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Examines the twelfth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects. Subjects discussed include cotton fabric processing, asbestos substitutes, textile adjuncts to cardiovascular surgery, wet textile processes, hand evaluation, nanotechnology, thermoplastic composites, robotic ironing, protective clothing (agricultural and industrial), ecological aspects of fibre properties – to name but a few! There would appear to be no limit to the future potential for textile applications.

Examines the eleventh published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects. Subjects discussed include cotton fabric processing, asbestos substitutes, textile adjuncts to cardiovascular surgery, wet textile processes, hand evaluation, nanotechnology, thermoplastic composites, robotic ironing, protective clothing (agricultural and industrial), ecological aspects of fibre properties – to name but a few! There would appear to be no limit to the future potential for textile applications.

The aim of presented investigation was to test developed testing device Griff tester, created for the objective evaluation of textile hand and to compare the obtained data with sensory evaluation results of textiles, subjected to different final treatments.

The effect of two finishing products, i.e. the crease‐resistant finishing Knittex^® “K” and the softener macro silicone Ultratex^® “Ul” upon 100 per cent cotton plain weave fabric was studied by two methods – objective evaluation and sensory analysis. Objective evaluation was done using Griff tester device where disc shaped specimen was extracted through a rounded hole of the stand. Sensory analysis was performed by the panel of 11 trained persons.

Investigations have shown that both treatments changed the hand of the fabric in the expected direction. Meantime, two experimental methods (objective and sensory approach) have shown their effectiveness to evaluate the textile touch, respectively.

The obtained results proved that criterion Q can be used for sensitive and vivid detection of differences between fabrics, affected by different final treatment operations. The effects of finishing products' concentrations were found to be in accordance with the manufacturer's technical specifications and with the finishing industrialist's expectations.

Investigation results obtained by Griff tester revealed the possibility of fabric hand evaluation on the basis of one relative criterion Q. These results can be linked with some attribute issued of the sensory analysis applied to the characterisation of the tactile feeling.

In the area of technical textiles, the products depend mainly on advanced materials and these, on the other hand, depend on textile know‐how. Textile materials in the health‐care sector gradually have taken on more important roles. As more research has been completed, textiles have found their way into a variety of medical applications. Examines the medical and related health‐care sector, and more precisely the products used in the operating theatre and hospital ward for the hygiene, care and safety of staff and patients. These textiles are not very well‐known, but have great potential for development in the fields of application. Owing to recent advancements in medical procedures and textile engineering, the use of textile materials in the health‐care industry is growing. Subsequently, aims to contribute to the knowledge and clarification of single use materials used in the operating theatre according to the new technical standards.

Using the framework of a general study on the ‘spinnability’ of silk/cotton blends, studies have been carried out to characterize the mechanical properties and tactile feeling of these blended textiles for different blend proportions, processing, and yarn count. The variable spinning parameters include the type of silk fibre, the blending technique (intimate and drawframe blending) and the silk content in the blend (25 and 50&), as well as the pure cotton used as the reference. Yarns and knitted fabrics have been produced and tested using classical processing methods and test instruments. However, the instrumental test measurements do not seem to be relevant for characterizing the influence of the variable processing parameters on the hand improvement of the final knitted fabric. Therefore, sensory analysis methodologies have been used to objectively describe the tactile feeling of these products compared to the cotton one. In this paper, the results of both analyses show that the changes in the physical properties of the blended yarns and the tactile feeling of the knitted fabrics are affected more by the blending technique than by the silk content.

For years, the main reason for using textiles in the health care sector was to protect the patient from the medical staff. Nowadays, the garment has to play another role and protect the wearer. For dentists, risks can come from saliva which is considered potentially infectious because it frequently contains blood. This paper aims to define dentist gown specifications according to the new situation, and to propose new garments providing safety protective function as well as comfort.

Enquiries, direct interviews as well as internet forums have been used to extract dentists' requirements taking into account their need of barrier and their comfort concerns. Studies of the spraying area on the gowns have been performed to define the location of the required protection. A study of the warmer zone of the garment via IR camera has been done. Two prototypes have then been constructed and tested.

Images of impacts of drops that could cause cross‐infection allow defining the zones which are to be specifically protected. Thermographic images provide maps of hot zones of the garment when worn in working conditions, and information is obtained of desired open space zones which have been designed to create preferential ventilation required for comfort improvement. A second prototype was designed to improve results of the first one.

Replacement of current dentists garment in routine situation.

Dentists' gowns used in dental care have not been studied and not been redesigned yet, whereas new dentists are facing new risks and eagerly looking for personal protective equipment providing safety protective function as well as comfort.

Currently, textile industrialists have to consider the sensory aspect in their design and manufacturing specifications. To describe the sensory quality of products, sensory evaluation does exist and is widely used in the food and cosmetics areas. These methodologies have been successfully transposed to tactile evaluation of textile fabrics for different textile materials: plain weave fabrics with different post‐treatments and non‐woven are used for medical gowns and drapes. In our study, we have asked our trained panel composed of nine assessors to score a list of already defined sensory attributes for different knitted fabrics made of silk/cotton blends. The spinning parameters which have been changed are the type of silk fibre (three types), blending techniques – intimate and draw frame blending – and the silk content. All these parameters can more or less influence the tactile perception of the final knitted fabric. In this paper, the results of our analysis are presented and discussed in order to answer questions such as: “Are these two fabrics different?”, “What kind of difference is there?” or “What are the sensory characteristics of these fabrics?”. The concrete steps of the evaluation will be presented and specifically the training and performance analysis of the panellists who were obliged to adapt their evaluation procedures to small knitted samples. The protocols used to carry out fabrics description and comparisons when all assessors cannot evaluate all the products under study will also be detailed.

Hospitals will continue to be the largest consumers of disposables, because of the diverse range of procedures they provide. Favourable growth is forecast for non‐wovens. Increasing concern over contamination and nosocomial infections will boost the demand for consumable and disposable surgical gowns and drapes. But, until now neither the manufacturers nor the end users of surgical gowns and drapes could agree on standards. So, a mandatory European standard is being developed to establish basic requirements and test methods for disposable and reusable materials used for surgical gowns and drapes. Once this standard has been adopted, the continued use of cotton textiles and conventional cotton‐polyester mixed textiles will become questionable.

A lot of fibre and fabric structures or finishing parameters influence the functional properties of fabrics. In order to assess the thermal properties of conventional polyester and microfibre types of fabrics the plate/fabric/plate method for conductivity or cool/warm feeling was used. Fabrics made of microfibres show lower heat conductance and therefore higher thermal insulation properties. Microfibre fibres exhibit a warmer feeling than conventional polyester fabrics depending on pressure, which may be due to the difference in the fibre and fabric surface in contact with the human skin.

The purpose of this paper is to model the relationship between manufacturing parameters, especially finishing treatments and instrumental tactile properties measured by Kawabata evaluation system.

Two soft computing approaches, namely artificial neural network (ANN) and fuzzy inference system (FIS), have been applied to predict the compression and surface properties of knitted fabrics from finishing process. The prediction accuracy of these models was evaluated using both the root mean square error and mean relative percent error.

The results revealed the model's ability to predict instrumental tactile parameters based on the finishing treatments. The comparison of the prediction performances of both techniques showed that fuzzy models are slightly more powerful than neural models.

This study provides contribution in industrial products engineering, with minimal number of experiments and short cycles of product design. In fact, models based on intelligent techniques, namely FIS and ANNs, were developed for predicting instrumental tactile characteristics in reference to finishing treatments.