COMFORT FOR TEXTILE-CLOTHING

The primary need of man to dress has changed as time passed because different fibers are used and yarn, fabrics and finishing have completely changed.

Welfare and comfort, that were almost fortuitous and bound to a certain kind of textile product, have become decisive components to make a product appreciated and successful, and they must be projected from the beginning when a particular item is conceived.

Today, multi functional products are more and more often projected and realized, where even contrasting performances must coexist and cohabit, such as for instance water resistance and air permeability, strong resistance and softness.

Fibers evidently play a central role, as well as ennobling proceedings to give to the fabric qualities it doesn?t have are important, especially in some specific applications, in those fabrics born and developed to assure comfort.

Comfort.

Definitions: welfare, lack of pain and of nuisance.

Different components are evidenced:

• The physiological one
• The physical-chemical one
• The psychological one

The lack of comfort is stressed more than its positive presence.

Many researches have been carried out in order to find out causes and elements of lack of comfort in the textile area:

As far as raw materials are concerned, the chemical-macromolecular structure of the fiber plays a basic role, and

• Thinness
• Section
• Crimp

As far as yarn is concerned:

• Count
• Torque
• Hairiness

As far as textile surface is concerned:

• Structure
• Ennobling proceeding
• Used additives

As far as clothes and ready products are concerned:

• Style
• Dimensions

Fibers, yarn, surfaces and clothes must be projected in a way so that they will have those values that are considered as decisive for comfort standards. Today it is still very difficult because subjectivity is very strong.

We must then be able to individualize the sensitive, significant sizes, to measure them, to settle the optimal values ( or threshold values) in order to give up to the project and to obtain materials whose characteristics answer to the optimal values.

Main research areas to realize this process concern:

• Transport characteristics (liquids, gas)
• Skin contact characteristics (hand)
• Fabric draping and manufacturing characteristics

Some raw materials have an innate comfort that doesn?t need to be demonstrated, as it is considered as a priori.

So, some of them are considered as very comfortable:

• Cotton
• Silk
• Wool

Raw materials made by man show a comfort that need to be demonstrated, because they are considered as less valid or non valid as far as comfort is concerned.

Multifunctional materials

Today, textile products are asked rival characteristics and performances. In some ways, it is characteristics that go beyond those of materials nature gives us:

• Micro fibers
• High-tech fibers
• Polymeric structures in general

Today comfort is considered as a fundamental part when a textile product is valued. In some cases it is analyzed following an analysis technique called HPA (Human Perception Analysis).

This analysis is based on some main elements:

• Warmth
• Absorbing capacity and humidity
• General comfort
• Cloth convenience
• Skin perception
• Weight
• Softness

Physical aspects of comfort

• thermal properties:
  • heat transmission
  • thermal protection
• vapour-humidity transmission:
  • humidity permeability
  • influent elements in vapour permeability
• liquid-humidity transmission:
  • water repellent capacity and water absorbance
  • humidity characteristics measurement
  • absorbent fabrics production
  • water resistant fabrics production
  • elements influencing transmission of liquids and humidity
• air permeability
  • air permeability test
  • permeable fabrics production
  • correlation between permeability and other elements
• size and style of items
  • esthetic comfort (subjective)
  • esthetic properties measurement
  • changes in esthetic behaviour
• static electricity
  • electrostatic propensity measurement
  • static electricity effects
  • electrostatic laden reduction
• noise
  • textile use to fight noise