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Characterization of Liquid Moisture Transport Performance of Wool Knitted Fabrics

Liya Zhou, Xunwei Feng, Yanfeng Du and Yi Li
Textile Research Journal 2007 77: 951
DOI: 10.1177/0040517507083518

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 Textile Research Journal Article

Characterization of Liquid Moisture Transport Performance of

Wool Knitted Fabrics
Liya Zhou
Abstract Wool fabric is one of the fabrics nor- The College of Textiles, DongHua University, Shanghai,
mally suitable for autumn–winter garments. With China 200051
the popularization of air conditioning, however, it The Institute of Textile and Clothing, Hong Kong
is much hotter outdoors than indoors with a large Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hung Hom, Hong Kong,
temperature gradient in summer, under which cir- China
cumstances the wearer finds it easier to sweat out
of doors, and feels cold and clammy when enter- Xunwei Feng1 and Yanfeng Du
ing a room kept at a lower temperature by air con- The College of Textiles, DongHua University, Shanghai,
ditioning. With the advances in knitting and China 200051
finishing technology, fine wool knitted fabrics are
finding more applications as summer garments.
Yi Li
Thus, the design and study of comfortable sum-
The Institute of Textile and Clothing, Hong Kong
mer wool knitted fabric is increasing. Wool fiber
Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hung Hom, Hong Kong,
has a higher vapor moisture absorbency than
China
other natural fibers, such as cotton, linen, and silk,
and general synthetic fibers. It also has higher
heat releasing and heat absorption properties
accompanying moisture absorption and desorp-
tion respectively, which strengthens the buffering
effect of the clothing between the human body
and the surrounding environment. In the present
study, different kinds of fabric knitted by wool
yarn in a plain structure (W1, W2), and wool yarn
matched with polyester yarns (WP1, WP2) or cot-
ton yarns (WC1, WC2) as plating yarn are devel-
oped so as to have different liquid water transport
properties. Their liquid moisture transport prop-
erties are characterized by using the Moisture
Management Tester. By fabric design and post-
finishing, our aim to create different liquid water
transfer and distribution properties in the fabrics
was achieved. W2 is poor at spreading liquid in
the top and bottom surfaces of the fabric, showing
poor liquid transfer properties, and WC1 is the
best at spreading liquid in the bottom surface,
showing good moisture management properties.

Key words wool, polyester, knitted fabrics, liq-

uid moisture transfer, comfort

1
Corresponding author: tel: 086-21-62373708; fax: 086-21-
62422433; e-mail: [email protected]

Textile Research Journal Vol 77(12): 951–956 DOI: 10.1177/0040517507083518 www.trj.sagepub.com © 2007 SAGE Publications

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TRJ 952 Textile Research Journal 77(12)

