The hairy skin of the human body is the main receptor of fabric contact. In order to evaluate clothing comfort objectively, electroneurophysiological tests with nine subjects were carried out to determine their cognitive differences in fabric static and dynamic contact. Electroencephalography and electrocardiography signals were collected when the subjects statically and dynamically touched a piece of polyester fabric with their forearms. According to their electroneurophysiological responses to fabric contact, the subjects could be categorized into three different types, namely, extraordinary, ordinary and nonsensitive ones. Their different sensitivity could be observed from the activities of α waves, sympathetic nervous system and pneumogastric nervous system. The extraordinarily sensitive subject responded to the fabric–skin static contact with an intensive α rhythm reaction followed by a suppressed α wave, an enhanced activity of the sympathetic nervous system and a mild participation of the pneumogastric nervous system. During dynamic contact, the pneumogastric nervous system activity increased greatly to balance the nervous system. The ordinarily sensitive subjects responded gently to the fabric–skin static contact, with a gradually suppressed α wave, an enhanced activity of the sympathetic nervous system and the near absence of the pneumogastric nervous system. Fabric dynamic contact induced a strong α rhythm reaction followed by a suppressed α wave combined with a joint effort of the sympathetic nervous system and pneumogastric nervous system. The nonsensitive subjects responded with almost no difference between the fabric–skin static and dynamic contact in both electroencephalography and electrocardiography tests. This preliminary study could provide an efficient way to identify different types of subjects and lay a fair ground for comparison purposes in future electroneurophysiological studies of clothing comfort.

Electroneurophysiology has been more and more widely used to evaluate the tactile comfort of fabrics. In our previous study, it was found that three different types of subjects exist, namely extraordinary, ordinary, and non-sensitive people, corresponding to their electroneurophysiological responses to fabric-skin contact. In the current study, 19 subjects were recruited, including one extraordinary sensitive, eight ordinary sensitive and 10 non-sensitive subjects who were tested with a smooth cotton fabric and a rough polyester fabric in a fabric-skin dynamic contact experiment. Electromyography, electroencephalography, and electrocardiography signals of the human body, paired with subjective evaluation were carried out. The results show that the rough polyester fabric, compared with the smooth cotton fabric, tended to cause higher mean amplitude and larger waveform area of the myoelectric potential, reduced energy percentage of α wave, improved pneumogastric nerve activity and heart rate variability of the ordinary sensitive subjects, indicating more discomfort in fabric-skin dynamic contact. However, for the non-sensitive subjects, no consistent pattern could be observed in all of the above indicators. Therefore, the ordinary sensitive subjects are more suitable in clothing tactile comfort evaluation using electroneurophysiological measurements. In addition, it was found that ordinary sensitive subjects are predominantly females while non-sensitive subjects are most likely males.