This paper reports on the moisture management properties of fabrics made from yarns of 100% cotton, 100% bamboo and combination of bamboo and cotton yarns. The fabrics were knitted on a circular knitting machine and scoured before measuring them for moisture management capability, air permeability and water vapour permeability. The results showed that all fabrics have good overall moisture management capability which classified them as water penetration fabric with small spreading area. The fabric consisting of the combination of bamboo and cotton yarns of 83/17 ratio gave the highest air and water vapour permeability.

Moisture management properties are an important factor that could decide the comfort level of clothing worn by humans. This is largely dependent on the type of fiber and fabric structure of the fabric. In this study, the moisture management properties of untreated and scoured 100% cotton, 100% bamboo and 50/50% bamboo/cotton knitted fabrics were investigated. It was found that the 100% cotton and 100% bamboo fabrics, either untreated or scoured, gave good to excellent overall moisture management capability (OMMC) indicating water penetration fabric with small spreading area. The 50/50% bamboo/cotton fabrics were graded as having poor OMMC which means that fabrics are slow in liquid absorption, drying and spreading of the liquid. It can be said that the moisture management properties depends on the fiber types and ratio of yarn combination.