Custom Fleece Fabric, Built for Your Brand

Loopback And Brushed Fleece

French terry has a smooth knit face and unbrushed loop back; 240–340 GSM works well for transitional hoodies, crews, and joggers. It stays less bulky and accepts screen print cleanly. Brushed-back fleece raises the reverse loops into a soft nap, usually at 280–420 GSM. It is warmer and more premium-feeling, but the brushed surface can pill and adds print-through risk on lightweight colors.

• Choose French terry for layering and garment dye
• Choose brushed-back fleece for colder-season sweat sets

Pile And Technical Fleece

Polar fleece is a knit pile with plush faces on both sides, while sherpa or teddy fleece has a deeper, curly pile. Both trap air efficiently, yet their volume and pile can complicate crisp printing. Bonded and performance fleece pair fleece with a woven, knit, membrane, or stretch backing. These technical constructions cost more, but improve wind resistance, recovery, or moisture management for active and outerwear programs.

• Use embroidery, patches, or transfers on pile fabrics
• Test bonded fabrics after washing for delamination

Sampling Priorities

One washed panel per candidate fabric should be tested with the intended print, embroidery, rib, and wash process. At Junsheen, swatches and sample garments let buyers compare hand feel, bulk, stretch, and decoration before bulk-material confirmation.

Fiber Trade-Offs

100% cotton delivers a soft, breathable hand and good insulation, but can shrink unless pre-shrunk; ring-spun yarn generally pills less than open-end. 100% polyester resists shrinkage, holds color well, and moves moisture better, yet feels less natural and can retain odor or pill without anti-pilling finishing.

Blends And Claims

60/40 and 80/20 cotton-poly blends balance softness, warmth, colorfastness, and dimensional stability for repeat programs. Recycled polyester can support a recycled-content claim only when the supply chain provides applicable certification. Organic cotton supports an organic-material claim only with certified inputs; GOTS documentation is stronger than an unsupported statement. Viscose adds drape and softness but may reduce resilience when wet.

Stretch And End Use

2–8% elastane improves recovery at cuffs, waistbands, and active silhouettes, but complicates recycling and may increase heat sensitivity. Match the blend to actual wear, wash frequency, and decoration method rather than chasing a single universal specification.

Color And Surface Development

Pantone lab dips are the practical starting point for solid colors; approve under agreed lighting before bulk dyeing. Yarn-dyed stripes or heathers need earlier yarn commitments and usually higher material minimums. Garment dye creates a washed, tonal look on completed cotton-rich styles, while acid, enzyme, and softening washes alter character. Brushing increases loft; anti-pilling finishing is especially valuable on high-friction fleece.

• Use all-over print on smooth face fabric, not deep brushed pile.
• Specify wicking or waterproof treatments with wash-performance targets.
• Test treatment compatibility before adding prints or heat-applied logos.

Match Decoration To The Face

Screen printing delivers durable, economical solid artwork on smooth cotton-face fleece, but heavy ink can crack if the garment stretches beyond the print film. Water-based ink retains a softer hand than thick plastisol. DTG suits detailed, short-run art on cotton-rich light or pretreated dark fleece. Heat transfers reproduce fine multicolor graphics but require controlled temperature and dwell time to avoid scorching or pile flattening.

Build Branding Into Construction

Embroidery, appliqué, patches, and labels add dimension, but dense stitches can distort lighter fleece or leave backing visible inside. Stabilizer, needle selection, and a sample wash test reduce that risk. Woven main labels, size labels, wash-care labels, and hang tags should be approved with placement and attachment method. Private-label trims are easiest to control when included in the pre-production sample.

Weight, Yarn, And Density

10–20 GSM tolerance is often workable for bulk fleece when the buyer approves a control swatch; tighter targets may increase sourcing difficulty. Request yarn composition, ring-spun or open-end specification, yarn count, stitch density, and loop consistency before dyeing. 24-hour relaxed GSM testing should be taken from multiple roll locations, because compacting and finishing can change weight. Dense, even knitting improves opacity and surface stability, while irregular loops can show through after brushing.

• Approve an unwashed and washed swatch
• Record GSM, width, and usable width
• Compare face, loop back, and pile uniformity

Finish And Wash Performance

3–5% dimensional change after the agreed wash method is a practical starting limit, although the garment specification should set the final allowance. Require wash-test results for length, width, twisting, shade change, and brushing loss before bulk release. Grade 3–4 or better colorfastness and pilling results are common approval benchmarks, subject to end use and test method. Evaluate anti-pilling finish after repeated washes, not solely from a new-cut swatch.

