Fabric Definitions — definitions of fabrics, cloths, laces and textile materials from Apparel Search
The most common fleece on the market, polar fleece, is a soft napped insulating fabric made from polyester and other synthetics. It originated in Massachusetts in 1979, when Malden Mills — later Polartec LLC — and Patagonia developed Synchilla as a light, strong pile fabric meant to be a man-made alternative to wool, with some of wool qualities at a fraction of the weight.
What is fleece and is it different than polar fleece?
The most common type of fleece on the market, polar fleece, is made from polyester and other synthetic fabrics.
Polar fleece originated in Massachusetts in 1979. A large fabric mill named Malden Mills, (which later became Polartec LLC), and Patagonia developed Synchilla (synthetic chinchilla). It was a new, light, strong pile fabric meant to become a manmade fiber alternative to wool.
Polar fleece is a soft napped insulating fabric made from polyester.
A lightweight, warm and soft fabric, fleece has some of wool's good qualities but weighs a fraction of the lightest available woolens. Polar fleece garments traditionally come in different thicknesses: micro, 100, 200, and 300, with 300 being the thickest and least flexible.
Polar fleece is used in jackets, fleece hats, sweaters, sweatpants, gym clothes, hoodies, blankets, high-performance outdoor clothing, and more. It can be made partially from recycled plastic bottles and is very light, soft, and easy to wash. Polar fleece can stretch more easily in one direction than in others.
Polar fleece is renowned for it's ability to insulate even after getting wet. Polar fleece is a quick-drying material that is typically used for insulating outdoor clothing.
Non-recycled fleece is made from non-renewable petroleum derivatives.
What is a micro fleece? Microfiber (or microfiber) is synthetic fiber finer than one denier or decitex/thread, having a diameter of less than ten micrometres. This is smaller than the diameter of a strand of silk (which is approximately one denier), which is itself about 1/5 the diameter of a human hair. Micro fleece is even softer than polar fleece.
Coral fleece has a higher pile than polar fleece. It is thicker. You can think of it as "furrier" than polar fleece. Coral fleece can shed at the edges due to its furry texture. It also tends to have more stretch than polar fleece fabric.
Learn about women's fleece clothing in our women's clothing guide section.
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Polar fleece was a deliberate engineering answer to wool: keep the insulation principle — a lofty structure that traps still air — while removing wool weight, slow drying and cost. The fabric is knitted, then its surface is brushed and sheared into a dense pile of polyester fibers. Polyester contributes the decisive advantages: it is hydrophobic, so the pile keeps its loft and much of its insulating value when damp where wool grows heavy; it is strong for its weight; it washes easily and dries fast; and it can be made partly from recycled plastic bottles. The compromises are equally characteristic: fleece offers little wind resistance on its own, so in outdoor systems it works as a mid-layer under a shell; it can pill at the surface; and non-recycled fleece is made from non-renewable petroleum derivatives, a fact stated plainly in the definition and central to buying decisions between recycled and virgin production.
The weight numbers are a layering language. Micro and 100-weight fleeces serve as light sweaters, liners, hats and gloves — warmth per gram is high but total insulation modest. The 200 weight is the general-purpose outdoor fleece of jackets and hoodies. The 300 weight is a heavy, bulky insulator for static warmth in cold conditions, too thick to layer comfortably under close-fitting shells. Directional stretch is part of the specification too: polar fleece stretches more easily in one direction than the other, and pattern makers place that give where a garment needs movement. Beyond polar fleece, the family widens — micro fleece for softness and fine hand, coral fleece for a thick, fur-like pile in blankets and loungewear — but all share the knitted-and-brushed pile construction that 1979 established. For shoppers the practical checks are weight for the intended layer, surface quality (dense, even pile pills less), and recycled content where that matters.
They grade the weight and thickness of polar fleece garments: micro is the lightest, then 100, 200 and 300, with 300 the thickest and least flexible. Higher numbers give more insulation and bulk; lower numbers layer more easily under shells and are used for lighter sweaters, hats and active wear.
Micro fleece is made from microfiber — synthetic fiber finer than one denier, less than ten micrometres across — and is even softer than standard polar fleece, with a finer, denser pile. It gives a smoother, lighter layer, while coral fleece goes the other way: a higher, thicker, furrier pile than polar fleece, with more stretch and some shedding at the edges.
Its polyester pile traps air in a deep, resilient loft, and polyester itself absorbs very little water, so the trapped-air structure survives wetting far better than a collapsed natural pile. Fleece is also quick-drying, which is why it became a standard insulating material for outdoor clothing.