Fleece
Also known as: Polar fleece
Double-brushed polyester circular knit with high insulation and a soft, wool-like hand.
Description
Fleece is a circular-knitted or warp-knitted polyester filament fabric whose surfaces are raised by rotating card wires, then sheared, polished and anti-pill treated. The base is usually a single jersey right-left knit or French terry that after brushing shows a dense, even pile of 1.5-3 mm on both sides. Circular knitting machines run at 18-24 gauge with yarn counts around 150-300 dtex.
Fabric weights range from 180 g/m² (micro fleece) through 200-260 g/m² (standard 200-weight) to 300-400 g/m² (300-loft) and 450 g/m² for heavy winter jackets. The pile traps air and insulates better per gram than boiled wool. Hand is soft and wool-like, water uptake is minimal, drying times short.
Care: wash at 30-40 °C without fabric softener, tumble on low. Microplastic issue: up to 250 mg of fibres shed per wash; a Guppyfriend bag reduces this significantly. Recycled polyester (rPET) and anti-shed constructions such as Polartec Power Air lower the environmental impact.
Properties
| Material base | Polyester filament (PES/rPET) |
|---|---|
| Fabric weight (typ.) | 180-450 g/m² |
| Handle | Wool-like, lofty |
| Application | Jackets, pullovers, blankets |
Related product categories
Sources & references
3- Wikipedia: Fleece Wikipedia — Freie Enzyklopädie https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleece
- Polartec Polartec / Milliken https://www.polartec.com/
- Textile Exchange Textile Exchange https://textileexchange.org/