• Laundering shrinkage report
• Dry and wet rub colorfastness
• Pilling and surface abrasion result

Recovery, Seams, And Inspection

95% or higher recovery is a useful target for rib cuffs and stretch fleece after the specified extension, but verify it on the finished fabric. Test seam samples with the intended thread, needle, SPI, and flatlock or overlock construction to catch skipped stitches, puckering, and seam grin. Four-point fabric inspection before cutting should record holes, stains, barre, needle lines, shade variation, and pile defects by roll. Keep signed bulk standards, Pantone-approved shade bands, and a sealed pre-production swatch as the factory’s comparison reference.

• Approved lab-dip and bulk shade standard
• Sealed washed garment swatch
• Roll inspection and defect report

Verify Development Capability

100-unit programs need pattern review, GSM confirmation, and a signed sample before bulk booking. Ask whether the factory can source fleece, grade sizes, and retain the approved fabric specification.

• Request a tech-pack feasibility review
• Confirm sampling stages and revision limits
• Ask who owns pattern and material records

Audit Material Reproduction

Pantone approval should include a lab dip or strike-off under agreed lighting before production. Ask for composition, GSM tolerance, shrinkage results, pilling method, and whether the bulk mill can reserve the same construction.

• Match sample roll to bulk supplier
• Review wash, pilling, and color tests
• Approve a bulk fabric cutting before sewing

Compare Operational Evidence

80,000-plus monthly capacity matters only when the supplier provides a realistic production slot and inspection plan. Compare quotes for fabric, trims, decoration, packing, testing, freight terms, sample charges, and rework responsibility.

• Confirm in-line and final measurement checks
• Request compliance documents where required
• Set response times and approval deadlines

Specify Construction Beyond GSM

280 GSM can describe very different fabrics: a cotton-rich three-end brushed fleece, a lighter-loop French terry, or polyester-heavy open-end fleece. Prevent substitution by recording fiber percentages, yarn type, loop count or napping, finished GSM tolerance, usable width, and face/back reference swatch.

Control Shrinkage Before Grading

5% length shrinkage can shift a hoodie body by 3 cm after laundering. Require a pre-production wash test, then document wash method, maximum length and width shrinkage, torque allowance, and post-wash measurement chart in the sample approval.

Approve Color Under Multiple Lights

D65 daylight and warm retail lighting can expose a shade difference missed under one office lamp. Approve Pantone reference, dye lot, light-source results, and acceptable color tolerance against a sealed bulk standard.

Match Decoration To Surface

High-density prints may crack on highly brushed, stretchy fleece, while fine embroidery can sink into deep nap. Test the actual logo at production scale and document artwork size, placement, ink or thread specification, backing, stretch limit, and wash-test result.

Verify Durability And Claims

Grade 3 pilling after five washes may be unacceptable for premium retail fleece, even when the initial hand feel is soft. Set the required pilling method and grade, confirm recycled or organic claims with transaction documentation, and retain wash-test photos plus approved claim wording.

Define The Product Brief

One target customer, price band, and reference garment should anchor the first feasibility review. Specify silhouette, intended use, and fit from XS through 3XL where applicable. Two reference samples expose details a sketch can miss, including hood depth, rib recovery, pocket shape, and seam placement. Record all requested changes in one dated tech pack.

• Target retail price and margin
• Reference garment measurements
• Size range and grade rules

Lock Fabric And Components

280–400 GSM is a practical fleece range, but weight alone does not define hand feel or shrinkage. Approve composition, brushed-face treatment, color standard, and wash target from swatches. Pantone references, drawcord length, zipper specification, label artwork, and packaging must be signed off before bulk. Small-MOQ programs gain consistency by limiting each launch to proven fabric and trim options.

Test Samples Before Approval

One prototype verifies construction and decoration placement before a size set is made. Measure after washing, then assess shrinkage, pilling, color change, print durability, and rib recovery. A revised pre-production sample should incorporate every approved correction. Lock measurements with tolerances, artwork files, label placement, carton pack ratio, and final quantity on the purchase order.

Control Bulk Through Delivery

100 units per style and color can support an emerging-label capsule when the specification remains stable. Keep one decision-maker responsible for consolidated feedback and written approvals. Incoming material, in-line sewing, measurements, decoration, and final packed goods should be inspected against the approved sample. Confirm shipment method, delivery address, export documents, and balance timing before dispatch.