A Study of the Thermo-physiological Comfort Properties of Fabrics treated with Neem and Bermuda grass Herbal Finishes

Comfort is an aspect and is considered as one of the important characteristics of clothing. Generally, the comfort properties can be distinguished into three categories, viz., thermo-physiological comfort, sensorial comfort, and psychological comfort. Thermo-physiological comfort of a fabric is determined by the ability of the fabric to transmit heat, air, and moisture from the skin to the atmosphere. Fabric made of synthetic fibers has convincing comfort properties when compared with the fabrics made of natural fibers like cotton, silk, wool, etc. When natural fibers are compared with synthetic fibers, synthetic fibers are hydrophobic in nature and provides less comfort to the wearer. Hence, in this research work, an attempt has been made to study the thermo-physiological comfort properties of herbal finished woven fabrics made from synthetic fibers coated with neem and bermudagrass. Herbal finishes were applied on the woven fabrics made from 100% polyester and blends of 50:50 polyester, acrylic fibers. These finished fabrics were tested and analyzed for durability and essential thermo-physiological comfort properties. Based on the test results and analysis it was found that significant improvements in the moisture-related properties and moderate decrease in the thermal conductivity of the synthetic fabrics with neem and bermudagrass herbal finish.