Response of Wool Knit Apparel Fabrics to Water Vapor and Water

A range of wool knit fabrics designed to be used in garments worn next to or near the skin was examined to establish if differences in responses to water vapor and to water were detectable. The three-block experimental design involved six fabrics (non-dyed), and fabric responses on the dynamic sweating hotplate and on the gravimetric absorbency testing system (GATS) were determined. Some differences among the fabrics were detectable (e.g. %RH at the initial rise and at equilibrium, %RH rate of rise, temperature differences in the initial phase and at equilibrium, specific maximum absorbent capacity, flow rate) but many were not. For this set of wool knit fabrics, mass and thickness were typically linked to the temperature variables from the dynamic sweating hotplate, and bulk density linked to a few variables from the GATS.