The Influence of Utilizing High-performance Fibers on the Breathability of Doctors' Clothing Fabrics (scrubs)

Comfort is the next most important factor in medical clothing after its protective properties. The jobs of doctors and nurses require great physical effort, as doctors work for long periods without interruption at varying temperatures due to procedural requirements due to the nature of doctors' work in hospitals. Hence, we find that doctors' clothing Scrubs must be designed to enhance physiological comfort and achieve performance properties such as breathability, moisture management, thermal conductivity, and quick drying, which has led to an increased demand for medical textiles with high efficiency and advanced properties. Which resulted in the need to use high-performance fibers called microfibers. Due to its excellent functional properties, it outperforms its counterparts from traditional synthetic fibers, such as air permeability, moisture, absorption, wicking, and elasticity. The research aims to take advantage of these high-performance materials and employ them in the production of breathable scrub fabrics to achieve the requirements of these fabrics for physiological comfort while maintaining their functional performance properties.This study indicates the production of (9) samples of breathable doctors' scrubs fabrics made of cotton fibers, polyester microfiber fibers, and nylon fibers, with different textile structures of the fabrics such as (Plain 1/1 – Twill 3/1 – Oxford 2/2 pinpoint in weft direction), the results of the tests and statistical analysis showed the effect of different weft material blending ratios and textile structures in improving performance properties such as breathability and achieving physiological comfort for scrubs fabrics as a result of using these high-performance materials.