ISO 6956:2026

International
Standard
ISO 6956
First edition
Textiles — Water resistant clothing
2026-01
— Determination of protection
characteristic against rainfall using
a motion-manikin
Textiles — Habillement imperméable à l'eau — Détermination
de caractéristique de protection contre la pluie au moyen d'un
mannequin en mouvement
Reference number
© ISO 2026
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Published in Switzerland
ii
Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Principle . 2
5 Apparatus . 2
6 Atmosphere for conditioning and testing . 5
7 Preparation of test specimens . 5
7.1 General .5
7.2 Dressing and motioning the manikin .5
8 Procedure . 5
9 Expression of results . 6
10 Test report . 6
Annex A (informative) General background to the rainfall simulation . 7
Annex B (informative) General background to the rain tower system . 8
Annex C (informative) Method for measuring area of underwear .10
Bibliography .12

iii
Foreword
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This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 38, Textiles, Subcommittee SC 2, Cleansing,
finishing and water resistance tests.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

iv
Introduction
This document describes a new test method that complements existing testing methods using the rain tower
system to assess the protection characteristics of garments such as protective clothing and extreme outdoor
clothing in the rainfall environment.
The results obtained under this test procedure do not compare with those obtained under ISO 24231, even if
some of the test conditions are similar.
The most widely used method of evaluating the waterproofness of clothes evaluates the performance of the
fabric, but since the characteristics of the garments (sub-material, design, etc.) were not reflected, results
were often obtained differently from the actual performance of the garment. To solve this problem, a rain
tower system that can simulate a rainfall environment was created, and a test method for exposing and
evaluating garments in a rainfall environment was developed and used by many companies and research
institutes in the clothing industry.
An example of the rain tower test method is ISO 24231. This test method is meaningful in that it defines
the specifications of rain tower devices, the overall test process, and the analysis of results, but, the
method has several limitations, which can reduce the accuracy of the results. First, only a single rainfall
precipitation condition was set: (450 ± 50) l/m ∙h. In order to apply to various clothing, and the different
rainfall conditions described in Annex A, conditions for various precipitations must be set. Second, static
manikin is exposed to rain with a fixed posture, resulting areas that raindrop have not been reached or
areas that have stagnated due to surface flexion, and the exclusion of the influence of left and right design
differences. Third, the test method relies on the tester’s visual judgement to obtain the test results. To solve
this problem, various types of manikins must be produced or regularly changed. This method can determine
the results differently depending on the tester, and there is a limitation in that it is difficult to obtain the
degree of wetness numerically.
Accordingly, this document describes a new standard test method that complements the limitations of
existing tests by introducing diversification of rainfall conditions through precision analysis devices,
dynamic testing through motion-manikin, and numerical outcome analysis through image analysis
programs.
v
International Standard ISO 6956:2026(en)
Textiles — Water resistant clothing — Determination of
protection characteristic against rainfall using a motion-
manikin
1 Scope
This document specifies a test method for determining the resistance to water leakage and penetration of
water-resistant clothing in an artificial rainfall using a manikin capable of marching motion. It determines
the waterproof characteristic in practical use in a rainfall environment with the wearer moving. In addition
to personal protective equipment and outdoor clothing, which require extreme conditions, it also applies to
testing common waterproof or water-repellent products such as jackets, trousers, coats, and one- or two-
piece suits.
The test method described in this document uses manikin with normal adult male size, excluding other sizes
(female, children).
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes
requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references,
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 139, Textiles — Standard atmospheres for conditioning and testing
ISO 3696, Water for analytical laboratory use — Specification and test methods
ISO 15831, Clothing — Physiological effects — Measurement of thermal insulation by means of a thermal
manikin
ISO 24231, Protective clothing — Protection against rain — Test method for ready-made garments against
high-energy droplets from above
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at https:// www .electropedia .org/
3.1
water resistant clothing
waterproof or water repellent garments with the resistance to water leakage and penetration into the inside
from the outside
3.2
garment
single article of general provisions from design to distribution intended for covering the body with
everything except the footwear
Note 1 to entry: The term “garment” is intended for referring to the product.

Note 2 to entry: The garment may consist of single of multiple layers.
[SOURCE: ISO 11610:2023, 4.1.2, modified — EXAMPLE is excluded]
3.3
heavy rain
artificial rainfall with the mean amount of precipitation of (450 ± 50) l/m h
3.4
light rain
artificial rainfall with the mean amount of precipitation of (150 ± 50) l/m h
4 Principle
The water-resistant clothing to be tested is placed on the manikin wearing long underwear made of
absorbent fabric in arrangement as in practical use. The manikin, in the shape and size of an adult human
body with movable legs and arms, is exposed to artificial rainfall for a specific period with moving its legs
and arms with a defined number of movements per minute and a defined stride length. After the exposure
the underwear and the inner side of the garment are visually inspected for wet areas. In addition, an area
measurement system capable of measuring the wet area may be used in order to calculate the total wet area
and wet area on the underwear.
5 Apparatus
5.1 Rain tower, similar to a tower device as specified in ISO 24231. See Figure 1.
A circular tub with at least 1 000 mm in diameter should be supported at least 5 000 mm above the floor,
and supplied with water from an inflow pipe. Also, the bottom of the tub should be fitted with approximately
682 nozzles with a hole diameter of 0,6 mm, at interval of 34 mm between the nozzles. The tub shall be
capable of setting a water depth in the tub in order to control the amount of precipitation.
A density and diameter of the water droplets should correspond to those described in ISO 24231 (density
approximately: 1 000 droplets/m , diameter approximately: 5 mm). The amount of water shall be
2 2
controllable from (150 ± 50) l/m h to (450 ± 50) l/m h in order to simulate the heavy rain and light rain.
The condition of the rain tower can be verified by the method specified in Annex B.
The rainfall can be controlled by the water level in the tub. When the water level is (20 ± 5) mm, rainfall is
2 2
(150 ± 50) l/m h, and when the water level reaches (45 ± 5) mm, rainfall becomes (450 ± 50) l/m h.

Key
1 water filling pipe
2 rain water tub
3 nozzles
4 protection wall
5 motion-manikin
Figure 1 — Example of a rain tower with motion-manikin
5.1.1 To prevent a blockage of the nozzles, distilled or grade 3 water or higher as specified in ISO 3696
shall be used.
5.1.2 One thermometer can be placed in the room in which the test is to be carried out to measure the air
temperature. Another shall be placed in the tub to measure the temperature of the water.
5.2 Motion-manikin
5.2.1 The manikin can be constructed to simulate the body type of a normal adult male with
(1 820 ± 40) mm of height, (1 000 ± 60) mm of chest girth and (800 ± 20) mm of waist girth. It shall consist of

a head, torso, abdomen, buttocks, arms, hands, straight legs and feet. The manikin shall be adjusted so that it
is leaning backwards at an angle of 5° ± 2° to the vertical. See Figure 2.
The manikin shall be supported from lower back, not by using a hook on top of the manikin head.
Key
1 manikin
2 supporting rod
3 driving unit with power
4 driving rod
Figure 2 — Example of a motion-manikin
5.2.2 To simulate the marching motion, the arms and legs of the manikin shall be movable, with joints at the
shoulder, hip and knee. The performance of manikin, mechanically driven, shall be in accordance with those
described in ISO 15831. The manikin shall perform (45 ± 2) double steps per minute, and (45 ± 2) double arm
movements per min cross walking. The stride length
...