Kinetics of wetting of layers of carbon materials with aqueous solutions of sodium dodecyl sulfate have been investigated. Four Species of active carbon (Norit R 08, Norit ROX 08, DTO and Merck), three species of mined carbon (bituminous coal, brown coal, and peat) and two species of graphite (mined Ceylon graphite and electrographite) have been tested. Water wetted poorly all mined materials. The active carbons and electrographite were well wetted with water, however the degree of their hydrophility was different. Kinetics of wetting has been investigated with the capillary saturation method.