Studies on Thermal Insulation of Silk Underwear

Abstract

  Very few studies have not been made so far about how silk works in keeping warm the things it wraps. So we examined property of silk, in comparison with those of cotton, wool and synthetic textile, which have been well known.

  Not only the consumption of electric power but also the amount of evaporation was measured by an experimental determination apparatus in all the 4 combinations of underwears of 4 kinds of the materials above-silk, cotton, wool, and synthetic textile and a coat of cotton.

  The results showed that wet silk underwear keeps things the second warmest after wool.

  This results was a surprise for us, because none of us had expected wet solk to keep things that warm. So we made some more experiments of find out what it was that made wet silk exceed cotton and synthetic textile in keeping things warm.

  The results were :

  (1) Silk absorbs more water from a plane surface than any other texture. This absorption of silk helps, when one wears silk underwear and gets sweaty, to take the water away from the skin.

  (2) Silk grows longer when wet, to from wrinkles and therefore, an air layer. This air layer helps to increase resistance to heat consequently, keep things warm.

  These qualities of silk suggest that silk underwear is good for those who sweat much, for example, sick person or sickling, because it is not only fashionable and comfortable, but also absorbs well and then protects then from getting cold when they get sweaty.