Wool is a kind of material normally suitable for autumn– in the microclimate humidity inside clothing; however, the
winter garments, and it is normally hygroscopic, that is, it indoor humidity might be lower than that outdoors, which
normally takes up moisture in vapor form. Tiny pores in causes an even larger moisture gradient from the human-
the epicuticle make the fiber semi-permeable, allowing body–clothing microclimate to the surrounding environ-
vapor to pass through it. Wool always absorbs moisture ment. The instant heat loss of liquid sweat increases the
from atmospheres of greater humidity and releases it to a cool or chilly and clammy feeling of the wearer.
drier environment so as to create a balance in moisture Thus the design and study of comfortable wool knitted
conditions. It can easily absorb up to 30% of its weight in fabric with liquid water moisture management properties is
moisture without feeling damp or clammy, and this is necessary to meet the requirements under these circum-
accompanied by chemical reactions to release energy stances. In the present study, six kinds of fabric knitted
giving the fiber a warming effect [1]. The moisture is with wool and wool matched with polyester or cotton yarns
released back into the air when the atmosphere is drier, are designed and produced in plain or plating structures.
which allows the damp wool to remain absorbent and Their liquid moisture transfer properties are characterized
comfortable. These make wool a “temperature regulator” by using the Moisture Management Tester (MMT), by
because it can protect the body in both cold and warm which the liquid moisture transport behaviors in three
conditions [2]. This characteristic makes wool a versatile dimensions are sensed, measured, and recorded.
all-season fabric.
Wool fiber generally repels liquid moisture. The over-
lapping scales (cuticles) on the outside of the wool fiber
cause liquid to roll off the surface of the wool fabric [3]. It
Experimental
will take quite some time before the rain penetrates wool
clothing, and so wool keeps the body dry. Even if wool does Fabric Preparation
eventually get wet it generates heat and keeps the wearer Six fabrics were prepared. Fabrics W1 and W2 were made
warm. of pure cotton with a plain structure. Wool yarn for fabric
In summer it is hot, and the fabrics for clothing are nor- W1 had its cuticle scale layer removed while fabric W2 had
mally light, thin, and ventilated to make the wearer feel cool not. Fabric WP1 was knitted from polyester (F103) and
and comfortable. In midsummer, the outdoor temperature wool, and fabric WP2 from CoolMax® and wool. Fabric
is even higher than the human body skin temperature [4] in WC1 and WC2 were made of wool and cotton that had
some places, resulting in a temperature gradient between undergone different finishing. The physical properties of
the surrounding outdoor environment and the skin of the the fabrics are listed in Table 1.
human body. Under these circumstances, the temperature
of the outside surface of clothing is higher than that of the
inside surface, which aids the evaporation on the outside Test Method
surface of the fabric, causing lower temperatures in turn due
to evaporation heat loss. The human body tends to sweat, Principle of the Test Method and Apparatus
causing a moisture gradient from the human skin to the Design
surrounding outdoor environment; wool fabric is normally a The MMT was used to test the liquid water transfer and
liquid water repellent, which is not favor of transfering distribution properties of the fabrics. The principle is
liquid moisture outwards. based on the fact that when there is moisture transport in
When the wearer enters a room with air conditioning, the fabric, the contact electrical resistance of the fabric will
the ambient temperature dramatically decreases, causing change and the value of the resistance change depends on
the condensation of moisture vapor and perhaps an increase two factors: the components of the liquid and the water

Table 1 Structural and physical properties of fabrics.

Fabric Yarn Fabric structure Thickness (mm) Weight (g/100 cm2)

W1 Wool Plain 0.9 2.1
W2 Wool Plain 1.2 2.8
WP1 Wool/Polyester Plating 1.2 2.9
WP2 Wool/Polyester Plating 1.1 2.3
WC1 Wool/Cotton Plating 1.2 3.3
WC2 Wool/Cotton Plating 1.1 3.5

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 Characterization of Liquid Moisture Transport Performance of Wool Knitted Fabrics L. Zhou et al. 953 TRJ

content in the fabric. The liquid components are fixed, so conditions room which was controlled at 21±1(C and rela-
that the electrical resistance measured is related to the tive humidity (RH) 65±2% (refer to ASTM D1776) for at
water contents in the fabric [5]. The specimen was held flat least 24 hours to reach “equilibrium regain”.
by top and bottom sensors with a certain pressure. A drop of
water was pumped onto the upper surface of the fabric to
simulate a drop of liquid sweat. The resistance of every cou- Results and discussion
ple of proximate metal rings decreased and the signal was
logged into a computer and processed by the MMT soft- MMT Relative Water Content Curves of the
ware. The top surface of the fabric is the surface close to the Fabrics
skin of the human body when worn, and the bottom surface
of the fabric is that closest to the surrounding environment. The typical MMT relative water content curves of the top
and bottom surfaces of the fabrics are shown in Figure 1 by
the gray line (UT) and black line (UB), respectively. For
Sample Preparation and Experimental the first 20 seconds, the machine pumped liquid solution
Conditions onto the top surface of the fabric.
Three specimens were cut into samples of size 90(90 mm2 For fabric W1, the relative water content of the bottom
for each kind of fabric. Then, the samples were put into the surface increased from 0 to about 1260 suddenly at around

Figure 1 Typical MMT water content curves of the fabrics.

