Custom Blank Hoodies Wholesale: How to Read a Catalogue

Blank does not mean stock. At SLSPOLO a blank hoodie is made to order in your fabric, colour and fit, from 100 pieces per style per colour, and left undecorated or decorated to your artwork; there is no stock-blank shortcut and no second tier. Reading a catalogue properly means reading four columns together: block, GSM, fit and decoration position. Get those four right and the first sample comes back close to what you pictured.

A catalogue line is a compressed specification. When a page lists a pullover hoodie at 320–500 gsm, it is telling you the block and the weight band the block has been run in. It is not telling you the fit, the fabric family or where artwork can go. Those three are chosen separately, and they are what a sample exists to confirm.

1. What “blank” means when the hoodie is made to order

Blank is a decoration state, not a product tier. In a stock programme, blank means a finished garment held in a warehouse and decorated later. In a made-to-order programme, blank means the same garment you would have decorated, built to your specification and stopped before decoration. The fabric, the construction and the inspection are the same either way.

That distinction matters at the quotation stage. Every hoodie on our hoodies category is produced fully custom, in your own fabric, colour, fit and trims, from 100 pieces per style per colour. There is no stock-blank shortcut and no second tier: one build standard, one published minimum.

What you do get from ordering blank is control of the surface: an undecorated garment you can print, embroider or transfer yourself, or hold for a programme you decorate elsewhere. It also removes one variable from approval, because fit, weight and construction are signed off without artwork in the way.

2. Pullover or zip-up: the decision that fixes everything after it

The block comes first because it sets the panel layout, and the panel layout sets where decoration can go. A pullover hoodie carries a kangaroo pocket, a lined hood and a drawcord, and runs at 320–500 gsm. A zip-up runs at 320–420 gsm and adds a zip tape, gauge and puller, and turns the front of the garment from one print field into two.

Two consequences follow. A full-front print on a zip-up has to be split either side of the tape, which means two panels, two templates and a registration check across the closure. A pullover keeps a single unbroken centre-front field but puts a bar-tacked pocket mouth across the lower part of it, so a large chest placement has to be measured to clear the pocket opening.

The rest of the hooded and hoodless range sits around those two. A half-zip sweatshirt runs at 320–420 gsm, a crewneck with no hood spans 240–500 gsm, a co-ord set runs at 320–420 gsm, and a teamwear or uniform hoodie sits lower at 280–360 gsm. On hooded styles the hood is cut as two or three panels, and eyelets and drawcord are set before the hood is joined to the body.

3. Fit: regular, relaxed, oversized, boxy and cropped

Five fits cover the hoodie programmes we build: regular, relaxed, oversized and boxy with a dropped shoulder, cropped, and slim. They are not five separate patterns so much as five sets of ease and proportion applied to a base block, and the distance between two of them is a shoulder drop, a body width and a body length.

Fit cannot be read on its own. A boxy fit at 320 gsm hangs differently from the same fit at 480 gsm, and 400–500 gsm is what the market calls heavyweight: dense enough to hold a boxy silhouette. If a catalogue gives you a fit name with no weight beside it, the fit name is doing less work than it appears to be doing.

4. Size range and grading: the other half of the fit column

Size range is the other half of the fit column. XS to 3XL is standard, graded to the size chart of your market rather than to a generic block, with US, EU and Asian grading available and 4XL–5XL on request. A full graded size set is made rather than only the sample size, so you can check the fit at both ends of the range.

The practical test is to agree the fit on a garment rather than in words. Send a sample, or ask for a graded set, and measure chest, body length and sleeve length against the size chart you intend to sell from.

5. Reading GSM: what the number does and does not tell you

GSM is grams per square metre: the weight of one square metre of finished cloth. It is the most useful number on a hoodie line and the most commonly misread one, because the same figure behaves differently in different fabric families. Our hoodie range is held and sourced from 240–550 GSM.

Four families do the work inside that band: French terry in 100% cotton or CVC at 240–320 gsm, brushed fleece in cotton or poly at 320–420 gsm, heavyweight fleece at 400–500 gsm, and poly-cotton performance fleece at 280–360 gsm. Cotton-rich 2×2 rib is used at cuff, hem and neck for recovery.

As a working guide, 280–320 suits layering and warm climates, 320–400 is the all-season retail hoodie, and 400–500 is the band you pick when the garment has to hold a boxy silhouette and be sold as heavyweight. Moving from 320–420 adds roughly 30–35% more fabric by weight.

The figure on the line is a target, not a tolerance. Weight is confirmed on the finished cloth: every roll is re-weighed on arrival and rejected outside ±5%, and shade is checked roll by roll under D65 before cutting.

