ABSTRACT

Two identically constructed cotton/polyester fabrics, one representing polyester staple-core/cotton-covered yarn and the other representing a random blend yarn were evaluated for their low-stress mechanical properties and hand quality, following the objective hand evaluation approach developed by Kawabata [1,2]. Measurements involving dissipation of heat energy through the fabrics under dry and wet contact conditions and the warm-cool contact sensation offered by the fabrics were made using Kawabata's new "Thermolabo Device".

Comparison of the low-stress mechanical properties revealed that the fabric made of polyester-core/cotton-covered yarn is more resilient to tensile and compressive deformations, has higher bending rigidity, lower tensile elongation and lower shear modulus. The same fabric also gave higher values for all the four primary hand qualities and for the total hand quality associated with men's summer suit application. For women's thin dress application, it gave higher values for five out of the six associated primary hand qualities.

The fabric representing the cotton covered yarn also offered a cooler contact sensation and much less variation in contact sensation along the fabric. The amount of heat energy dissipated through this fabric was found to be lower under dry contact (non-sweating) conditions and higher under wet contact (sweating) conditions, suggesting that this fabric may have a better thermal comfort value for cold and dry (winter) as well as hot and humid (summer) weather conditions. Variation in energy dissipation along the fabric was also found to be much less for the fabric containing the cotton covered yarn. The work not only identified the differences in the subjective properties of the fabrics in quantitative terms, but also demonstrated the value of Rawabata methods for the design and production of superior quality apparel fabrics.