Hoodies are one-of-a-kind fabric attire on everyone’s good book, which is undoubtedly true for good reasons. And when we are talking about hoodies, there are several fabrics available in the market, which often confuse the customers, clothing brands, and manufacturers with the decision of which clothing fabric to choose for hoodie manufacturing. Choosing one material from a couple of options can be difficult, but choosing one based on its features is critically important. Regarding industry trends, fleece fabric is one of the mainstays currently the talk of the town for many brands. Being a custom hoodies manufacturer, we ourselves have manufactured numerous hoodies and sweatshirt lines using fleece fabric,
The fleece fabric can handle customization options like screen printing, cut and sew, fabric knitting, and more. This blog focuses on fleece fabric and its different kinds of blends that can be very handy for manufacturing high-quality hoodies. The fleece fabric is not just a basic fabric but a versatile fabric with multiple types of material like polar fleece, sherpa fleece or microfleece, and many more blends. This blog focuses on fleece fabric and hoodies, so let’s start with the basics of fleece fabric.
The basics of fleece fabric
The fleece fabric is a knit product with a soft and comfortable structure. The fleece fabric From the front gives a soft, comfortable, and plush feel. You can expect a warm and soft feel for the body from the inside of the fleece fabric. The fleece fabric is best for sweatshirt manufacturing, hoodies, and sweatpants. The material is brushed from both sides.
As mentioned earlier, different fleece blends are standard in the fashion industry. A polyester fleece blend is a classic fabric for sweatshirts, sweatpants, and lined hoodies. For sweatpants, you can have an alternative option to choose 100% cotton fabric. One advantage of the fleece fabric is its eco-friendly and made-up recyclable materials.
Since the beginning of wool, natural or organic fleece has existed. It is what sheep’s wool is commonly referred to before being sheared and made into fabric that may be used for sewing. Most synthetic or non-organic fleece is created from polyester fibers derived from plastic. The first stage in creating synthetic yarn is to transform the plastic into thread using a method.
Different types of the fleece fabric
United by the fabric but divided by features and specifications. The fleece fabric is a comprehensive family that has certain members in it. Fleeces can be produced using a wide range of materials. While plush fleece coats and pants are often composed of 100% polyester, sweatshirts, and sweatpants are frequently constructed of cotton/polyester blends. The fleece fabric range is divided based on the fabric’s thickness, combinations, stretchability, and plushness. To make the research easy, here are different types of fleece fabric available in the market.
- Polyester fabric
Polyester fabric is the most popular fabric out there, especially for manufacturing sweatshirts and sweatpants. The fabric makes up a smooth surface from the outside and a plush feel from the inside, making this material one of the best for sweatshirts and hoodies. Compared to the cotton and fleece blend, the polyester fabric offers a smooth and shiny surface and is better at repelling moisture.
- Microfleece
Microfleece is another type of fabric specializing in being soft and highly comfortable. The material comes lightweight and has surprisingly unique features of being lightweight. This light feature makes the fabric the best option for manufacturing performance clothes like manufacturing a sports or fitness clothing line.
- Lycra or spandex blend
Spandex and Lycra are the same things, and both represent the same kinds of fabric, i.e., the fabric blends of fleece and spandex fabric. The highlining feature of the spandex fabric is that it adds a bit of stretch to the material. This fabric is usually used in the industry to make fleece hoodies for women. Moreover, it is also used to manufacture the kid’s clothing line.
- Polar fleece
If you want to explore a thick clothing line that provides maximum protection from the cold in the winter, polar fleece is the right option for you. Usually, polar fleece is used in manufacturing blankets and comforters because of its highly comfortable and soft structure. But they are also used for the manufacturing of the jackets.
- Cotton or cotton blended fleece
Cotton and cotton blend fleece is another standard fabric in the fashion industry that is widely used to manufacture sweatpants and sweatshirts.
- French terry fleece hoodie
The French terry fabric is also a popular fabric of the fleece blend family, and the material is combined from both sides, so the fluffy nap is something you should not expect from the French terry fleece.
- Slub fleece
The slub fleece hoodie is a knitting fabric in which two different types of sized yarns are twisted together, making fabric with a textured look. So if you are looking for a material with texture type structure and look, then slub fleece is the right kind for you.
- Sherpa fleece
Lastly, the sherpa fabric is quite popular in the fashion industry because of its fluffy and soft structure. The sherpa fabric provides a softness and comfort level like wool fabric. This sherpa fleece blend is used to manufacture clothes with extra warmth.
How the fleece fabric is made?
The needs of your customers and the intended function of the garment will both have an impact on the fleece apparel you choose. No matter what kind of material you use, screen printing on fleece has a number of challenges. When selecting and printing your shirts, keep in mind that most fleece clothing is susceptible to shrinking when exposed to heat.
The manufacturing of fleece fabric includes different raw materials. These raw materials are used in liquid form, heated to a certain temperature to combine. After they are combined, a liquid syrup is added to the blend using the disc having holes. It is usually called a spinneret. The spinneret hardens the combinations and converts them into strings, which are then woven together to form the basic structure of the fleece fabric.
After this, the fabric goes through the napper, which is brushed more to add texture.
Properties Of Fleece Fabric
The fleece fabric is famous for jackets, hoodies, and even sweatshirts. And it’s the highlighting properties of the fleece fabric make it one of the best options for hoodies and sweatshirts.
