Textile materials are frequently in contact with surfactant solutions during their manufacturing or finishing processes as well as cleaning processes in use. Liquid wetting, wicking and absorbency of textile materials, and the liquid properties, surface characteristics and pore geometry of textile materials, and the liquie-solid interactions, In this paper, 10 different nonionic surfactants, including Span 20, Twen 20, 40, 60, 80, 21, 61, 81, 65, 85, were used. The surfactants were characterized by their hydrophile-lipophile-balance (HLB) values, structures, and surface tensions. The 0.1g/dL and 1.0g/dL surfactant solutions, which were both above critical micelle concentration (CMC), were used to see the concentration effects on the wetting and absorbency of cotton fabrics. The wetting behavior and liquid retention properties of hydrophobic cotton fabrics with different nonionic surfactant solutions are reported. The contact angles are greatly decreased and the water retention values are greatly increased by adding most of the surfactants studied into the system. The extents of this effects are influenced by the characteristics of surfactants and its solutions. Hydrophilic surfactants which have low number of carbon atoms or unsaturated hydrophobe structures are more effective in improving the wetting and absorbancy of hydrophobic cotton fabrics. The water retention of hydrophobic cotton fabrics has positive relations with $cos{ heta}$, adhesion tension and work of adhesion. The 1.0g/dL surfactant solutions show similar, but slightly improved wetting and absorbency characteristics of hydrophobic cotton fabrics compared to the 0.1g/dL surfactant solutions.