With the increase in awareness of the importance of engagement in physical activities, high requirements have been placed on polymers intended for use in sports. A number of authors investigated the influence of aging factors on the performance of the polymer. Still, there is a lack of aging protocols that would be product-centered, especially when high performance is imperative. This paper presents a new approach to polymer aging and examines the change of the identified set of properties due to aging under different conditions, and the duration of each (topography, thickness, moisture management, elongation, and bursting force). The results of the testing revealed the increase in thickness due to exposure, especially to the sun-exposed materials. The ability of materials to elongate until the moment of rupture decreases due to exposure to the sun (strong relationship to the time of exposure; R² reaches 0.99) and the bursting force (up to 6.8%). Furthermore, results indicate the significantly impaired capacity of the polymer material to absorb moisture. The results of measurements indicated (derived) by spectroscopic studies, based on the ATR-FTIR (attenuated total reflectance) method, showed that there was no detectable influence of aging in the sun or shade on the chemical structure of polyester samples.

Comfort is an important quality criterion, especially for sportswear. It influences well-being, performance and efficiency. The necessary dissipation of heat and air flow, at high metabolic rates, must be designed and planned in advance. The influence of structure, density, mass and thickness of fabric were considered as well as yarn material composition, yarn linear density, yarn evenness and yarn hairiness. The influence of the mentioned parameters on thermal properties and air permeability was calculated. From the correlation analysis, it can be concluded that yarn’s linear density, yarn short fibers hairiness, and mass per unit area of knitted fabric has the greatest impact on heat resistance. The yarn linear density, the yarn hairiness of the longer protruding fibers, and the thickness of the knitted fabric have the greatest impact on air permeability. A statistically significant model of multiple linear regression equations was offered to predict the thermal comfort of knitted fabric.

The degradation of polyamide (PA) and polyester (PES) polymers is under intense study due to growing concerns about the accumulation of plastics in soils and oceans. Previous studies confirm that ageing degrades PA and PES at the molecular level. However, researchers have not addressed the development of protocols for aging textile materials in swimming pools, and few data are available on the effects of aging on comfort and durability. This research addresses the development of the aging protocol for PA and PES swimwear materials, its implementation, and the evaluation of properties that assure comfort and durability after specific periods of exposure. The tests include microscopic analysis, tensile tests, determination of fluid transport phases and drying period. The results revealed changes in the surface of the material in terms of fibrillation (more pronounced after outdoor aging). There is a positive correlation between the exposure duration and the breaking force (R² ranges from 0.85 to 0.98), with a stronger correlation for the PA materials. The decrease in breaking force due to aging is up to 40%, indicating significantly reduced durability. The change in breaking force follows the changes in mass (R² = 0.867). In terms of comfort assurance, outdoor aging of materials should have a greater negative impact than indoor ageing.

Evaluating mechanical and thermal characteristics of garment systems or their segments is important in an attempt to provide optimal or at least satisfying levels of comfort and safety, especially in the cold environment. The target groups of users may be athletes engaged in typical sports that are trained in the cold, as well as football players that play matches and train outdoors during the winter season. Previous studies indicated an option to substitute the inner layers of an intelligent garment with polyurethane inflated chambers (PIC) to increase and regulate thermal insulation. In this paper, the authors investigate the mechanical properties of polyurethane material with and without ultrasonic joints. Furthermore, they investigate the potential of designed PICs in terms of efficiency and interdependence of air pressure and heat resistance. The results indicated that an inflated PIC with four diagonal ultrasonic joints has the highest ability to maintain the optimal thermal properties of an intelligent clothing system. The influence of direction and number of ultrasonic joints on the mechanical properties of polyurethane material is confirmed, especially in terms of compression resilience and tensile energy.

Most of consumer purchases of textiles are driven by visual appeal and sensory perception. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of knitted material on the perception of fabrics' attributes among evaluators having a different profiles. Five important bipolar attributes, namely stiffness-softness, roughness-smoothness, non-stretchable-stretchable, thin-thick, non-fullness-fullness are evaluated. Elastane blended fabrics are perceived to be stretchable but low in fullness. Fabrics made from synthetic fibres are rated to be softer and smoother than cotton fabrics. The influence of age and sex of the assessors on the sensory perception are analyzed through two-way ANOVA. The sensory perception of roughness-smoothness, followed by thinness-thickness, seems to be most influenced by the sex and age of assessors. Among the fabrics, the sensory perception of non-finished cotton fabric varies greatly with the sex and age of the assessors. However, 100% cotton fabrics made from finer cotton yarns receive consistent ratings from the assessors.

Over the years, the demands on the durability and quality of polyester fabrics used for sportswear have increased, as these fabrics contribute to athletes’ performance. At the same time, the use of recycled polyester material is increasingly being promoted for environmental reasons. This study focused on investigating the properties of standard and recycled polyester fabrics before and after aging according to the developed aging protocol. The surface morphology, thickness, elongation at break, force at break, bursting force, mass loss due to abrasion and moisture management of the fabrics were tested. The results showed that the aging process had no influence on the surface changes in the fabrics. More specifically, there were neither surface cracks on the fibre surface nor chemical changes. The highest decrease in force at break for standard polyester fabrics with elastane was up to 26%, and up to 15% for fabrics made of recycled polyester. The loss of mass due to abrasion was greater for recycled polyester than for standard polyester fabrics. The average ability of the fabrics to absorb moisture decreased by up to 23% after aging, while the wetting time increased by up to 30%, with the highest increase observed in recycled fabrics.