Abstract: For quantitative measurement and description of moisture transfer principle,an self-developed capillary effect testing apparatus consisting of an electron balance and a subsection-fast liquid response set was used to determine the capillary distribution and wicking rate perpendicular to the fabric plane.The relation between capillary distributions and wicking capability and the influence of the fabric configuration on capillary distributions were analyzed.The principle of optimizing the design of the woven fabric was discussed.The moisture transfer speed in the fabric depends not only on the size of capillary-averaged,maximum or minimum,the capillary distribution also plays an important role.The larger the linear density of the fabric,the smaller the thread count,and the fabric structure is looser,and among the capillaries formed,the coarse capillaries are predominating,the wicking rate is faster.In terms of fast wicking process, the coarse capillaries are decisive.