James Heal
James Heal 
The textile testing equipment manufacturer James H. Heal & Co. Ltd., Halifax/UK, has launched WickView, a state-of-the-art instrument that uses an advanced imaging system to track and record the transfer of moisture through fabric and other materials.
A key feature of WickView is its ability to perform both vertical and horizontal wicking testing. Being able to rotate the instrument allows testing to occur in different orientations. Whether for example that fabric is used in elite sportswear (predominantly vertical), or nonwovens or linens deployed on a hospital bed (predominantly horizontal). This is a huge advantage over current market solutions and offers better insight into performance.
WickView’s water delivery system introduces moisture to specimens in an accurate, controlled way. High definition cameras are positioned on either side of the material specimen to record the movement of the moisture. These cameras give full visibility of the test, and use ultraviolet and infrared light to give a good view of the test process, regardless of specimen color or pattern.
WickView is fully supported with a new version of James Heal’s intuitive TestWise software and shows the wicking process in detail. TestWise can calculate a range of 9 metrics including maximum wetted area, area boundary, y axis of spread and wicking speed. Outcomes can be presented visually or in graph format. Analysis of results is easy. Previous tests can be reloaded in to the software and viewed again.
WickView’s water delivery system introduces moisture to specimens in an accurate, controlled way. High definition cameras are positioned on either side of the material specimen to record the movement of the moisture. These cameras give full visibility of the test, and use ultraviolet and infrared light to give a good view of the test process, regardless of specimen color or pattern.
WickView is fully supported with a new version of James Heal’s intuitive TestWise software and shows the wicking process in detail. TestWise can calculate a range of 9 metrics including maximum wetted area, area boundary, y axis of spread and wicking speed. Outcomes can be presented visually or in graph format. Analysis of results is easy. Previous tests can be reloaded in to the software and viewed again.