Characterizing the stickiness property of fibrous materials under wet skin surface: Textile friction tester

People sweat when being in hot environment or exercising. The sweat will be absorbed by clothing and the attractive force between skin and fabric will be risen by sweat, causing sensorial discomfort. Pressure and friction in combination with moisture can lead to skin irritations or even skin contact injuries. Hence, a sensitive, accurate and reliable measurement method is proposed for measuring the frictional property of textiles. The proposed 'dragging type' measurement tester connects the fabric to the force gauge, moves it at a constant speed and the lateral force against the dragging distance is measured. The uniqueness of this instrument is that the amount of water supply can be standardized to simulate different sweating conditions, ranging from mild to profuse sweating. This instrument is useful for product selection especially for sportswear, hygiene products or medical textiles application. Correlation with subjective sensorial evaluation is planned to examine its reality to actual wear condition. Compared with conventional instrument, like Kawabata Evaluation System for Fabric, the proposed method is simple, versatile, and closer to wear condition at an acceptable cost. With this instrument, fabric can be characterized efficiently which would benefit the textile industry.