Water absorbency experiment: what are absorbent materials?

Question

A "technical difficulty":

I am doing an "experiment" with kids next week and the just of it is this:

Have three cups with different materials over the top.

Put water drops, one by one, until the water drips INTO the cup.

See which material is most absorbent and most repellent.

Cotton= obvious quick absorption factor.

Rubber, nylon, even silk (!)= all holding up. And MUCH TOO LONG for little ones (their patience will run out before the experiment ends!).

What other material (that actual coats are made of) could I use??? Where the water would drip through quickly?

Any help= much, much appreciated! =)

Answer 1

olefin

wool

microfiber

leather

Answer 2

How about............. Wool? no, that's sweaters. Maybe just a piece of fleece?

Answer 3

linen cloth

Answer 4

Use sheet gelatin. It will have good responses. Also, try fiberglass insulation, denim, polyester,down, spandex, satin, velvet, velour etc...

Answer 5

your experiment is flawed but, i suppose sufficient if the kids are young. discrepency will be caused by the thickness of the material, the density it is woven with, the source of the material, treatments applied to the materials. also, nonporous materials present a challenge as there are different degrees of nonproous.

nylon

rayon

polyester

cotton

wool

burlap

silk

flax

hemp

leather

fur

down

lyocell

ramie

denim

spandex

less common clothing materials include recycled paper, jute, rubber, pvc, tyvek, bamboo, soy, bone and plastic

i would concentrate on cotton, wool, nylon, down, spandex, silk, polyester and vinyl. This would give a great cross-sample of this property with common materials.