Abstract

Hot-wet comfort, which is very important for clothing, could be measured by several indicators such as air permeability, moisture permeability, water-absorption and heat retention. The photomicrographs of collagen fibre and that of pores in the finish film were first analyzed in this paper. The hot-wet comfortable condition of sheep garment leather was studied by measuring the main indicators listed above and by comparing these indicators of sheep garment leather with those of other materials such as artificial materials and acrylic/cotton fibres. The results showed that the air permeability, moisture permeability, water-absorbing quality of sheep garment leather were much better than those of artificial materials, and the heat retaining property of sheep garment leather was better than acrylic/cotton fibres. In terms of sheep garment leather, nubuck had the highest porosity and the best hot-wet comfort; while patent sheep garment leather had the lowest porosity and the worst hot-wet comfort. Thus, porosity and pore status were very important factors that affected the hot-wet comfort of leather clothes.