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TRJ 954 Textile Research Journal 77(12)

Figure 2 The respective wetting times of the top and bot-

tom surfaces of the fabrics. Figure 3 The respective top and bottom surfaces absorp-
tion rates of the fabrics.

15 seconds while the water content of the top surface

increased more slowly reaching a peak at about 32 seconds,
and then they decreased gradually together until the end of
the test. For fabric W2, the relative water content of the top
layer increased abruptly from 0 to more than 900, but that of
the bottom surface remained zero. For fabrics WP1 and WP2,
the water contents of the top and bottom surfaces increased
dramatically during the pumping time starting at around 6
seconds. Then the water contents of the top and bottom sur-
faces of fabric WP1 remained stable with little change after
reaching a maximum, while those of WP2 decreased gradu-
ally until the end of the test. For fabrics WC1 and WC2, the
trend of the water contents of the top and bottom surfaces
was the same, but the water content of the bottom surface
was significantly higher than that of the top surface.
From the measurement curves, a set of indexes for
determining the fabric moisture management properties
were derived (shown in Figure 2), expressed as a classifica-
tion from 1 to 5, representing poor, fair, good, very good,
and excellent [5, 6]. Figure 4 The respective top and bottom surfaces maxi-
Figure 2 shows the mean scale of the top surface wet- mum wetted radii of the fabrics.
ting time (WTT) and the bottom surface wetting time
(WTB) of the six kinds of fabrics. WTT and WTB are the
time period in which the top and bottom surfaces of the
fabric just start to become wet respectively after the test Figure 3 shows the stacked top surface absorption rate
commences [5]. This technique can be compared with the (TAR) and bottom absorption rate (BAR) of each fabric.
absorbency drop test specified in AATCC 79. The lower TAR and BAR are the maximum moisture absorption
scale represents a longer wetting time. It can be seen that rates of the top and bottom surfaces of the fabric respec-
for fabric W1 the wetting of the bottom surface was tively [5]. Fabric W2 had the lowest mean BAR and highest
detected earlier than that of the top layer. For fabric W2, mean TAR, indicating that most of the liquid moisture was
the WTB was longer than its WTT, which can be verified distributed on the fabric top surface.
from Figure 2 (W2). For fabric WC2, the WTB was larger Figure 4 shows the stacked top surface maximum wet-
than the WTT, indicating a faster detected wetting of the ted radius (TMWR) and bottom surface maximum wetted
bottom surface than that of the top surface. radius (BMWR) of the six fabrics. TMWR and BMWR are

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 Characterization of Liquid Moisture Transport Performance of Wool Knitted Fabrics L. Zhou et al. 955 TRJ

Figure 5 The liquid solution spreading speed at the top surface (left) and the bottom surface (right) of the fabrics.

