Nylons are highly sensitive to moisture, as water molecules are able to form hydrogen-bonded complexes with nitrogen and oxygen from the amide functional groups. In recycled nylon 6,6, a higher absorbed moisture content can be detected in comparison to virgin material. Moisture uptake is manifested in chemical and physical properties, and has important technological consequences, so the relationship between them must be assessed. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been used to measure the water content of different samples and physical changes have been analyzed by means of dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA). The relaxation zones of the dynamic-mechanical relaxation spectra of the samples have been characterized according to the Fuoss-Kirkwood equation and with help of the deconvolution method. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 85: 2211–2218, 2002