Women are more likely to have it because they more often wear tight-fitting clothes. So are obese people when they overheat and sweat. People with atopic dermatitis, a skin disease that affects mostly children, are also more likely to get textile dermatitis.

Where you work also matters. People with jobs in hot and humid places, like a bakery, have greater odds of dermatitis. If you wear latex gloves on the job, your hands may get irritated (which would be irritant dermatitis) or you may become allergic to the latex itself. That’s allergic contact dermatitis.