Hohenstein sniffs out bad-smelling textiles
According to the Hohenstein Institute, certain types of textiles absorb perspiration very easily and distribute the unpleasant sweaty odour so that everyone around can smell it. However, it has been developing its odour analysis programme and coming closer to achieving its aim of “optimising” garment odour.
The institute claims its analysis can benefit manufacturers of any clothing worn close to the skin, for example sports and outdoor wear, underwear and socks, work wear, personal protective clothing and home textiles, as well as shoes and shoe insoles.
Head of the Institute for Hygiene and Biotechnology, Dr Dirk Höfer, said: "The condition of various materials can be assessed when they are new, as well as after they've been worn, laundered or artificially soiled."
In recent weeks, its scientists have been carrying out targeted evaluations of textile odours and scents using an olfactometer, a device that delivers odours to the noses of a group of specially trained test sniffers, in addition to analysis using GC-MS (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry).
The Institute has taken a closer look at the direct effects sporting garments have on perspiration odour and human skin physiology. It equipped a number of athletes with sport shirts of varying levels of breathability (determined using measuring methods developed at Hohenstein, DIN EN 31092 and ISO 11092). Wearing the shirts, the test athletes went through a standardised, intensive workout. Immediately afterwards, thermoregulatory micro-circulation data was gathered from the surface of their skin using a thermal imaging camera (thermography).
The study showed that impact on a sports shirt made from cotton was very different from the effect on the shirts with a higher level of breathability. The moisture index of the microclimate in the underarm before the workout had values of around 60. After athletic activity and perspiration, the moisture index of the cotton shirt climbed to well above 100.
The differences in the volume of perspiration produced in the underarms were also reflected in the intensity of the perspiration odour. The test sniffers at the olfactometer determined that the smell of the cotton test swatches placed in athletes' underarms was much more intense in comparison to the functional fibre samples.
