A technique has been developed for measuring the mechanical stiffness of fibers protruding from the surface of a fabric. Surface fiber stiffness is a key indicator of the propensity for a fabric to evoke a prickle sensation when a garment is worn against the skin. Using this approach, an area of a knitted fabric is assessed quickly in a single pass. A prototype device has been constructed and tested on knitted acrylic fabric samples with known fiber content and that have been ranked for prickle in forearm tests. The device produces results indicative of the coarse fiber content and that correlate well with the forearm assessment of these fabrics. Knitted wool fabrics spanning a range of average fiber diameter distributions have also been tested with this device.
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