Abstract: A novel approach called Fabric Evaluation System PhabrOmeter 3 was used to quantify the hand of terry towels. In order to explore the applied value of new instrument in softening effect evaluation, the test data was compared with the subjective evaluation. The terry towels, which were used to subjective and objective fabric performance test, were treated by 3softeners with high and low concentration firstly, and then conditioning in a constant temperature and humidity environment. Results showed that PhabrOmeter not only provides a convenient and efficient way to test fabric hand, including stiffness, softness, smoothness, draping values and relative hand value, but also reveal the effect of different softeners on fabric hand and the difference finishing effect of concentrations. If sorting the samples by softness , the order was consistent with the subjective evaluation.

Key words: PhabrOmeter fabric evaluation system, subjective evaluation, band, softener, terry towels