Thermal insulation and morphology of natural and synthetic filled outdoor sportswear by repeated water washing and dry cleaning

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the thermal insulation and water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) according to the type of the filling material, and compared the thermal insulation in the dynamic state considering actual wearing conditions. Design/methodology/approach The thermal insulation and WVTR were evaluated in a standard state depending on the type of filling material (goose down (GD), duck down (DD), Thinsulate700 (T700), Thinsulate600 (T600) and Polyester (PET)), and the changes in thermal insulation were examined by measuring the microclimate in the case of an environmental change from a high temperature to a low temperature. In addition, the clumping of filling material and the changes in the thickness/weight depending on the laundry process were observed, and the relationships with the thermal insulation were analyzed. Findings The results showed that for natural filling materials (GD and DD), the thermal insulation deteriorated significantly due to changes in the thickness/weight after laundering ten times, and water washing was more appropriate than the dry cleaning. On the other hand, the artificial filling materials (T700, T600 and PET) showed a relatively smaller difference, except for clumping, when they went through more dry cleaning or water washing cycles compared to the natural filling materials. Originality/value The results showed that the laundry methods have different effects on the damage to the filling material, the change in thermal insulation, and the change in the comfort-related physical property. Therefore, it is important to select the optimal laundry method depending on the filling material.