THE INTERACTION OF WATER WITH FABRICS

This study examines the interaction between water and a range of fabri cs because of claims that synthetic fibers such as polypropylene do no t pick up moisture and so when made into active wear, leave the wearer warm and dry. We have found that all fiber types, when made into fabr ics, pick up water, with a strong correlation between a fabric's thick ness and the amount of water it picks up freely expressed in absolute terms rather than percent of its mass. We have also found that propert ies relevant to clothing on an exercising person, such as drying time and energy required to evaporate water from under and through a dry fa bric or dry a wet fabric, depend on the amount of water the fabric pic ks up, not fiber type. The amount of water wicked from one layer to an other depends on pore sizes and their corresponding volumes. These res ults are supported by manikin and human subject experiments.