Loop-back and brushed sit in the same weight band doing different jobs. Loop-back keeps the unbrushed loop side next to the skin, so it stays dry and prints cleanly on a flat face; brushed fleece is raised on the back into a nap that adds warmth. The full comparison sits on our page about fleece and French terry.

6. Where decoration can sit on a hoodie

Four positions carry most hoodie artwork: chest, back, sleeve and hood. Decoration is applied at the cut-piece stage, while the panels are still flat, and placement follows a template made off the confirmed pattern rather than an estimate taken on a finished garment. That is a detail worth checking when you read a catalogue: whether decoration goes onto panels, or onto made-up garments.

Give placement as a measurement, not as a description. A position taken from the high point of the shoulder or from the centre front can be templated and repeated across a run; a position described as centred on the chest cannot. Each colour at each placement needs its own screen, so positions and colours per position drive the decoration work.

Three physical constraints catch buyers out. The hood is cut as two or three panels, so artwork crossing the hood seam has to be split and registered across it. A kangaroo pocket occupies the lower centre front and is bar-tacked at both openings, which caps how low a front placement runs. Rib at the cuff and hem limits how far a sleeve print can travel.

Method follows position. Screen print in plastisol and water-based ink suits flat graphics at volume; puff print gives a raised surface; DTG covers photographic artwork; embroidery runs flat and 3D puff, with chenille and applique for varsity styles; heat transfer and silicone suit performance fabrics. Acid wash, enzyme wash and garment dye are applied to the made-up garment and then re-measured.

7. The selection table: matching a blank to its end use

Blank hoodie selection reference: block, weight band, fit, decoration route and the programme each row suits
Block	Typical GSM	Fit it holds	Decoration route	Programme it suits
Pullover hoodie, kangaroo pocket, lined hood, drawcord	320-500	Regular, relaxed, oversized	Centre chest print, back print, embroidery	Retail and streetwear core
Zip-up hoodie	320-420	Regular, relaxed	Split front panels, chest embroidery, sleeve print	Layering pieces, uniform outer layer
Oversized and boxy, dropped shoulder	400-500	Oversized, boxy	Large back print, puff, chenille	Premium streetwear drops
Cropped hoodie	320-420	Cropped	Small chest embroidery, chest print	Fashion capsules
Crewneck sweatshirt, no hood	240-500	Regular, relaxed, boxy	Chest and back print, garment dye	Year-round basics
Teamwear and uniform hoodie	280-360	Regular, relaxed	Names and numbers by heat transfer, chest embroidery	Clubs, staff and workwear

Read the table left to right: the block sets the panel layout, the weight band sets the season and silhouette, the fit column gives the ease the block was run in, and the decoration route tells you what those panels can carry. Our custom hoodie manufacturing page carries the same blocks with the full construction detail.

Frequently asked questions

What does blank mean on a custom hoodie order?

Blank means undecorated, not lower grade. The garment is built to your fabric, colour, fit and trims in the same way a decorated order is built, and the run stops before artwork is applied. Every hoodie is fully custom from 100 pieces per style per colour, and there is no stock-blank tier held behind it.

Can one hoodie block be built in more than one fit?

Yes. Regular, relaxed, oversized and boxy with a dropped shoulder, cropped and slim are sets of ease and proportion applied to a base block, so the same block can be sampled in more than one fit. Each fit you want to see needs its own sample, and the weight band changes how each one hangs, so settle the fit and the GSM together rather than one after the other.

Which GSM should I choose for a hoodie I plan to print on?

320–400 gsm is the all-season band and the one most printed programmes land on; 280–320 suits layering and warm climates, and 400–500 is chosen when the garment has to hold a boxy silhouette and be sold as heavyweight. Loop-back French terry has a flatter face and prints cleanly, which is worth weighing against the warmth of brushed fleece.

Where can artwork sit on a hoodie?

Chest, back, sleeve and hood are the four positions that carry most artwork. Decoration is applied at the cut-piece stage against a template taken from the confirmed pattern, so give placement as a measurement from the high point of the shoulder or from the centre front. The hood seam, the bar-tacked pocket mouth and the cuff and hem rib are the three things that cap how far a placement can run.

Can I mix sizes and colourways in one blank hoodie order?

Sizes can be mixed inside one style: XS to 3XL is standard, graded to the size chart of your market, with 4XL–5XL on request. Colourways cannot be mixed to reach the minimum, because each colourway is a separate dye lot and a separate run, so a two-colour order is 100 pieces of each. The minimum is counted per style, per colour.

Next step

Send the block you want, the weight band you are aiming at, the fit and the positions your artwork needs, and we will confirm which rows of the table apply and what has to be signed off before sampling. Sampling runs 3–7 working days and bulk runs 15–25 days after approval, both from a confirmed specification. Start from the blank and printed hoodie range, see the hoodie factory capabilities behind the range, read the quantities on our minimum order page, or send the specification to our enquiry desk.