Sensory comfort evaluation of wool fabrics by objective assessment of surface mechanical properties

Abstract

The sensorial comfort is one of the most important aspects of clothing, mainly for next-to-skin garments such as trousers for summer. The perceived comfort of wearers of these garments depends to a great extent on the tactile properties of the fabrics. One of the most important surface characteristics of fabrics is the friction coefficient. Two laboratory equipments were developed to evaluate this parameter, the KES-FB4 module of Kawabata system and the FRICTORQ. In this research are compared the results of the fabric objective measurements of the surface roughness and friction measured using the KES-FB4 (surface tester) and the friction coefficient measured by FRICTORQ equipment, in light-weight wool fabrics.