Review paper on wickability of fabrics

Somnath Nandy
[NIFT Kolkata snandy20@yahoo.com]
OBJECTIVE
The process of wicking in knitted fabrics has been thoroughly analyzed in this
review. The effect of different liquids on wickability, the effect of tightness of
the fabric structure has been referred to. It has also been considered that
how the usage of blended and functional yarns for fabric construction and
application of hydrophilic finishes affects wicking activities. Also, parameters
for prediction of wicking have been discussed.
INTRODUCTION
Wicking is the spontaneous flow of liquid in a porous solution, driven by
capillary forces. This flow of the liquid is generally due to capillarity and
usually occurs in an a porous medium. This process is influenced by various
properties of the liquid such as viscosity, density, surface tension. The
surface wetting forces of the fibers, fiber density, yarn construction, the
geometric configuration of the pore as well as the internal construction of the
fabric also takes part in determining the wicking behavior of the fabric.
(Hsieh, 1995; Marchal 2001). Though liquid properties can be easily
determined, it is impossible to measure the pore structure with precision.
These are however the experimental factors, but in reality, it is by the usage
of garments, a considerable alteration in the pore structure occurs by the
relocation of fibers in the fabric.
IMPORTANCE
It is known that our body releases about 1L of sweat in an hour and the
fabric worn close to the skin will gets wet. This dampened fabric traps the
bodys heat and makes the person feel uneasy. So, the fabric worn close to
the skin should serve the purpose of quickly dissipating the moisture in the
atmosphere. Thus, the fabric should possess two important properties: the
principal property being to soak the sweat from the skin, followed by its
property to dispel the same into the atmosphere so that the person feels
relaxed. Thus, wicking is an important property to
increase the
comfortability of fabrics used by athletes, industrial uniforms, defense
services (e.g. army soldier, cops, fire fighters etc) and even of daily wear.

This capillary wetting of textiles by action of liquids is also of primary

importance in cleaning, dyeing and finishing activities.

BACKGROUND
Taking into account, the various conditions and situations of fluid transport
in fabric, researchers have been able to mark off two processes wick
ability and wettability (Ghali et al). As described earlier, wick ability occurs
due to capillary action, but wettability explains the initial behavior of a fiber,
yarn or fabric, when brought into contact with water (Hornet and Mehta).
Though they can be argued to be separate phenomena, wicking, which is the
transport of liquids in a porous medium, occurs after wetting of the fabric
surface, due to capillary forces that arise from there. Thus, wicking is
spontaneous to wetting, and occurs due to capillary action. Capillary action
or capillarity can be defined as the macroscopic motion or flow of a liquid
under the influence of its own surface and interfacial forces. Capillarity is
based on the intermolecular forces of cohesion and adhesion. Also, according
to the laws of capillarity, fluid flow will be faster in a void with a large
capillary radius than one with a smaller radius. Another term associated with
wicking is permeability which can be defined as the conductivity of the
porous medium with respect to permeation by a Newtonian fluid.
Permeability is dependent not only on pore sizes but also on their relative
location throughout the fabric.
ANALYSIS
By analyzing the work of previous researchers, it has been found that the
motion of fluid in the fabric is greatly influenced by the arrangement of the
fiber in the fabric (Adams and Rebenfeld 1987, Hsieh, 1995, Marchal 2001;
Minor and Schwartz 1960). The fiber arrangement in yarns also influences
the rate of travel of the fluid and also controls the capillary size and
continuity of flow (Hollies, Kaessinger, Watson Bagaty, 1957). Moreover, it
has also been theorized that each junction of yarn intersection outs as a new
repository and it disperses all branches equally, (Minor and Schwartz, 1960).
In any system where capillarity causes relative motion between a solid and a
liquid, the shape of the solid surfaces is an important factor, which dictates
the rate and direction of liquid flow. When a drop of fluid is placed on the
fabric, it will spread under the capillary forces and the process of spreading
can be appropriately split into two phases First when the liquid stays on the

