Drying Rate Tester 201

Measure and assess key moisture management features of your textiles with precision and ease.

Why the DRT201?

Thermetrics engineers approached design of the Dry Rate Tester 201 (DRT201) with a thorough understanding of the AATCC 201 standard, knowing repeatability of the drying rate tests require precision airflow control. By applying 20+ years of experience developing uniform airflow and heated plate technology for guarded hotplate systems, Thermetrics was well-positioned to not only meet AATCC 201 requirements, but exceed them. With our DRT201 you can expect:

Superior temperature uniformity. Unlike other devices that may use bronze or aluminum for their test plates, Thermetrics uses electronics-grade copper for the heated plate—a superior and uniform conductor of heat. Better materials = better results.
Fluid delivery precision. Thanks to a computerized syringe pump, you can expect consistent, repeatable delivery of 200 microliters of water to your sample every time—that’s just 4% of a teaspoon!
Airflow control. The precision-engineered airflow geometry of the DRT201, coupled with our precise tuning ability provides consistent results over a range of ambient lab conditions.

Nike recently approved use of the Thermetrics DRT201 in all of its accredited apparel testing labs, recognizing its superior precision.

DRT201 features

Quick-drying and fast-wicking functions are key to assessing moisture management of textiles. Our Dry Rate Tester 201 includes:

How it works

Although the technology behind DRT201 is complex to ensure factors such as even plate heating, airflow control, and sample temperature sensing, its actual use is fairly straightforward and repeatable. At a high level:

Test prep. Preheat the test plate to skin temperature with airflow running; prime the fluid system; mount your sample to the test plate
Running the test. Start a test in the software (this initiates heating the fabric surface, which takes approx 5 minutes); once fabric is at temperature, 200 microliters of water will automatically be dispensed via the computerized syringe pump
Test completion. Once the resulting wet spot dries out, the connected software will post-processes the dryout curve

The resulting dryout curve (see example) provides a useful measure of wicking fabric performance: