Estimation of Water Absorbency and Comfort of Towels on the Basis of Skin Temperature

Abstract

In this paper, to design and develop a novel comfort towel, the relationship between the water absorbency and the comfort feeling in an actual using is investigated.On two bath towels with the different level of water absorbency, the skin temperature after bathing and drying the body under a constant condition is measured, and the sensory test for feelings of warm/cold, wet/dry, and comfort/discomfort is carried out at the same time. The results show that the skin temperature is greatly affected by the water absorbency of towel, and that in order to get the comfort feeling, it is important to maintain the skin temperature of about 31°C when using the high absorbent towel.Therefore, it is useful to measure and analyze the skin temperature for estimating the water absorbency and the comfort of towel.