We set up our own investigation to test whether various materials are waterproof or absorbent.
We tested cling film, tissue paper, newspaper, cloth and tinfoil.
We poured a small measure of water on each material, then we shook the material and emptied the remaining water back into the measure cup.
With waterproof materials we collected all or most of our water back again, with absorbent materials we collected only a smaller portion of water once we shook out the excess water.