- Lightweight
- Wrinkle resistant
- Soft and comfortable to wear
- Easy to wash in a machine
- Dries quickly
- Highly breathable fabric
- Easy to blend with any other fabric
- Have pretty good odor-resistant qualities
- It provides good insulating properties
- Highly durable
Choosing The Right Fleece Fabric Blend for The Right Clothing Line
Even a bit of harsh, complex, or uncomfortable fabric goes ok with the T-shirt, but when it comes to hoodies or sweatshirt, you can’t compromise because fabric matter the most. How the material will feel against your skin is a pretty much important factor. How the fabric will be draped, how flowy the fabric is, or how durable the material is are some important buying factors that you must analyze to ensure you get the suitable fabric for your clothing brand.
The natural blend or synthetic blend? Which one to go for?
The natural blend
So far, you might already know about the standard fleece fabric blends like fleece with natural fabric like cotton fabric and more. The cotton fabric belongs to the natural family and shares excellent qualities like being soft and absorbent, making them a good fit for manufacturing a fleece hoodie for men. Manufacturing fleece hoodies with cotton and natural fabric don’t require any harmful chemicals to manufacture a good fleece lined hoodie or sweatshirt.
One thing you must forget about the natural blend is that they are easy to tear, which doesn’t make them much durable.
The natural fabric list includes
- Cotton
- Hemp
- Flax
- Bamboo
- Sisal
The Synthetic Blend
Here comes the unnatural fabric. Synthetic blends refer to a mixture of polyester fabric or nylon fabric with fleece fabric. The synthetic fabric is pretty much durable fabric compared to the natural fabric. The synthetic fabric is used with blends of fleece fabric when the clothing line needs to be stretchy and flexible. The synthetic fabric comes with quick drying properties, making the best swimwear and summer clothing line from the synthetic material. Such hoodies or sweatshirt like Nike sportswear tech fleece men’s full-zip hoodie, Nike men’s sportswear club fleece hoodie, or Nike tech fleece full-zip hoodie requires stretchable and flexible structure, so these hoodies’ synthetic blends are used.
One major drawback of the synthetic blend is that it might irritate the skin if worn longer. Also, it offers fewer breathability options than the natural combinations with the fleece fabric.
The synthetic fabric includes
- Nylon
- Polyester
- Spandex
- Acrylic
- Rayon
Is Fleece fabric natural or synthetic fabric?
Fleece is considered one of the best man-made fabrics. However, since a human processes it, it must be artificial. Polyester fibers, one of the most prevalent and adaptable synthetic materials used for fabric, are utilized to make most forms of fleece.
Some fleeces, like cotton fleece, are natural, though. Cotton fleece can be made from only cotton or cotton and polyester blended. However, fleece is highly robust and adaptive because it is mainly constructed of synthetic elements. Your decision on fleece fabric influences the needs of your clients as well as the garment’s intended use. There are several difficulties with screen printing on specific fleece blends, regardless of the material you use. When choosing and printing your shirts, keep in mind that most fleece clothing is susceptible to shrinking when exposed to heat. So indeed, there are a few things you should pay attention to before settling on a particular fabric type. Our next section will concentrate on the crucial considerations when picking a cloth in order to make the process easier for you.
What is The Softest Blend of Fleece Fabric?
As you know, the fleece is a versatile fabric with a number of blends, but as far as the softest blends are concerned, the plush fleece, microfleece, and sherpa fleece are considered some of the softest fabric blends available in the market. Manufacturers of fur jackets, blankets, and comforters commonly use these blends.
What is the Best Way to Care for the Fleece Fabric?
As mentioned earlier, different blends of fleece fabric are available in the market, so being an extra fabric, you might have to care about both materials differently. It’s essential to ensure you take care of the fleece blends and fabrics correctly. Although the fleece fabric isn’t difficult to handle, there are still a couple of tips that will definitely help you out.
- The synthetic blends of the fabric are not good performers against the heat, so you must keep it away from the heat, or else the material will be melted down. Make sure to wash the material in a cold or average temperature.
- In the manufacturing of synthetic fabric, there are already a couple of chemicals used in the production, so using bleach or other cleaning chemicals might damage the fabric.
- Instead of drying the fleece hoodies or sweatshirts in the machines, it is recommended to use the air drying method.
- To maintain the soft feel and touch of the fabric, use the washing machine at the gentle level
- Avoid warm or excessive heating around the fleece fabric—heat and high-temperature damage the fabric fibers, which loosens the strength between strings.
- Be careful when using iron over the fleece fabric. Keep the minimum temperature to avoid damage.
Conclusion
We no longer have those days when hoodies of fleece fabric are reticent for tourists, hikers, or adventurists. Still, there are several new blends of fleece hoodies, and each combination has unique properties. One of the most popular options for manufacturing fleece hoodies is lightweight fleece, which makes the fabric best for cool summer evenings, and mid-weight fleece. Heavy-weight fleece fabric is best and keeps your body warm in the winter.
Whatever you decide, a fleece hoodie is a cozy and functional addition to your outfit. Many different types of fleece hoodies are available, including ones produced from recycled materials (Synthetic fabrics), those with moisture-wicking capabilities, and those with extra insulation for exceptionally cold weather. Moreover, a popular option is the cropped fleece hoodie, which is trendy in the fleece hoodie category. By size, these hoodies are meant to be shorter and specifically crafted to complement high-waist pants or skirts.
