Study on Improving the Thermal-Wet Comfort of Clothing during Exercise with an Assembly of Fabrics

The thermal and moisture sensations are widely recognised as the most important factors contributing to the discomfort of subjects during exercise. The aim of this work is to find a new method of assembling different kinds of fabrics in clothing to achieve maximum of thermal-wet comfort during exercise. The thermal-wet comfort of ten T-shirts made of ten kinds of hygroscopic fibres, such as cotton, wool, lyocell, model, soybean, bamboo and their blends, was investigated in wear trials in a standard environmental chamber The experimental results show that the thermal-wet comfort of the ten kinds of T-shirt is varied due to the fibre types, which mainly influence the heat and moisture transfer during exercise. The temperature and humidity distribution of different sections of the human body are significantly different, resulting in different requirements for thermal-wet comfort during exercise. Based on the experimental results, a new method of assembling optimal fabrics with a certain thermal-wet comfort to match different sections of the human body to improve the thermal-wet comfort of the clothing system during exercise is given and validated in comparison wear trials.