Why do some cloths become see through when wet?

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Why do some cloths become see through when wet?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Some stuff is white, because the material it’s made out of is white (light in the visible spectrum bounces off of it).

Some stuff is white because the material it’s made out of is clear, but it has a lot of texture. (light in the visible spectrum passes through it, but gets bent in essentially random directions) For example, frosted glass.

If the second type of stuff gets wet, then the water smooths out the surface, so light goes through it in straight lines rather than getting scattered. And voila, see through.

Anonymous 0 Comments

When a t-shirt get wet, it sticks to the body so showing what is underneath. Furthermore if the t-shirt is white or clear and its fabric is thin, the water makes it almost transparent because its wires are flatted down by the water.