Abstract
Knitted fabrics were treated with household softeners. The mechanical and surface properties as well as the thermal and moisture transport properties of the fabrics were measured. The use of softeners decreased the friction between fibers, the fabrics treated with softeners became softer and the primary fabric hand values (NUMERI, FUKURAMI, SOFUTOSA) increased slightly. Therefore, the wearing comfort on winter of these fabrics seemed to increase. But cotton fabric exhibited polyester fabric-type hydropyobic properties and the wearing comfort on summer seemed to decrease. In the case of washing with detergent that contains softener, the softener did not adequately reduce the inter-fiber friction that increases when a fabric is washed by detergent alone, indicating that it is most effective to add softener after the wash cycle.