defined as the maximum wetted ring radii at the top and

bottom surfaces respectively. It can be seen that fabric W2
had both smallest top and bottom surface wetted radii [5].
For fabric W1, the TMWR and BMWR were nearly the
same, and the water content was nearly the same as shown
in Figure 2. However, for fabrics WC1 and WC2, the
TMWR and BMWR were nearly the same but the bottom
water content was higher than that of the top surface as
also shown in Figure 2, indicating that, even though the top
and bottom surfaces of WC1 and WC2 were wetted simul-
taneously, more liquid moisture was distributed in the bot-
tom layer of the fabrics. For fabrics WP1 and WP2, the
TMWR and BMWR are nearly the same, as are the top
and bottom surface water contents.
Figure 5 shows the top surface spreading speed (TSS)
and the bottom surface spreading speed (BSS). TSS and
BSS are the speeds of the spreading of the liquid moisture
on the top and bottom fabric surfaces to reach the maxi-
mum wetted radius [5]. As is shown from the figures, fabric Figure 6 The fabric accumulative one-way transfer index
W2 had the smallest TSS and BSS among all the fabrics, (AOTI) and the overall moisture management capacity
indicating that the liquid moisture was assembled on the (OMMC).
top surface of the fabric and was not absorbed by the fab-
ric. WC1 had a much larger BSS than its TSS, indicating
faster transfer in the bottom surface of the fabric.
Figure 6 shows a comparison among the six kinds of where C1 = 0.25, C2 = 0.5, and C3 = 0.25 are the weights of
fabric in terms of the accumulative one-way transfer index BAR, AOTI, and BSS respectively, determined on the
(AOTI) and the overall moisture management capacity basis of analyzing the relative importance of the absorb-
(OMMC). The AOTI represents the difference of the ance, one-way transport, and drying speed, and the corre-
accumulative moisture content between the two surfaces of lations of the indexes with subjective moisture sensations.
the fabric in a unit testing time period. The OMMC is an The larger the OMMC is, the higher the overall moisture
index to indicate the overall capability of the fabric to man- management capability of the fabric [5]. It can be seen that
age the transport of liquid moisture, and is defined as fabric WC1 and WC2 had higher AOTI and OMMC than
other fabrics. Fabrics W2 and WP1 had poor AOTI and
OMMC = C1 × BAR + C2 × AOTI + C3 × BSS (1) OMMC.

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TRJ 956 Textile Research Journal 77(12)

From the above results, it can be seen that the MMT can orate to the surrounding environment. W2 is poor at liquid
characterize the liquid moisture transport performance of spreading in the fabric top and bottom surfaces, showing
wool knitted fabrics in three dimensions: the spreading on poor liquid transfer properties whereas WC1 is the best at
the top surface of the fabric, transfer through the fabric the bottom surface, showing good moisture management
from the top surface to the bottom surface, and spreading properties.
on the bottom surface of the fabric. Moreover, the series of
indexes are very helpful to express the specific features of
the liquid water transfer and distribution properties of the
fabric, such as the spreading speed and water content.
Literature Cited
Finally, the moisture management capacity of the fabric can
1. Morton, W. E., “Physical Properties of Textile Fibers”, 3rd
be summarized and classified by trying to simulate the liquid
edn, Textile Institute, UK, 1993, pp. 154–263.
sweat on the skin absorbed and transferred to the outside of
2. Association of Kentucky Sheep and Wool Producers, http://
clothing through the fabric by pumping a preset volume of www.kswpa.com/woolchar.htm.
liquid solution onto the upper surface of the fabric. 3. Yao, Jinbo; Hua, Junkai, and Liu Jianyong, “Mao xian wei xin
On the other hand, pure wool fabric can be finished to xing zheng li ji shu”, Zhongguo fang zhi chu ban she, Beijing,
be liquid water absorbent and water repellent as well. It 2000, pp. 1–6.
can also be knitted with polyester to decrease its wetting 4. Zhu, W. P., and Xin, X. R., Study on the Distribution Pattern
time and absorption rate compared with pure wool fabric of Skin Temperature in Normal Chinese and Detection of the
because the polyester fiber creates more liquid water trans- Depth of Early Burn Wound by Infrared Thermography, Ann.
fer channels with a wicking force. By fabric design and post- New York Acad. Sci., 888, 300–313 (1999).
5. Hu, Junyan, Li, Yi, Yeung, Kwok-wing, Wong, Anthony S. W.,
finishing, the aim to create different liquid water transfer
and Xu, Weilin, Moisture Management Tester: A Method to
and distribution properties in the fabrics was achieved.
Characterize Fabric Liquid Moisture Management Properties,
A special moisture management wool–cotton fabric was Textile Res. J., 75(1), 57–62 (2005).
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