Evaluation of drying performance of sports bras

Abstract

Introduction

Fabrics used for manufacturing sports bras have to be lightweight, breathable, have fast drying behaviour, and moisture management properties (Uttam, 2013). Therefore, thermo-physiological comfort is an important quality criterion for sports bras (Carneiro et al., 2017). In addition, sports bras have to provide support to stabilize breasts during various physical activities (Ancutiene et al., 2017). These requirements lead to challenges in finding the best sports bra fabric, as bra support (Norris et al., 2021) and thermo-physiological comfort require contrasting fabric properties (Carneiro et al., 2017).

This work aims to compare drying characteristics of different sports bras types (compression, encapsulation and combination) and fabrics used. A newly developed methodology to investigate the drying behaviour of sports bras in the lab has been taken for their examination.

Methods

The measurement set-up was built up in a climatic chamber (at 23°C and 50% RH). It consists of the upper body part of a female manikin, the air channel with fans and a balance to measure the weight change of the sports bra over time (indicative of the amount of moisture evaporated). The Infrared (IR) camera was used to record local surface temperature. Based on these measurements, the local and general drying performance of the sports bras were assessed based on dry fabric weight, moisture uptake, moisture absorption, drying time and drying rate.

Results

The results show that type of sports bra and material composition can have influence on better drying performance studied. The range of drying time for the different sport bra types was observed between 13 and 66 min for compression bras, 25 and 42 min for encapsulation bras, and between 35 and 43 min for combination bras. The moisture uptake was detected in a range between 6% and 15% for compression bras, 13% and 15% only for encapsulation bras, while between 7% and 19% for combination bras.

Discussion/Conclusion

We were able to show that there is a significant difference in drying performance between sports bras. In combination with additional data about sensorial comfort and breast support, these findings provide a scientific basis for developing sports bras meeting specific requirements for various sports.

References

Ancutiene, K., Koldinska, M., & Havelka, A. (2017). Investigation of tensile resilience properties of stretch denim fabrics. Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research, 42, 175-182.

Carneiro, L. P., Miranda, T. M. R., & Catarino, A. A. (2017). Comparative thermophysiological study in sport bras for running. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 254(7), Article 072006. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/254/7/072006

Norris, M., Blackmore, T., Horler, B., & Wakefield-Scurr, J. (2021). How the characteristics of sports bras affect their performance. Ergonomics, 64(3), 410-425. https://doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2020.1829090

Uttam, D. (2013) Active sportswear fabrics. International Journal of IT, Engineering and Applied Sciences Research, 2(1), 34-40.