Amphiphilic anthraquinone bearing polyoxyethylene moiety (PEG(MW)-AQ) was prepared and impregnated in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and nylon 6 (ON) films. The uptake of PEG(MW)-AQ to PET film increased in proportion to the concentration of PEGmw-AQ in a bath, and the contact angle of water dropped on the film decreased with increase in the uptake. At a constant uptake of PEG(MW)-AQ, the contact angle decreased with an increase of molecular weight of PEG(MW) attached to the anthraquinone, which indicates that polyoxyethylene moiety of PEGmw-AQ is effective on the wettability of the film. The decrement of water contact angle on PET film dyed with PEG(MW)-AQ was larger than that on ON film at the same dye uptake because of the higher dyeability of PET film than ON film with PEG(MW)-AQ. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.