Investigating the comfort of Lesotho apparel wool and it suitability for garments worn next to skin

Abstract

Wool has been used extensively for outer garments, because of the scratchy characteristic affecting comfort, previous research opened possibilities to explore suitability of wool for garments worn next to the skin, this study assessed the comfort of Lesotho apparel wool and suitability for garments worn next to skin as determined by its fineness/Mean fibre diameter (MFD). Samples of Lesotho apparel wool taken from different classes of fineness were hand scoured, spun and knitted into sleeves, which were evaluated for prickle by a consumer panel. The sensory evaluation was used to evaluate the prickle sensation evoked by Lesotho wool samples of different fineness/ MFD. Sleeve samples made from finer wool with low MFD were deemed comfortable and less prickly by the panellists. There were some exceptions of fine wool samples that were reported as prickly, this was discovered to have been due the interference of the manual processing. It was concluded therefore, that the Comfort Factor in some of the wool samples tested, indicated by the prickle level, rendered Lesotho wool suitable for wearing against the skin, they however require proper processing to ensure complete removal of impurities and standardised consistency in spinning and knitting. Some breeding improvements were also recommended.