The rise of moisture-wicking products can be traced back to the 1970s. Usually, the human body will notice the discharge of large amounts of sweat only when engaging in strenuous exercise. In fact, even under normal environmental conditions, the human body needs constant “insensitive evaporation” to release the heat and water vapor generated by the body’s own metabolism in order to maintain a constant body temperature. Therefore, how to use textile clothing that is in close contact with the skin to transfer heat and water vapor from the body surface to the outside world. Through a series of processes of “moisture absorption → conduction → evaporation”, it not only constitutes the core of the moisture absorption and perspiration function of textile clothing, but also the current The basis for the development of testing methods for the moisture wicking function of all textile products.
Natural fibers generally have good moisture absorption and perspiration functions due to their specific supramolecular structure and surface morphology. However, for most synthetic fibers, due to their inherent Due to its hydrophobic properties and smooth surface shape, it is difficult to undertake the moisture absorption and perspiration functions required by the human body. If you want to give textiles made of this type of fiber material the function of moisture absorption and perspiration, you can start from the following directions:
From the chemical structure of the fiber raw material Start by modifying it to improve its hygroscopicity.
It is through the modification of the physical form and structure of the fiber material to improve its moisture absorption and moisture conduction properties through the capillary effect, such as hollow, grooved, heterogeneous The application of fiber differentiation technologies such as cross-section, surface micropores, and fine denierization.
It achieves the effect of increasing moisture absorption and perspiration through reasonable fabric structure design.
It is the use of appropriate post-finishing technology (including coating finishing processing) to give the fabric good moisture absorption and perspiration functions.
Detection technology for moisture wicking function of textile products Closely related to its design principles and processing techniques, there is currently no single method or standard at home and abroad that can cover all different types of moisture-wicking textile products. Some of the methods currently used include:
Determination of hygroscopicity:
Water droplets are dropped from a fixed height onto a flat test sample surface, and the water droplets are measured. The time required for absorption by the sample, usually in seconds. The shorter the time for water droplets to be absorbed, the better the hygroscopic effect of the sample. The corresponding standard for this measurement method is the American AATCC79.
Test of conductive performance:
Also known as “climbing height” test, the test sample is divided into Take samples in the longitude and latitudinal directions, hang them vertically so that the lower end of the sample is immersed in water, and after leaving it for a certain period of time, record the height of the water line climbing due to capillary action of the sample, so that the conductive performance can be compared. In the same time, the higher the climb, the better the sample’s conductivity to humidity. The corresponding standards used more internationally include Japan’s JISL10968.26, JISL10188.36 and JISL1907.
Test of evaporation or moisture permeability:
Moisture-absorbing and sweat-wicking products in addition to moisture absorption and conduction In addition to the two functional properties, there are also higher requirements for moisture permeability to form a complete overall effect. The basic principle of testing the moisture permeability function of textile products is: use a fixed sample area, give a certain amount of water, monitor the relationship between the water amount and time, and Converted to evaporation rate, the commonly used unit is the amount of moisture transmitted per unit time and unit area. Obviously, within the same period of time, the higher the evaporation rate, the better the moisture permeability function. The corresponding foreign standards include British BS7209, American ASTME96 and Japanese JISL1099.
In fact, the so-called “moisture permeability” here refers to the amount of moisture that textiles allow to penetrate under specific environmental conditions. The so-called “moisture” is not the same as sweat visible to the naked eye. Generally speaking, moisture in the human body comes with the heat generated by metabolism. The moisture permeability performance of textile clothing has a great impact on wearing comfort. The water vapor of the human body is discharged from the body surface through the clothing into the outside air. If the moisture permeability of the clothes is not good, the water vapor generated on the body surface will slowly condense into water droplets after a period of time and gather between the body surface and the clothes, causing people to feel hot (humid) or cold. Directly affects the comfort of the human body. Generally, outerwear with waterproof effect, or textiles that have been coated or compounded, are often required to have moisture-permeable functions. The reason is that after the original organizational structure of this type of textile is processed, the coating or film used may cause the tissue pores to become smaller, sometimes so small that moisture cannot pass smoothly. Therefore, in order to take into account the comfort of wearing , the moisture permeability function must also be taken into consideration.
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