Month: November 2018

For years, athletes, both professional and amateur, have used garments made of fabrics designed to wick moisture away from the body to increase their comfort and improve their sports performance. Often referred to as “moisture-wicking,” t-shirts, pants, and other clothing items made with these fabrics are often worn alone during sports occasions to keep wearers drier and more comfortable than they would be otherwise. Recently, however, garments boasting moisture wicking and “performance” qualities have entered a range of additional markets, including sleepwear marketed to women undergoing menopause, as well as people who choose to layer these garments under their regular clothing to stay cooler throughout the day. So here’s the big question: how does this stuff really work?

The Technology of Moisture Wicking Clothing:
Most garments marketed as “moisture wicking” use this terminology to refer to two different mechanisms: the clothing’s ability to absorb, or wick, moisture from the wearer’s skin, and its ability to then dry quickly in order to keep the wearer more comfortable by avoiding the chills once they have completed their activity. A shirt’s ability to wick is determined mainly by the type of fiber used to make the fabric. Natural fibers, such as cotton, have excellent moisture absorption and retention properties. They are considered hydrophilic, or water-loving. The problem with hydrophilic fibers is that they tend to dry slowly.

Ever heard the saying “cotton kills” among hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts? This popular saying refers to the fact that a cotton base layer will often be great at absorbing your sweat, but will then make you extremely cold when you stop moving and are left wearing a soaking wet garment. In contrast to 100 percent hydrophilic garments, you can find a range of offerings that are made with 100 percent hydrophobic, or water-hating, fibers. These fibers, which include polyester, are great at shedding moisture and drying quickly, but not at absorbing it. This means that sweat simply becomes trapped between your skin and your garment, still making you uncomfortable.

So how do manufacturers resolve this tension between hydrophilic and hydrophobic fibers to provide garments that can absorb sweat AND dry fast? There are a couple of answers to this question.

Finding the Comfort Sweet Spot:
Pick up your latest workout shirt, shorts, or pants and check out the label. Chances are that if you’re wearing some of the most popular brands today, the label will say 100 percent polyester. Now how can these brands claim they’re moisture wicking when they are using a completely water-hating fiber? The answer lies in what happens to the fabric during the finishing process. Once fabric has been knitted or woven, dyed, and gone through any other processes, final steps can be taken to apply topical solutions that will impart absorption properties onto fabrics that would not otherwise have them. These topical treatments can help a polyester garment obtain some of the absorption properties found in clothing made from natural fibers.

Another option to achieve this same result is to take fibers that are hydrophilic and fabrics that are hydrophobic and create what is called an intimate blend that results in a yarn that contains both types of fibers in a specific, optimal blend of hydrophilic to hydrophobic fibers. This yarn can then be used to make fabric and clothing that brings users the best of both worlds without requiring the use of topical finishes or treatments. The key behind unlocking the benefits of moisture wicking and fast drying is to use the optimal blend of hydrophilic to hydrophobic fibers. For example, a 50/50 poly/cotton shirt will not perform as well as an 85/15 poly/cotton blend.

While many brands still rely on topical finishes due to lower complexity of those processes, some leading edge garment manufacturers do produce garments made with the optimal, intimate fiber blend.

Expanding Applications for Moisture Wicking Apparel:
While moisture wicking apparel has historically been most relevant to athletes and weekend warriors, more and more people are finding this technology relevant in their own workplaces. Most notably, professions where employees have physically demanding jobs or are exposed to environments where they are likely to sweat are starting to see benefits in choosing moisture wicking apparel for work tasks. Moisture wicking options are even finding their place in markets where garment options were previously quite limited, such as flame-resistant apparel.

Workers required to wear flame resistant apparel are often engaged in physically demanding situations, such as climbing poles to fix electrical lines, patrolling neighborhoods in our country or overseas during military deployment, or fighting fires, to name a few. For these workers, safety is paramount and lack of comfort can be a deadly distraction. Thankfully, moisture-wicking options exist that allow these workers to avoid the trade-off between comfort and compliance, ensuring that they can focus on the task at hand rather than what they’re wearing. Needless to say, the wicking t-shirt has come a long way!

If you’re looking for enjoyable seventh-grade science fair projects, you may well make an effort to demonstrate that fungus infection may be existing between a person’s toes and fingers, exhibit the occurrence of climate change, evaluate the contamination levels of diverse h2o samples, and also find out if big backpacks influence the position of the folks transporting them.
Numerous scholars may likely feel that their own science fair projects must be complex as soon as they reach the 7th grade. Truly, you’ll discover 7th-grade science projects that aren’t only simple and easy to execute but are generally important at the same time. Listed below are some project good ideas you might want to think of:
Show that particular fungus is generally present among an individual’s feet
There is a many reasons how come mothers often speak to their kids to completely clean between their own toes. And there’s a a microbiology lessons which is discovered out of this hygienic procedure. You could try wiping the area between your own foot with a cotton swab. Position the cotton swab at a petri plate and hold on a few days. Make use of a microscope as well as other testing machines to review the end result up close. Initially transfer the samples from the petri dish onto slides and then consider what exactly may well evolve between a person’s feet. You can attempt to identify and compare and contrast the different fungus infection you notice. Attempt swabbing the internal parts of different footwear to discover where fungus is most rampant.
Illustrate the happening of climate change
You may use the extremely contested matter of climate change as the actual topic area of your science project. Even though many pupils know about the root cause of climatic change and could have joined courses that suggest the minimization of green house gases, they may not have direct knowledge pertaining to this particular event. To prove just how greenhouse gases cause global warming, you can try to get samples of co2, methane as well as nitrous oxide. Assess the temperature of every different gas. Later on, position the pots in an wide open space which is directly exposed to the sun’s rays. Gauge as well as write down the actual temperature alterations every day. Watch the improvements that take place over several days and nights and learn which gas contains the highest level of heat.
Quantify the actual contamination degrees of several water samples
You might also try out to find out the distinct chemical type pollutants which have an affect on the lakes or even water ways in your locality. For this particular project, you will require a water-testing set, which could be purchased at aquarium or even pet retail stores. Visit various bodies of water to pick up water samples. Operate the vital assessments to determine the conditions of the water. You might display your findings through graphs that outline the various degrees of contamination. You could also try to determine the actual amount of toxicity on the ocean life which exists in the different bodies of water you visited.
Determine if large backpacks affect the position of the persons holding them
Many students carry backpacks so they may easily relate to this science project. Lots of health experts are really worried with regards to people over-loading the backpacks which they often carry. You could attempt to determine the effects of carrying weighty loads by inquiring students to take loaded back packs while walking around a room. You could take a photo of the students’ postures prior to the exercise and also after for a visual comparison.
To make the most out of a science fair project, always look for a topic that you are personally interested in.