surface and second when it is completely seeps into the substrate. (Gillespie
1958)
In an experiment conducted by UJ Patil, CD Cane and P. Ramesh
(DKTESs Textile and Engineering Institute, Ichalkaranji, India)[from The
Journal of the Textile Institute Vol-100, NO-5, July 2009, 457-465] the wicking
behavior of weft-knitted fabrics such as single jersey, single pique, double
pique and honeycomb were documented. The wicking test was performed
using various liquids like distilled water, artificial sweat solution, tap water
and hot water. The test was done in all three directions i.e. wale, course and
bias. A vertical wicking test was performed for each sample and the average
was considered.
It was observed that the single jersey structure showed higher rate of
wicking behavior for all liquids, followed by honeycomb, double pique and
single pique. The structural cell stitch length was also seen to be a major
factor in determining the wicking length. Higher the value of the structural
stitch length, higher is the wicking length observed for all the structure of
liquids. Also it was seen that the wicking behaviour is greater in the wale
direction than the course and bias. The rate of wicking in the fabric was seen
to be inversely related to the time. So as time progressed the rate of wicking
dropped from 5-6 mm to 2-3 mm absorption height. The wicking behavior
was also seen to be better with distilled water and hot water rather than tap
water and artificial perspiration solution.
Another experiment on water absorption behavior of fabrics was
performed on the same type of fabric swatches. Wicking from a drop placed
on the fabric is a much more complicated process than wicking from an
infinite reservoir. After a drop is put on the fabric surface, it usually spreads
under capillary force. The lesser the density of the fabric, better is the
absorption of water as there is lower resistance to its flow. It was observed
that higher the stitch length of the particular fabric, the better was the area
of the water absorption.
The wicking activity of fabrics is also dependant on the tightness
factors (loop length, cover factor) of the knitted structure. In an experiment
conducted by Wiah Wardiningsih and Olga Troynikov (School of Fashion and
Textiles, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia)[Source: The Journal of the
Textile Institute, Vol. 103, No.1,January 2012, 89-98] 100% bamboo knitted
fabrics were analyzed for the effect of different loop lengths on moisture
transport abilities and cover factors. The test methods employed were AATCC

Test Method 195-2009(2010) and the moisture management tester (MMT).

MMT employs electrical resistance technique, which works on the basis of the
difference of the electrical conductivity of wetted and non wetted fabrics. It
was seen that in fabrics with low cover factor (due to high loop length), the
open structure aided in fast spreading of fluid and these fabric samples could
be categorized as fast absorbing and quick drying fabric. On the other
hand, in fabrics with high cover factor, the closed, non porous structure, the
fluid spread very slowly and they could be classified as fast absorbing and
slow drying fabric.
Wickability behavior of fabrics is also dependant on the fiber
structure and type of blend to a significant extent (Buckley Aand Yoon HN:
Tex Res J, 54-1984,289). This is because the type of fiber used in the
construction of the fabric also plays a part in determining the overall
structure of the fabric. The transport properties of the fabric also depend on
the chemical nature of the fiber. By changing the fiber chemistry or by giving
it various finishes, the wettability of the fibres can be modified. Nowadays
there is an increasing demand for highly fashionable apparels. And there is
also a trend for using not only fine filaments but also blended yarns for fabric
construction. Synthetic fibers, especially micro fiber development have gone
a long way in the production of sophisticated textiles.
In an experiment conducted by J Kannapan and Ms B Geetha
Manohari (Dept of fashion technology, Kumaraguru college of technology,
Coimbatore 641047, Tamil Nadu)[Asian Textile Journal, Feb. 2011, 55-58]
the moisture conduction properties of micro fiber blended single knitted
fabrics
have been evaluated. It was seen that the wicking behavior
increases with the rise in the micro tencel component of the blend. Also the
hydrophilic nature of the manmade cellulosic fiber in the blend also affects
the transport of the fluid through the capillary interstices in the yarn.(G K
Tyagi). Further the lowering of the contact angle also accounts for high
wickability and high spreading of moisture in the fabric. The micro tencel
component of the fabric also increased the water vapour transmission of the
fabric due to its brilliant hydrophilic property and great surface energy.
In another experiment conducted by N Gokarneshan, N Jegadeesan, P
Dhanpal (from the same institute as above)[The Indian Textile Journal
December 2009] the moisture transport properties of polyester and viscose
staple fibers blended fabrics have been investigated. The fabrics produced
from the blended P/V yarns were dyed(HTHP dyeing process) and treated
with enzymes(lipase) to enhance the moisture transmission properties of the

