Unlock the Secrets of Moisture Wicking Fabrics in 3 Minutes

Date: 2024/01/04 By: Zoe Zhu
Moisture wicking textile products are a type of functional textile products that have developed rapidly in recent years, especially in sports, leisure, outdoor and travel clothing products, which have become a highlight in guiding the market and consumption. Most of the moisture wicking fabrics on the market are thin fabrics.
1. Historical development of moisture wicking fibers
The earliest products in China that introduced the concept of moisture wicking or moisture wicking and quick drying were functional textile products developed based on the characteristics of natural fibers.
In order to improve the discomfort caused by the characteristics of cotton fibers that are easy to absorb moisture but not easy to dry, people began to consider whether it is possible to speed up the conduction and evaporation of moisture through changes in the yarn or fabric structure, or even through post-finishing methods, so as to achieve the effect of moisture wicking and quick drying. The polyester-covered cotton product that was popular at the time is a typical example. Later, with the development of fiber technology, moisture-wicking and quick-drying products based on differentiated synthetic fibers as the main raw materials have begun to enter the market.
Chemical moisture absorption and perspiration fibers mainly use the fiber cross-section to form grooves on the fiber surface. With the help of the wicking structure of the grooves, moisture and sweat on the skin surface are quickly absorbed and discharged from the body instantly. The sweat is then diffused and quickly evaporated by the fibers on the surface of the fabric, thereby achieving the purpose of moisture absorption and perspiration, regulating body temperature, and keeping the skin dry and cool.

2. The principle of Moisture Wicking Fabrics
The moisture absorption and sweat conduction performance of the fiber depends on its chemical composition and physical structure. The gaseous water evaporated from the skin surface is first absorbed by the fiber material, and then released through the material surface; while the liquid water on the skin surface is adsorbed, diffused and evaporated on the surface of the material by the capillary effect generated by the pores inside the fiber and the gaps between the fibers.
The forms of fiber moisture conduction can be mainly divided into two situations: infiltration and wicking. The former refers to the conduction of liquid phase water along the surface of a single fiber or a fiber assembly in the form of infiltration, and the latter refers to the capillary wicking effect of the fiber assembly or the single fiber pores on the liquid.

Among them, infiltration is the basis and premise of wicking. The infiltration of the fiber can be characterized by measuring indicators such as contact angle, infiltration force, and spreading speed; the wicking of the fiber can be characterized by indicators such as wicking height and wicking speed. The result of the two effects leads to the migration of water. The former effect is mainly related to the chemical composition of the fiber macromolecules, and the latter effect is related to the physical structure of the fiber.
Moisture-absorbing and sweat-wicking fibers generally have a high specific surface area, with numerous pores or grooves on the surface. Their cross-sections are generally special shapes. The capillary effect is used to enable the fibers to quickly absorb moisture and sweat from the skin surface and diffuse and transfer them to the outer layer.

3. moisture wicking fibers are woven into fabrics
During the weaving process, through jacquard process design, the thickness of the fabric, jacquard and elastic areas are reasonably arranged, which can meet the human body’s breathability, lifting and elasticity needs while making the fabric itself have certain moisture-absorbing and sweat-wicking functions. For example, by using a warp knitting machine to design a suitable jacquard structure, the fabric can form meshes of different sizes to ensure smooth air circulation of the fabric, so that the fabric has excellent moisture-wicking and breathable properties.
Develop one-way moisture-conducting double-sided knitted fabrics. The fabric adopts single-sided added yarn jacquard structure, rib variation structure or double rib variation structure. The inner layer adopts hydrophobic fibers such as fine denier polyester, polypropylene, etc. to weave honeycomb or mesh point structure. The outer layer adopts hydrophilic fibers such as cotton, wool, viscose, etc. to weave high-density structure, which increases the differential capillary effect of the inner and outer layers of the fabric and can also achieve the one-way moisture-conducting function.

4. Common Moisture Wicking Fabrics structures
In addition, the moisture wicking fibers developed using multi-layer structure fabrics generally has an inner layer of ultra-fine filaments such as polypropylene and polyester, a middle layer of a moisture wicking layer composed of cotton yarn, and an outer layer composed of high-strength and high-permeability fibers. It can be woven using a double rib composite structure, which can also achieve the sweat conduction, breathability and soft feel of knitted fabrics.
Three-layer structure Moisture Wicking Fabrics:
(1) The outer side of the outer layer of the fabric, that is, the moisture absorption, storage and release layer of the fabric
(2) The middle part of the outer layer of the fabric, that is, the core moisture conduction layer of the fabric
(3) The inner side of the outer layer of the fabric, that is, the strong moisture absorption and storage layer of the fabric
(4) The middle layer of the fabric, which is the elastic membrane middle layer of the fabric
(5) The inner layer of the fabric, which is the moisture absorption and quick-drying layer of the fabric

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