Handle assessment of tissue paper

Abstract

Handle has a primary influence with nearly everything surrounding us as it gives the essential information to interact with our neighbourhood. The need to know how this affects our decisions is fundamental and leads to the study and understanding of this human sense. Tissues paper is one of the most common elements of interaction in the day-to-day human life; it can be produced in various ways leading to different textures which can transmit various sensations. The FRICTORQ® is a laboratory equipment developed at the University of Minho to measure the friction coefficient in fabrics, to enable a quantitative assessment of touch/handle, in order to predict the comfort behaviour of 2D structures when used or touched by humans. In the present study the existence of a correlation between a subjective assessment and the objective measurement of different parameters analysed in paper tissues has been investigated. With the FRICTORQ instrument a great accuracy in the analysis was obtained when compared with the KES-FB4. An inverse relationship between parameters Rough-Smooth and Thin-Thick with Friction coefficient was found, meaning that the increase of the value of the friction coefficient expresses a decrease in the sensation.