Moisture management

Moisture management or moisture-wicking is a functional property in textiles that enables them to transfer moisture from the skin, by capillary action through the fabric, spreading it over a large external surface area, which helps in drying quickly.[1][2] The property is one of the most important for thermal comfort of textiles.[3]

Moisture wicking

Moisture-wicking clothes adsorb the liquid sweat on the skin and spread it along the surface of the fibres by capillary attraction to the external surface of the clothing, which is exposed to drier air, and where it evaporates more quickly, in comparison with a clothing item which absorbs and retains the water in the fibres. Hence it avoids mass retention of the moisture and the associated feeling of dampness.[1][4]

The transport of liquid water through an unsaturated textile is a combination of wetting and wicking, and diffusion of absorbed water through the fibre. Without wetting, there can be no wicking as the contact angle between water and fibre will have no tendency to pull he water along the contact surface. Capillary flow in the plane of the fabric is called in-plane wicking, transverse wicking, or horizontal wicking. Capillary flow orthogonal to the plane of the fabric may be called transplanar wicking, transplanar uptake, or transplanar flow. Several factors are known to influence wicking in a fabric. These include the arrangement of the fibres, the material of the fibres, the composition of the liquid, the shape and alignment of the wetted surface, the geometry of the channels through which wicking occurs, and absorption of the liquid into the material of the fibres. Ambient temperature and humidity also influence the rate of fluid transfer by wicking.[3]

The migration of moisture through multiple layers of clothing or through plated fabric is more complicated and is affected by the order of layers with different wicking and absorptive characteristics.[3]

Fibre properties: volume and arrangement

Mixtures of fibre types may be defined in terms of mass or volume ratio. This blending ratio is a strong predictor of moisture transport characteristics. Fibre arrangement is also important to moisture transport, and there are three basic classes, woven, knitted and non-woven fabrics. Wicking effects are governed by surface effects, so a large surface area of the fibres is more effective, and this is determined by fibre diameter and cross sectional form for a given mass of a given material.[3]


Moisture comfort

Moisture comfort in clothing is the preservation from the sensation of dampness. A study about the human body's response and sweating Hollies suggests, '' When more than 50–65% of the body surface is wet, it feels uncomfortable.''[5][6]

Though cotton is a comfortable and skin-friendly natural fibre, its high absorbency ratio makes it very uncomfortable to wear once saturated.[7]

Cellulose and protein based natural fibres have a considerably higher water absorption capacity then most synthetic fibres.[3]: Ch.1 

Application

An article of clothing with moisture-wicking properties helps in enhancing the performance of the wearer. Hence it is helpful in sportswear and athleisure.[8][9][10]

Test

The property is quantifiable through various test procedures. Example tests are ISO 13029:2012,[11] and AATCC TM195.[12]

Objective test methods for water absorption and transport in fabrics include:

  • Siphon test, vertical wicking and transverse wicking tests.[3]
  • Optical measurement of contact angle.[3]
  • Spectroscopic methods.[3]
  • Electrical methods.[3]
  • Magnetic resonance, and temperature based methods for detecting wetness by evaporative cooling.[3]

See also
  • Plated fabric is a suitable fabric construction for moisture-wicking fabrics.

References
  1. "Moisture Management - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics". www.sciencedirect.com. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  2. Hu, Junyan; Li, Yi; Yeung, Kwok-Wing; Wong, Anthony S. W.; Xu, Weilin (2005-01-01). "Moisture Management Tester: A Method to Characterize Fabric Liquid Moisture Management Properties". Textile Research Journal. 75 (1): 57–62. doi:10.1177/004051750507500111. ISSN 0040-5175. S2CID 137648863.
  3. Wang, F. (2017). "11. Moisture absorption and transport through textiles". In Miao, Menghe; Xin, John H (eds.). Engineering of High-Performance Textiles. The Textile Institute Book Series. Woodhead Publishing. ISBN 9780081018859.
  4. The Textile Magazine. Gopali & Company. 2002. pp. 57, 58.
  5. Song, Guowen (2011). Improving Comfort in Clothing. Woodhead Publishing. pp. 167, 192, 208. ISBN 9780857090645.
  6. Au, K.F. (2011). Advances in Knitting Technology. Woodhead Publishing. ISBN 9781845693725.
  7. Kadolph, Sara J. (1998). Textiles. Internet Archive. Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Merrill. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-13-494592-7.
  8. De Sousa, Justin; Cheatham, Christopher; Wittbrodt, Matthew (2014-11-01). "The effects of a moisture-wicking fabric shirt on the physiological and perceptual responses during acute exercise in the heat". Applied Ergonomics. 45 (6): 1447–1453. doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2014.04.006. ISSN 0003-6870. PMID 24768089.
  9. Dong, Yuliang; Kong, Junhua; Mu, Chenzhong; Zhao, Chenyang; Thomas, Noreen L.; Lu, Xuehong (2015-12-25). "Materials design towards sport textiles with low-friction and moisture-wicking dual functions". Materials & Design. 88: 82–87. doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2015.08.107. ISSN 0264-1275. S2CID 56056568.
  10. Sousa, Justin De (2011). The Effects of a Moisture-wicking Fabric Shirt on the Physiological Reponses During Acute Exercise in the Heat. Western Michigan University.
  11. "ISO Standard". www.iso.org. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  12. "AATCC - AATCC". members.aatcc.org. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
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