Tactile feeling: Sensory analysis applied to textile goods

Descriptive analysis is one of the methods used in the food industry to describe the perception of products when being eaten. This work attempts to adapt this method to the description of fabric handle. A panel of eleven assessors use fifteen discriminant and pertinent attributes, and the assessors are trained to evaluate each attribute and to score them on a linear scale. The performance of each panelist is checked for validity and reproducibility before the panel is acknowledged as operative. Through implementation of rigorous procedures (i.e., exploratory procedures, sample presentation, and data analyses), this methodology provides reliable descriptions of the perceived quality of fabrics. The hand of the same cotton fabric treated with different industrial finishes is described by the panel. Results are analyzed in term of differences and similarities between the fabrics, sustaining commercial claims but in a more precise way. Finally, the fabric ranking from crease recovery tests agrees with the ranking of the panel on the responsive scale.