Thermal comfort properties of cool-touch nylon and common nylon knitted fabrics with different fibre fineness and cross-section

Abstract

Cool-touch nylon multi-filament yarns with good heat transfer performance are widely used in the development of knitted fabrics for summer and sports clothing. However, the physical properties of cool-touch nylon fibres, and the effect of fineness and cross-section on comfort-related properties of their knitted fabrics are still not well understood. In this study, the physical properties of cool-touch nylon fibres and common nylon fibres, and comfort properties of knitted fabrics from both fibre types were measured and compared. It was found that cool-touch nylon fibres have better moisture absorption, but slightly lower crystallinity than common nylon fibres. Regarding the fibre fineness and cross-section of cool-touch nylon and common nylon, knitted fabrics showed a similar dependence on thermal comfort properties. Cool-touch nylon fabrics had increased wicking capacity, thermal transfer, and cooling properties, but poorer drying performance and moisture permeability compared to common nylon fabrics. It was concluded that using nylon multi-filament yarns made up of finer filaments and cool touch filaments is an effective way to develop thermal-wet comfort knitted fabrics for summer and sports clothing applications.