Active fingertip exploration and aesthetic judgements of different materials’ surfaces are part of everyday life. The present study investigated the underlying brain correlates using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). In absence of other sensory modalities, 21 individuals performed lateral movements on a total of 48 textile and wood surfaces varying in terms of their roughness and were subsequently asked to judge the pleasantness of the surfaces (feels good or bad?). Individuals rated the smoother textures as feeling better than the rough textures. The fNIRS activation results revealed an overall increased engagement of the contralateral sensorimotor areas as well as left prefrontal areas. Furthermore, the perceived pleasantness modulated specific activations of left prefrontal areas with increasing pleasantness showing greater activations of these regions, with this positive relationship being most pronounced for smooth woods. Overall, the results of the present study demonstrated that positively valenced touch through active fingertip exploration of material surfaces is linked to left prefrontal activity and additionally extend previous findings of affective touch underlying passive movements on hairy skin.