The Hohenstein Institute has attracted almost 130 people to its Feeling good means … wearing comfortable clothes! webinar on skin sensory functions that took place on 12 February.

During the online seminar Dr Jan Beringer, of the Hohenstein Institute, introduced the Institute's skin sensory testing and Skin sensorial comfort vote quality label, using real-life examples to give participants a good insight into the tests.

Q&A session

The subject attracted a great deal of interest, according to the Institute. According to organisers, during the live event, people listening and watching asked lots of questions in the chat session.

The Hohenstein Institute has taken this opportunity to group together questions from the industry and provide detailed answers. From 1 March 2015, the enquiries about this topic will also be available on the Hohenstein Institute website.

Silke Off, expert in clothing physiology at the Hohenstein Institute, has provided answers to the questions. Anyone in the industry who is interested can brush up their knowledge and find out more about skin sensory testing. The FAQs can be found here: www.hohenstein.com/skinsensory . In addition to the questions, the Institute is also making the webinar on Feeling good means … wearing comfortable clothes! available on the website free of charge.

Skin sensorial comfort vote

In order for the skin sensorial comfort vote to be calculated, textiles have to go through seven tests, which provide information about both their skin sensory and their thermophysiological characteristics. Parameters for skin sensory testing include stiffness, sorption index, surface index, number of contact points, and wet cling index.

Because both dry and moist heat emitted by the skin affect skin sensory perception, thermophysiological measurements also form part of what are primarily skin sensory measurements. These parameters include water vapour resistance and thermal insulation.

In its thermophysiological testing, the Institute uses the Skin Model. This simulates the way the skin gives off heat and sweat. The test takes place under standardised conditions in a defined test environment inside a climate-controlled cabinet, in compliance with DIN EN 31092/ ISO 11092.

www.hohenstein.de