We have performed a careful analysis of the pumpdown curves measured in our vacuum reactors for radio frequency plasma treatment of materials at low pressure. The characterization of the device pumping behavior both in the viscous and in the molecular regimes makes it possible to study the outgassing flow rates of several textile materials. Estimates of the relevant flow rates in different pressure ranges and measurements of the flow composition have been obtained. Such data can be interpreted in the framework of simplified desorption models and could be used in order to design the pumping system needed for vacuum treatment of such materials, both in batch and in continuously fed-in processes. In particular direct application of existing cold plasma treatments, such as chemical vapor deposition, plasma etching, activation, and grafting, at an industrial scale can be foreseen in view of our data, which can be straightforwardly used. to estimate the costs of the required vacuum technology. (C) 2003 American Vacuum Society.