Evaluation of Surface Characteristics of Fabrics Suitable for Skin Layer of Firefighters’ Protective Clothing

Sensorial comfort, usually described as “fabric hand or feel”, is the sensation of how the fabric feels when it is worn next to the skin. This feeling deals with properties of the fabric such as prickling, itching, stiffness or smoothness. It can also be related to its attributes related to physiological comfort, as for instance when a fabric is wet its sensorial properties change and fabric may cling to the skin. Wet feeling and wet clinging can be a major source of sensorial discomfort in situations of profuse sweating like in firefighters’ working environment. For the objective evaluation of this aspect of comfort Kawabata Evaluation System (KES) was used for the present study. Seven commercially available knitted fabrics of different fibre blends in different knitted structures suitable for skin layer of firefighters’ protective clothing were evaluated in virgin (original non-treated) state and then in wet state. The influence of fabric physical parameters, fibre content, fabric construction and moisture content on fabric surface properties were determined. For statistical evaluation of results student's-test was carried out to predict the level of significance on coefficient of friction (MIU) and geometrical surface roughness (SMD) due to presence of moisture. Pearson correlation coefficients were also calculated between MIU and SMD in virgin state and in wet state.