2026 Volume 77 Issue 6 Pages 218-229
Moisture-absorbing heat-generating fabrics efficiently produce condensation heat due to their high hygroscopicity. However, under low-humidity conditions, evaporation of absorbed moisture causes heat loss, leading to the “sweat chill” phenomenon. This study investigated the effect of layering latent heat storage nonwoven fabrics over moisture-absorbing heat-generating fabrics to suppress temperature drop.
Experiments were conducted in a controlled humidity chamber using temperature and humidity sensors. Results showed that when an insulating nonwoven was layered, surface temperature fell below ambient (20℃) and required 39.6 minutes to recover. In contrast, layering a latent heat storage nonwoven prevented temperature from dropping below ambient, maintaining thermal stability. These findings indicate that combining moisture-absorbing and latent heat storage fabrics effectively mitigates sweat chill by stabilizing the clothing microclimate. The mechanism is attributed to latent heat storage fibers absorbing and releasing heat during humidity changes, thereby enhancing thermal comfort in cold environments.
