Handfeel of Single Jersey Fabrics as Assessed by a New Physical Method

Hand feel of fabrics made of cotton, polyester and wood-based cellulose fibers lyocell, modal and viscose was assessed by Fabric Touch Tester (FTT), Tissue Softness Analyzer (TSA), ring pullthrough and PhabrOmeter® and compared with human handfeel ranking. Additionally, the effect of repeated washing and drying on fabric handfeel was investigated by TSA. TSA ranking of softness and smoothness corresponded to the rankings by other direct physical methods as well as with human handfeel. Fabrics made from wood-based cellulosic fibers especially modal types showed better handfeel results than cotton even after repeated washing cycles. A divergence between physical and human assessment was observed on polyester.