• Question: why are towels so asorbant if they aren't porous, like sponges and such?

    Asked by shrike to Gioia, Iain, Jo, Leo, Mariam on 23 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Joanna Watson

      Joanna Watson answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      I’m not sure, but I think that towels probably are a bit porous, but the spaces in the fibres that fill up with water are much smaller than they are in sponges.

    • Photo: Mariam Orme

      Mariam Orme answered on 20 Jun 2010:

      Towels aren’t porous in the same way as sponges, but I think that they trap water between their fibres, so that’s how they absorb water.

    • Photo: Iain Moal

      Iain Moal answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      Well, I suspect that towels are porous. They have many interwoven hairs into which water can flow by capillary action. The hairs also have lots of surface area onto which water can cling.

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