Why do some things feel so dry? Take Cotton and Corduroy. Cotton although it does not feel wet is also does not feel dry it seems neutrol. But Corduroy seems dry but it doesn't appear to be lack of water so why does it feel dry? What is the dryest material there is?
I beg to differ, I think corduroy feels less dry than cotton. Tight-weave wool as found in mens suits, feels very dry.
I believe it's a combination of the weave of the fibers as well as their physical structure that creates a wicking process, in concert with the relatively adhesive property of water (spreading out and sticking to another material as opposed to relatively cohesive and preferring to bunch up and stick to itself). It draws the moisture out of the surface of the fabric and even off the surface of your skin, leaving your skin not just feeling dry but actually dry. This is why many synthetic fibers feel "clammy." They are solid, without the microscopic channels and crevices that natural plant or animal tissue have, so there is no wicking action and the natural moisture of your body is trapped. Silk is a natural fiber in the sense that it is not man-made, but it is also "artificial" in the sense that it is extruded by insects (or spiders although spider silk is not widely used) rather than grown as natural tissue. The fibers are more solid and less porous than tissue from animal hair or plant stems, so they are not very absorptive and can also feel clammy. If you've ever seen cotton bolls growing, or cotton balls from the drugstore which show a somewhat similar lack of structure, you can see how much empty space there is between the actual strands of fiber. Of course this is reduced by the process of spinning the fibers into yarn and thread and of weaving the yarn and thread into cloth. But still it is the nature of the fibers to be rather kinky and create air pockets and channels that result in the wicking effect. I'm not a clothier but the definition of corduroy is a "piled" cotton fabric, which means that the cotton threads are formed into loops. This deliberate creation of additional internal space will enhance the wicking effect and make it feel even drier than other cotton weaves. Looped cotton piles are what the finest cotton "terrycloth" towels are made of, and their purpose is to remove the moisture from your skin.
I believe it's a combination of the weave of the fibers as well as their physical structure that creates a wicking process, in concert with the relatively adhesive property of water (spreading out and sticking to another material as opposed to relatively cohesive and preferring to bunch up and stick to itself). It draws the moisture out of the surface of the fabric and even off the surface of your skin, leaving your skin not just feeling dry but actually dry. This is why many synthetic fibers feel "clammy." They are solid, without the microscopic channels and crevices that natural plant or animal tissue have, so there is no wicking action and the natural moisture of your body is trapped. Silk is a natural fiber in the sense that it is not man-made, but it is also "artificial" in the sense that it is extruded by insects (or spiders although spider silk is not widely used) rather than grown as natural tissue. The fibers are more solid and less porous than tissue from animal hair or plant stems, so they are not very absorptive and can also feel clammy. If you've ever seen cotton bolls growing, or cotton balls from the drugstore which show a somewhat similar lack of structure, you can see how much empty space there is between the actual strands of fiber. Of course this is reduced by the process of spinning the fibers into yarn and thread and of weaving the yarn and thread into cloth. But still it is the nature of the fibers to be rather kinky and create air pockets and channels that result in the wicking effect. I'm not a clothier but the definition of corduroy is a "piled" cotton fabric, which means that the cotton threads are formed into loops. This deliberate creation of additional internal space will enhance the wicking effect and make it feel even drier than other cotton weaves. Looped cotton piles are what the finest "terrycloth" towels are made of, and their purpose is to remove the moisture from your skin. In general, I believe that fibers from plant seeds like cotton bolls have the most absorbent structure. Fibers from plant stems such as flax, linen and hemp would probably be next. Animal hair is much denser and not very porous, just look at your own. Wool from the kinky hair of sheep and a few other animals has air space between the fibers like cotton but not as plentiful, and should be more absorptive than fabric made from the straight hair of other animals such as camels and rabbits. The hair of animals who themselves need to avoid picking up water, including aquatic mammals like otters and denizens of cold weather like ermine, has a high oil content which protects the fibers from absorbing water but also fills the spaces between them to block the wicking effect and keep the underlying skin dry. These are probably the driest fibers and indeed no one even tries to make cloth from them. Instead the entire hide with the fur is used as a garment to insulate the wearer from rain and cold.
Wow Fraggle that is a bigger reason than I expected. Cheers for typing all that. So what we are saying here is that the material is neither wet nor dry but its how it affects the moisture of the finger that counts. I didn't think of it that way around at all.
