The objective measurement of the 'cool feeling' in fabrics

The research reported in this paper attempts to evaluate the relationship between objectively measured thermal properties of fabrics and the subjective assessment of a warm-cool feeling. The thermal characteristics of maximum heat flux, Q_max, and thermal absorptivity, b, were measured by using the Alambeta T675 instrument for a wide range of fabrics. These fabrics were then subjectively ranked for their warm-cool feeling by sixteen judges. The results indicated that the values of Q_max and b did not correlate well with subjective assessments when fabrics of different fibres were evaluated. When fabrics with a common fibre were used, both Q_max and b were directly related to this warm-cool feeling, with b providing the better correlation. For a panel of judges to rank fabrics of the same fibre type in the same order as the objective measurements, a step value between fabrics of 0.2-0.3 W m^-2 was required for Q_max. The step value required for b was less clear, but good correlation with subjective assessments was found with step values in the region of 16-37 W m^-2 K^-1 s^1/2 for b. © Textile Institute.