Abstract
The water vapor transmission property of the cotton fiber is used to greatest advantage in plastic-coated, water-resistant fabrics when the coatings are relatively light, and are as much as possible located inside the fabric structure, with cotton exposed on each surface. "Hill and valley" structured fabrics such as narrow wale pique, poplins, drills and twills with prominent twill lines, and napped or pile fabrics, such as suedes or velvets with a substantial backing portion of the fabric, are ad vantageous. However, light coatings on 80 X 80 print cloth, well scraped into the surface, can also show favorable combinations of relatively low vapor resistance and relatively high hydrostatic resistance.
A plasticized resin latex with a substantial proportion of water-soluble thickener tends to give more porous films than the films produced by plastisols, but each ap proach can give a wide range of combinations of properties.
White the fabrics do show vapor and water resistances which compare favorably with commercial "breathable vinyl" upholstery fabrics, the appearance and feel are different. Many factors in addition to water vapor permeability and hydrostatic resistance need to be considered in commercial fabrics.
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