial comfort

?on-sensorial comfort deals with physical processes which generate the stimuli lie heat transfer by

conduction, convection and radiation, moisture transfer by diffusion and evaporation. It also includes

mechanical interactions in the form of pressure, friction and dynamic irregular contact. ?on-sensorial comfort

is not only comprised of thermal and moisture transmission but also includes air permeability, water repellency

and water resistance *as, 788J+.

*ir !r$!(,i&ity

The air permeability is nothing but to measure the amount of air how well passed through the fabric. The

passage of air is importance for a number of fabric end uses such as industrial filters, tents, sail-clothsparachutes, raincoat materials, shirting, waterproof fabrics and airbags. In outdoor clothing, it is important that

air permeability is as low as possible because it should function as a wind protection.

) material that is permeable to air is usually permeable to water, in either the vapour or the li!uid phase. Thus,

the moisturevapour permeability and the li!uidmoisture transmission are normally closely related to air

permeability.

n the other hand, the thermal resistance of a fabric is strongly dependent on the enclosed still air, and this

factor is in turn influenced by the fabric structure.

:(t!r -(our tr(n"$i""ion

The human body cools itself by sweat production and evaporation during periods of high activity. The clothing

must be able to remove this moisture in order to maintain comfort and reduce the degradation of thermal

insulation caused by moisture build-up in a cold environment.

@ater vapour transmission is essential in determining the breathability of clothing and te&tiles in outdoor and

indoor wear. ) breathable te&tile allows e&tra heat loss by evaporation of moisture through the clothing layers

If clothing layers are impermeable the moisture is captured between sin and clothing and heat is accumulated

in the body. )s a conse!uence, heat and moisture build up, causing discomfort, wet sin and sin abrasion.

:(t!r r!!&&!ncy (nd 5(t!r (,"ortion

@ater repellency treatment modifies the surface tension properties of fibres or fabrics so that they repel water

drops. The treatment may also improve soil repellency.

@ater resistance is needed in outdoor clothing for protection against rain and is a re!uirement for furniture and

bed-coverings to protect against li!uid e&cretions.

n the other hand, water generated at the body surface as perspiration should be removed !uicly if comfort is

desired. 0ome te&tile end uses such as towels, cleaning cloths, diapers and sanitary pads are made of material

capable of absorbing water to achieve comfort.

P%y"ic(& C%(r(ct!ri"tic" o# T!/ti&! M(t!ri(&" In#&u!ncin' T%!r$(& Co$#ort

4abric $ass

4abric Thicness

4iber, Karn, and 4abric 0tructures

Poro"ityis the ratio of air space to the total volume of the fabric, e&pressed as a percentage


19/19

Co-!r F(ctoris defined as the opacity or hiding power in te&tiles

Documents

Unit i Study Material Cs