Effective Water Vapour Permeability of Wet Wool Fabric and Blended Fabrics

The water vapour permeability of fabrics is one of the most important factors determining wearer comfort. Contrary to commonly accepted theories, outerwear is often used in a wet state, which has an influence on their properties. However, common standard measuring instruments mostly do not enable reliable measurement of wet fabrics due to the long time of measurement, during which the fabrics get dry. This paper presents the fast instrument - Permetest, which provides reliable measurement of the water vapour permeability of fabrics in a dry and wet state. By means of the instrument, the relative and effective water vapour permeability of different wool fabrics in a dry and wet state were determined and the results discussed. The main contribution of the measurement was the determination of the exact ratio between the level of heat flux density of the heat flow penetrating the wet fabric, having a cooling effect, and that of the heat flux density of the heat flow caused by moisture evaporation from the fabric surface, also having a cooling effect