blended fabrics. It was observed that the enzyme treated fabrics exhibited
the highest wicking activity followed by the dyed and non-dyed fibers(due to
increase in space between the fibers).The dyeing process caused the
polyester fibers to swell, thus resulting in better wicking activity. It was also
observed that with the increase in the viscose component of the fabric the
wicking behavior gradually increased (viscoses serrated cross section
creates more space in between the fibers)
Not only blended fibers, but also using functional fiber yarns
influences the moisture transport properties of knitted fabrics, as has been
investigated by R. Fangueiro, A. Filgueiras and F. Soutinho (Dept of textile
and Engineering, University of Minho, Guimares, Portugal) and Xie Miedi
(Dept of Knitting and Garment, Textile Institute of Dong Hua
University,China)[Source: Textile Research Journal, Vol 80(15)].They have
used a diverse range of functional fibers, including polyester trilobal flat
(PES), polypropylene(PP), polyamide(PA), elastane(EL), polyester cool
max(CL), PBT, Dry-release (DR) and viscose outlast (VO). Two sets of
plated knit structures were produced using PES on the face side and the
others on the back side and the other set was made with PP on the knit face
& the others on the back face. After the experiment it was found that the
wicking behavior of the fabrics depended primarily on the nature of the
constituent yarns. It was observed that during the first five minutes, the
height of wicking in PES-VO fabrics was higher and that of EL was lower. The
wicking height of CL was also considerable. These observations can be
attributed to the irregular cross-sectional shapes of VO & CL. Also, VO is a
hydrophilic fiber having good water absorption property. PES fiber also has a
fine linear mass per filament and thus it also exhibits better capillary action.
On the contrary, fabric samples containing PP exhibited poor wickability
behavior.
It is interesting to note that applying hydrophilic finishes to the fabric
also enhances its wicking properties. The charged polar groups of such
compounds attract water molecules and enhance its water absorbing
properties.
In
the
following
experiment
conducted
by
(

..)[Asian
Textile Journal, March 2011, 65-67), the following chemicals were used for
finishing the fabrics under test SUPER FX Aquasil 2060 N & SUPER FX
Senalon Jet Conc. The fabric samples were subjected to vertical wicking
tests. It was observed that the chemical finished structures showed 100%

higher test results. This shows that in fabrics with such finishes, moisture is
quickly removed from the fabric, resulting in faster comfort for the wearer.
Abundant wicking tests for textile fabrics are known. They can be stated
as follows : strip, spot plate, siphon, moisture management( Hu, Li, Yeung,
Wong& Xu, 2005) or transplanar water transport( Sarkar, Fan, & Qian, 2007)
tests. Each is characterized by its definite sample size and geometry, fluid
volume, wicking direction & duration. However, these tests are particularly
useful if the product is being used under pre-defined conditions. To predict
wicking in fabrics these tests are particularly not useful. To predict wicking, it
is important to evaluate the permeability-saturation-capillary pressure (k-SPc) relationships of fluid flow in the fabric.(Lenhard & Oostrom, 1998). A new
integrated test was set up formulated by Craig B. Similie and Haskell W.
Beckham(School of Materials & Engineering, Georgia Institute of technology,
Atlanta, GA, USA)[Source:The Journal of the Textile Institute, Vol. 103, No. 9,
September 2012, 945-951] in which such an evaluation could be possible.
This test goes after the work of Ghali, Jones, & Tracy (1994) which argues
that permeability & capillary pressure should be measured as a function of
saturation for predicting wicking in fabrics.
A sequential upward horizontal downward (UHD) wicking test was
performed on the textile fabrics at relative humidity 902% & temperature
212 C. One end of the end of the fabric was held in the reservoir with the
help of a rod. The horizontal section of the fabric was held up with by four
evenly placed rods and a small weight of 8.5g was suspended at the end of
the fabric to keep it taut in the downward direction. It was found that as the
height of the vertical strip increased, the wicking activity noticeably
decreased. The saturation values for each wicking test were 0.87, 0.78, 0.74
& 0.69 for respective heights of 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, and 4.5. Therefore, it can be
clearly seen that saturation decreases along with increasing height, as does
wicking. At a particular height, frictional drag caused constant decrease in
wicking rate in the horizontal portion of the fabric. When it was balanced by
gravity, it resulted in a constant downward wicking rate. Overall, this test
gravimetrically scrutinized fluid uptake from an infinite reservoir into a fabric
strip positioned sequentially in three different ways The wicking length in the
horizontal segments of the fabric was used to determine capillary radius
(using the Washburn Eq.)1 & capillary pressure (using the Laplace Eq.) 2. The
values from the downward segment were used to determine permeability
(using Darcys Eq.)3. It was found that at a saturation level of 0.87, the
average effective capillary radius was 4.1 m, capillary pressure was 3.5 x
105 dyne/cm2 and permeability was around 9.0 x 10-9 cm2.The

experimentalists have suggested that this experiment protocol be further

explored to produce efficient products with pre-defined wicking behavior.