Abridgment of the predominating influence of moisture and electrolytic material upon textiles as insulators

The insulating qualities of textiles vary with the amount of moisture present in them from hour to hour and are also strongly influenced by the amount of electrolytic material (salts, etc.) which the textiles contain. Electrolytic material may be washed out producing a commercially realizable increase in insulation resistance of the order of 50 times the original value. The resistance of the animal fibers, silk and wool, is far greater for a given moisture content than that of cotton or of cellulose acetate, a derivative of cotton. It appears probable that the distribution of water as well as the quantity is important and that the two classes of fibers are characterized by different space patterns according to which the water is distributed. It is suggested that the space distribution patterns are associated with the colloidal structures of the materials and in turn with their chemical classification as proteins and cellulose respectively. Cellulose acetate absorbs little water as compared with cotton and is correspondingly superior electrically. However its resistance varies with moisture content in the sam way as that of cotton.