The purpose of this study was to clarify the characteristics of tencel material from the aspect of human thermoregulation during heat loading in women. For the purpose of comparison, of the tencel material, clothes made of 3 kinds of material (tencel, cotton and polyester) were used in the present experiment. Five young females were exposed to a 43-degree water heat loading for 30 min and a 30-min recovery. Individual skin temperatures, local sweat rate, body temperature, and the temperature and humidity of the inner surface of the clothes were measured throughout the experiment. The skin temperatures at the chest and forearm regions in tencel tended to be higher than those in cotton and polyester. The changes of the inner surface temperature and humidity were significantly lower in tencel than in cotton during the heat loading. The sweat rate in tencel was significantly lower than in polyester. These findings suggest that the tencel material suppresses microclimate changes within clothing during heat loading.
