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The family use garment steamers with superheated steam have several advantages but lead natural fiber fabrics whiteness reduction. This study explored the four kinds of natural fiber fabric whiteness reduction both experimentally and theoretically. We first built a temperature controllable 1 atm superheated steam generator, and recorded the whiteness and decrease percentages of cotton, flax, silk and wool fabrics at 150°C, 175°C, and 200°C separately. Then we calculated the monotonically increases thermal diffusivity(α) as a function of fiber volume fraction($${\varphi _f}$$), and the α is divided into three regions based on the $${\varphi _f}$$: average region($${\varphi _f}$$ <0.3), transition region(0.3 < $${\varphi _f}$$ <0.9) and fiber region($${\varphi _f}$$ >0.9). The$${\varphi _f}$$ of studied samples are all in the average region, and the whiteness reduction percentage value sequence is opposite with the α, which are a reflection of the samples average properties, which means the design of superheated fabric steamers should depend on the structures or garment types of fabrics rather than fiber types.