The comfort fabric market continues to grow and become more competitive. Consumers expect their active wear to deliver performance beyond simply being a barrier between their body and the environment. Textile manufacturers have taken notice, and there is a wide range of comfort fabrics on the market. This research tests fabric samples from leading comfort fabric technologies: phase change materials, nanotechnology, modified fiber structure and blends, as well as the original comfort fiber, cotton. The most widely recognized comfort fabric properties concern the thermal and moisture management of a fabric. Using a guarded sweating hot plate, standardized test methods, and industry accepted test methods, this research tests and compares the values for thermal resistance, evaporative moisture resistance, and vertical liquid wicking. Results indicate that the fabric's structure, thickness, and fiber type play as important a role in a fabric's comfortability as the technology applied.
","abstract_html":"<p>The comfort fabric market continues to grow and become more competitive. Consumers expect their active wear to deliver performance beyond simply being a barrier between their body and the environment. Textile manufacturers have taken notice, and there is a wide range of comfort fabrics on the market. This research tests fabric samples from leading comfort fabric technologies: phase change materials, nanotechnology, modified fiber structure and blends, as well as the original comfort fiber, cotton. The most widely recognized comfort fabric properties concern the thermal and moisture management of a fabric. Using a guarded sweating hot plate, standardized test methods, and industry accepted test methods, this research tests and compares the values for thermal resistance, evaporative moisture resistance, and vertical liquid wicking. Results indicate that the fabric's structure, thickness, and fiber type play as important a role in a fabric's comfortability as the technology applied.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Finnie, Melinda Elizabeth"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"Technology Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Subhas Ghosh, Ph.D., Chair","Giri Jogaratnam, Ph.D.","Julie Becker"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-06-17T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-06-17T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:06Z","subjects":["Comfort","Fabrics","Moisture","Textiles","Thermal","Wicking","Materials Science and Engineering"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/707","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Subhas Ghosh, Ph.D., Chair","Giri Jogaratnam, Ph.D.","Julie Becker"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Finnie, Melinda Elizabeth"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-07-12T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Technology Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Comfort","Fabrics","Moisture","Textiles","Thermal","Wicking","Materials Science and Engineering"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/707"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The comfort fabric market continues to grow and become more competitive. Consumers expect their active wear to deliver performance beyond simply being a barrier between their body and the environment. Textile manufacturers have taken notice, and there is a wide range of comfort fabrics on the market. This research tests fabric samples from leading comfort fabric technologies: phase change materials, nanotechnology, modified fiber structure and blends, as well as the original comfort fiber, cotton. The most widely recognized comfort fabric properties concern the thermal and moisture management of a fabric. Using a guarded sweating hot plate, standardized test methods, and industry accepted test methods, this research tests and compares the values for thermal resistance, evaporative moisture resistance, and vertical liquid wicking. Results indicate that the fabric's structure, thickness, and fiber type play as important a role in a fabric's comfortability as the technology applied.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A comparative study of commercially available comfort fabrics"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Subhas Ghosh, Ph.D., Chair","Giri Jogaratnam, Ph.D.","Julie Becker"],"dc:creator":["Finnie, Melinda Elizabeth"],"dc:date.available":["2017-07-12T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The comfort fabric market continues to grow and become more competitive. Consumers expect their active wear to deliver performance beyond simply being a barrier between their body and the environment. Textile manufacturers have taken notice, and there is a wide range of comfort fabrics on the market. This research tests fabric samples from leading comfort fabric technologies: phase change materials, nanotechnology, modified fiber structure and blends, as well as the original comfort fiber, cotton. The most widely recognized comfort fabric properties concern the thermal and moisture management of a fabric. Using a guarded sweating hot plate, standardized test methods, and industry accepted test methods, this research tests and compares the values for thermal resistance, evaporative moisture resistance, and vertical liquid wicking. Results indicate that the fabric's structure, thickness, and fiber type play as important a role in a fabric's comfortability as the technology applied.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/707"],"dc:subject":["Comfort","Fabrics","Moisture","Textiles","Thermal","Wicking","Materials Science and Engineering"],"dc:title":["A comparative study of commercially available comfort fabrics"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Technology Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:06Z"}