Changes in thermal comfort properties of sports wear and underwear due to their wetting

Abstract

In this investigation, a study of indexes characterizing thermal comfort of garments have been outlined and a new so called wet comfort index (WCI) of sport dresses and underwear at real conditions of their use is presented. The experimental study includes determination of thermal resistance and water vapour permeability of 12 sport dresses in dry and wet states, and these values are then used for the calculation of WCI, which ranges from 0 to 1. The maximum value 1 indicates the best thermophysiological comfort level in wet state. Wetting of the dresses is achieved by training of a sportsman on a running simulator. It is found that for the best sport dresses consisting of special polyester and polypropylene surface grooved fibres, the WCI does not exceed 0.2. This surprisingly low level demonstrates the importance of testing of thermal comfort properties of fabrics in wet state by means of special instruments.