Method and apparatus for measuring the absorption of a volatile compound

A method of identifying one or more characteristics (such as the amount of water vapor or volatile adsorbed) of an item (14) comprises the steps of: ```placing the item (14) within a hollow chamber (12); ```introducing a volatile substance to the item (14) whereby the item (14) retains at least a portion of the volatile substance; and ```detecting the presence of the volatile substance within the chamber (12) to identify a characteristic of the item. An apparatus, for identifying one or more characteristics of an item, comprises one or more hollow chambers (12) for receiving the item (14). At least one hollow chamber (12) has an inlet (16) arranged in fluid communication with a volatile substance source (20) to selectively introduce the volatile substance to an item (14) received in the or each said chamber (12) whereby the item (14) retains at least a portion of the volatile substance. At least one chamber (12) has an outlet (24) arranged in fluid communication with a detector (28) to detect the presence of the volatile substance within the or each said chamber .(12) in order to identify a characteristic of the item (14). The detector may be a chemical sensor array or electronic nose or mass spectrometer to provide more reproducible results than human volunteers. The device may be used to in the quantitative analysis of odour reduction of textile treatments.