Thermal conductivity of water, air, cotton, polyester and PP

Thermal conductivity of water	0.58 [W m-1K-1] at 25 °C
Thermal conductivity of air	0.0257 [W m-1K-1] at 25 °C
Thermal conductivity of cotton	0.4 [W m-1K-1] (its range is 0.3-0.5)
Thermal conductivity of polypropylene	0.25 [W m-1K-1] (its range is 0.2-0.3)
Thermal conductivity of polyester	0.3 [W m-1K-1] (its range is 0.2-0.4)

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source: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com

clo value of different clothing

clo is a value used to describe thermal resistance of clothing

Clothing comfort: a fundamental requirement

Clothing comfort is required in all situations and is considered a threshold in choosing the clothing. Hohenstein Institute Germany buckled the clothing comfort science with a Greek philosopher Empedocles, 500 BC, who first time put forward his beliefs that human skin is breathing. Empedocles suggested that clothing should not depress the respiration and at the same time should not allow penetrating toxic elements into the body. At that time dress made by linen and silk was a dress of upper class and was considered as a precious fabric. It shows that clothing comfort never remained out of preference of human beings. Nevertheless, clothing comfort became part of study in early 20^th century when synthetic fibres were developed and more clothing that is functional were required.

Thermo physiological comfort components

Thermo physiological comfort components

1. thermal conductivity 
2. thermal resistance
3. absorbency 
4. wicking property 
5. heat flux in first two seconds 
6. drying rate 

Types of clothing comfort

There are main four types of clothing comfort:

1. thermo physiological 
2. sensorial or tactile
3. movement freedom 
4. social or psychological comfort 

Preference depends upon the situation. Doctors during operation, player during playing and fire fighters prefer: 

1. thermo physiological 
2. sensorial or tactile
3. movement freedom 

and bride and groom prefer social and psychological comfort. They wear have clothes and are fully wet due to perspiration. Even then they like heavy and decorated clothing. 

Can we combine all types of clothing comfort? 

Yes we can, we need to know the science of clothing. 

Clothing comfort: An Ubiquitous Phenomenon

Clothing comfort: An Ubiquitous Phenomenon

Before moving ahead, it is imperative to have a better understanding about clothing comfort. There are a number of definitions of clothing comfort coined by researchers and scholars. It is obvious from various discussions that clothing comfort is a complex phenomenon and not easy to explain. It is a combine effect of feeling of wearers and physical properties of clothing. Huge variation is possible due to the diverse background of people. Moreover, there is a long list of physical properties of clothing, which play a significant role in overall clothing comfort. 

Clothing comfort is dominated by subjective feelings. Subjective feeling can be recorded in numerical terms by asking people to give rating. There is a huge variation in feeling of comfort among people having similar environment. Human feeling is under influence of economic and social factors of people. Healthy people can tolerate a lot as compared to person who is suffering from any disease. Similarly, life experiences have a significant impact on clothing comfort. Moreover, it has also a strong association with economic and social status. 

Human and clothing comfort

Human and clothing comfort