EFFECTS OF 2 KINDS OF CLOTHING MADE FROM HYDROPHOBIC AND HYDROPHILIC FABRICS ON LOCAL SWEATING RATES AT AN AMBIENT-TEMPERATURE OF 37-DEGREES-C

The purpose of this study was to find the effects of clothing made fro m hydrophobic and hydrophilic fabrics on the sweating physiology in en vironmental conditions where only the mechanisms of wet heat loss coul d occur. A comparison was made of the local sweat rates from the forea rm and their related physiological parameters between polyester (E) an d cotton (C) clothing at an ambient temperature (T-a) of 37 degrees C. Six female students, aged from 21 to 28 years, served as subjects. Th e subjects wore clothing made from either fabric E or fabric C and res ted quietly for 60 min in a chair mounted on the bed scale under the i nfluences of environmental conditions of 37 degrees C and 60% relative humidity (rh) with an air velocity of 0.1 m s-(1). The major findings are summarized as follows: (1) Local sweat rates were distinctly high er in E than in C in five out of six female subjects. (2) Clothing sur face temperatures at the chest level were significantly higher in C th an in E. (3) The positive relationship between local sweat rates and m ean skin temperature (($) over bar T-sk) existed both in E and in C. H owever, the local sweat rates were mostly higher in E under the influe nces of the same Tsk These results are discussed in terms of thermal p hysiology and clothing sciences. It was concluded that the different p roperties of moisture absorbency between E and C could play a role for sweating physiology in the environmental conditions where only the me chanism of wet heat loss could occur.