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Gambiered Guangdong silk, which involves an eco-friendly processing technique, unique double-sided structure and excellent wearing properties, is an ecological textile dyed with the pigment extracted from Dioscorea Cirrhosa Lour. There have been a lot of reports on the structure and properties of the silk. As a summer cooling fabric, gambiered Guangdong silk has excellent thermal and moisture comfort properties such as coolness, breathability, and moisture permeability. However, the study of the evolution of thermal-moisture comfort during the preparation of gambiered Guangdong silk has not been reported in the literature. Thus, this study attempts to clarify the evolution of the thermal comfort and moisture comfort based on the traditional preparation process of gambiered Guangdong silk. In this experiment, gambiered Guangdong silk was prepared according to the traditional processing technology. Firstly, pigment was extracted from Dioscorea Cirrhosa Lour. Then, the white silk fabric was dyed with the pigment, and exposed to the sun. This dyeing-exposure process was repeated about 20 times. Subsequently, when the pigmentation on the fabric reached a certain thickness, the silk was coated with mud. Finally, because the dyed and mud-coated fabrics were stiffer, fabrics were finished by sand washing. According to the characterization of the thermal performance test, there was negligible alteration in thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, specific heat capacity, the Clo value, warmth retention rate and heat transfer coefficient. The result show that the heat transfer index of the fabric remained relatively stable during the preparation process, demonstrating the same excellent heat transfer performance (cooling characteristics) as the blank silk fabrics of the same specification. Furthermore, the moisture comfort of gambiered Guangdong silk was clarified. During the manufacturing processing of gambiered Guangdong silk, the breathability of the fabric gradually decreased. There was no significant difference in moisture permeability. The moisture regain rate increased whereas the saturated water absorption rate decreased. After dyeing and mud coating, the fabric had good wettability and unidirectional water transfer. After sand washing, the fabric was hydrophobic and had no moisture absorption and conductivity. The results show that gambiered Guangdong silk has excellent moisture comfort. Finally, in order to verify that the thermal-moisture comfort of gambiered Guangdong silk is related to the formation of the coating structure of the fabric, the surface morphology of the fabric was observed and analyzed. From the SEM images, it can be observed that the tight coating structure is formed on the surface of the silk, and the pores between the fibers are reduced. That is why gambiered Guangdong silk has outstanding thermal-moisture transfer properties after dyeing and mud coating. Through the analysis of the surface morphology of the silk, it is obvious that the surface of the fabric is damaged and the fibers are broken and fleece after sand washing. That is why the silk has hydrophobic property. This study clarifies the evolution of the thermal-moisture comfort in the preparation process of gambiered Guangdong silk and may pave the path for the standardization of its industrial production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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