A comprehensive approach for human hand evaluation of split or large set of fabrics

Abstract

Assessment of fabric handle relies on the feel of humans. The precision of the results greatly depends on the size of the fabric sets. The precision decreases with increasing number of samples as a consequence of assessors' fatigue and loss of concentration. Given the importance of handle assessment and in the absence of guidelines that assist assessment of large sample sets, this study proposes a comprehensive approach for testing large sets of fabrics by dividing them into several testing sessions, each of 10 samples at most. In the proposed way, tests can also be split over different panels, even at different locations, provided the panel accuracy is verified beforehand. The method to select the panel members, link the results obtained in different sessions and normalize the data are discussed in this paper. The proposed method was tested on 13 fabrics. Three fabric sensorial attributes (i.e. smoothness, softness and warmth) were assessed in two sessions by a panel consisting of 28 blindfolded members or assessors. Good agreement was found between the panel members for fabric smoothness and softness but the warmth of the fabrics was judged differently as shown by high disagreements between panel members. No significant origin-, gender- or age-based differences on the judgements were found. The findings of this test study are in agreement with previous studies where well-established assessment methods (i.e. instrumental methods or human panels on a smaller dataset) were applied and suggest that the proposed method can be successfully applied to assess large sets of fabrics.

Presenting fabrics in digital environment: fashion designers’ perspectives on communicating tactile qualities of the fabrics

“…In the initial stage, 27 people were recruited, whereas 25 people fully participated. According to a prior study (Musa et al, 2019 ), women tend to have better sensitivity in touch than men. Therefore, only female participants were recruited.…”

Differences in fabric hand perceptions among Japanese and Chinese individuals

“…Our study had three main limitations. First, all participants were in their 20s, which may result in finger sensitivity bias related to differences based on age and may have thus affected the fabric hand test results (Musa et al. , 2019).…”

“…Our study had three main limitations. First, all participants were in their 20s, which may result in finger sensitivity bias related to differences based on age and may have thus affected the fabric hand test results (Musa et al, 2019). Second, the results may have been affected by cross-cultural differences (both linguistic and perceptual) regarding the fabric hand descriptors.…”

Simultaneous-integrated evaluation of mechanical–thermal sensory attributes of woven fabrics in considering practical wearing states

“…Previous study has shown that judgments show no significant origin-, gender- or age-based differences in the subjective assessments. 23 The assessments were conducted in the standard condition by referring to the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) EP5-2007 evaluation procedure. The judges were trained to be acquainted with the descriptions and ranking scales for three typical tactile feelings before carrying out the assessments.…”