Wound Bed Preparation (WBP) can be described as the management of the wound to accelerate endogenous healing or to facilitate the effectiveness of other therapeutic measures. The 4 basic aspects of WBP can now be represented by an acronym, TIME. T= tissue (non-viable or deficient). I= infection or inflammation. M= moisture control. E= epidermal margin. Focusing on the “M” in TIME, there are numerous absorbent dressings that are intended to fulfill this need. Typically exudate is cause by the breakdown of necrotic tissue, an inflammatory response or edema due to venous disease. Failure to manage wound exudate can result in pooling of excess fluid under the dressing and maceration. As wound dressings are introduced it becomes important to determine their moisture control properties. The purpose of this study is to investigate the moisture control properties of a variety of foam dressings in vitro to gain insight into their functionality in the clinic. The dressings were evaluated on 3 aspects: Total Absorbency, Fluid Retention Capacity and Fluid Handling Capacity. The absorbent capacity varied considerably across the range of dressings tested, due to the difference in dressing thickness and ability to swell. Most dressings were able to retain a high percentage of their absorbent capacity following compression. Several dressings were able to maintain almost all of their absorbent capacity whilst withstanding forces of compression. This was attributed to the super-absorbent particles that are embedded into their foam structure. Several dressings demonstrated poor fluid retention. These dressings have an open foam structure and therefore are likely to be more easily compressed by relatively low forces. There was a wide variation in the total fluid handling across the range of dressings tested. Several dressings were highly porous and lost fluid rapidly. Such dressings with high “breathability” may cause low exuding wounds to dry out.