Fleece vs French Terry: Choosing for a Hoodie Program

Fleece and French terry are the same fabric before one extra process. Both start as a weft knit with loops on the back; on French terry those loops stay as loops, and on fleece they are brushed until they stand up as a nap. Everything that follows from the choice — the weight you can carry, the warmth, the season it sells in and what it costs — comes from that one step.

Choosing between them is not a question of which is better. It is a question of what the garment is for, and getting it wrong is expensive because the fabric is the largest single driver of the unit price. This is how we work through the decision with brands building a hoodie or sweatpant programme.

1. The difference is in the loop

French terry is a loopback knit: the face is smooth and the back carries unbroken loops of yarn. Those loops absorb moisture and give the fabric its softness without adding much thickness, which is why French terry works as a three-season layer rather than a winter one.

Fleece is the same base fabric with the back loops brushed and, on heavier weights, sheared to an even surface. Brushing pulls the loops up into a nap that traps air; the trapped air is what makes it warm. The cost of that warmth is weight and bulk: the brushed side is thicker, and the finished cloth is heavier per metre for the same base yarn.

2. Weight ranges and what each one is for

We hold and source from 240 to 500 GSM across these families. The useful way to read that range is by end use rather than by number, because the same GSM in a brushed fleece and in a French terry does not produce the same garment.

Fleece and French terry compared by weight, hand feel and end use

Fabric	Weight range we run	Hand feel	Suits
French terry (loopback)	240–320 GSM	Smooth face, soft looped back, lighter and more breathable	Three-season layering, warm-climate programmes, retail basics
Brushed fleece	280–400 GSM	Brushed nap on the back, softer and warmer for the same base yarn	Standard hoodies and sweatpants for autumn and winter
Heavyweight fleece	400–500 GSM	Dense, holds a boxy silhouette without collapsing	Streetwear programmes where structure and weight are the point
Cotton / polyester blends	Across the range	Blends add dimensional stability and reduce drying time	Programmes that get washed often, and uniform or teamwear

400 to 500 GSM is what the market calls heavyweight: dense enough to hold a boxy silhouette and to survive repeated washing without losing shape. A 240 GSM French terry does the opposite job — it is the fabric for a hoodie someone wears in a warm climate or layers under a coat.

3. What brushing costs you, and what it buys

Brushing adds warmth without adding much yarn, but it changes three things you will notice on the finished garment. The fabric gets thicker, so the same pattern takes more room in the marker and more room on the body. It gets less breathable, because the nap that traps air also holds heat in. And the surface becomes less even, which matters for decoration.

That last point is the one that catches people. A brushed surface carries fine print detail differently from a smooth one. We print and embroider on the cut pieces, before assembly, and we confirm the result on the actual fabric during sampling rather than assuming the artwork transfers the same way it did on the last one. If your design depends on fine detail, ask for a printed sample on the final fabric before you approve bulk. Brushing also changes how the cloth behaves across repeated washing, which is one of the things the relaxation and pre-shrink pass is there to stabilise before anything is cut.

4. How each behaves in production

Heavier cloth costs more per kilo and sews slower. That is true across both families and it is worth pricing in two ways: the fabric itself is more expensive, and the line runs slower on it because more material passes under the needle per seam. A move from 280 GSM to 450 GSM changes the unit price twice over.

Knits also move. Both families are relaxed before cutting so the fabric settles to its finished dimensions, and both are checked for shrinkage before bulk. The tolerance we hold on incoming cloth is ±5% of the specified GSM: every roll is re-weighed on arrival, and anything outside that is rejected rather than cut. A roll that arrives light will produce a garment that feels lighter than the sample approved.

5. What we confirm before bulk starts

Before a bulk run is cut, the fabric is confirmed on four points: composition against the specification, GSM against the target with the ±5% tolerance, shrinkage after the relaxation and pre-shrink pass, and shade against the approved colour standard. Those four are checked on the incoming cloth, not assumed from the mill’s certificate.

The reason is that the sample you approved was made from a specific roll. If bulk is cut from cloth that is lighter, a different shade, or unrelaxed, the finished goods will not match the approved sample, and the difference is visible on the shelf even where it is not visible on a spec sheet.

6. Choosing by season and market

For a programme selling into a single season, the choice is straightforward: brushed fleece at 320 to 400 GSM for autumn and winter, French terry at 240 to 300 GSM for spring, summer and warm climates. For a brand selling year-round in mixed climates, French terry is the more flexible base, because it layers and because the same style can be sold across more months.

Where the weight itself is part of the product — a streetwear programme, where the garment is bought because of how it hangs — heavyweight at 400 GSM and above is the point of the design rather than a means to keep someone warm. In that case the brushing matters less than the density, and the spec should say so. If you are undecided between two weights, ask for swatches at both: the difference is obvious in the hand in a way that a specification sheet does not convey.

7. What we hold, and what has to be made to order

Within the 240 to 500 GSM range, some constructions are held and some have to be knitted for the order. A standard cotton or cotton-rich fleece in a common weight is normally available from stock; a specific blend, an unusual weight, or a colour outside the standard shade card has to be made, and that adds the knitting and dyeing time before cutting can start.

This matters to the choice between the two families in a practical way. If your programme is on a held construction, the fabric decision does not move the timeline. If it needs a bespoke development, the lead time starts at the mill rather than at the cutting table, and it is worth agreeing the fabric well before you want bulk to begin.

We will tell you at the enquiry stage which of the two you are looking at, because it changes what we can promise. A swatch from a held fabric can be sent immediately; a development has to be lab-dipped and approved before it can be sampled in.

8. Frequently asked questions

Which one is warmer? Brushed fleece, at the same base yarn. The nap traps air, and the trapped air is the insulation.

Will my print look the same on both? The smooth face of a French terry and the brushed face of a fleece take print differently, especially at fine detail. We print a sample on the production fabric during the sampling rounds so you can approve the result before bulk.

Can I mix weights across one order? Each fabric is a separate specification and a separate setup, so a mixed-weight order is quoted as separate styles.

What is the GSM tolerance? ±5%. Every roll is re-weighed on arrival, and rolls outside the tolerance are rejected rather than cut.

Next step — request swatches

Tell us the garment, the season it sells in and the weight you have in mind, and we will send swatches at two weights so you can feel the difference before deciding. We run 240 to 500 GSM across French terry, brushed fleece and heavyweight fleece, and we make custom hoodies and sweatshirts on those fabrics in our own lines. The about page sets out how the fabric is checked before bulk.