Polar fleece is a softfabric made frompolyester that isnapped andinsulating.
PolarFleece is a trademark registered byMalden Mills (now Polartec, LLC) with theUnited States Patent and Trademark Office on October 6, 1981.[1] Malden Mills developed polar fleece in 1979.
Polar fleece is used injackets, hats,sweaters,sweatpants,cloth diapers (nappies), gym clothes,hoodies,pajamas, blankets, and high-performance outdoor clothing. The produced fleece can be used to create clothes that are very light, soft, and easy to wash. Polar fleece can stretch more easily in one direction than in others.[2]
Polar fleece originated inMassachusetts in 1979 when Malden Mills andPatagonia developed Synchilla (syntheticchinchilla).[3] It was a new, light, strongpile fabric meant to mimic, and in some ways surpass,wool. Malden Mills CEOAaron Feuerstein intentionally declined topatent polar fleece, allowing the material to be produced cheaply and widely by many vendors, leading to the material's quick and wide acceptance.[4][5][6] Malden Mills registered PolarFleece as a trademark with theUnited States Patent and Trademark Office on October 6, 1981.[7]
A lightweight, warm and soft fabric, fleece has some ofwool's good qualities. Polar fleece garments are traditionally available in the micro, 100, 200, and 300 variants, where the numbers represent the fleece's weight in grams per square meter (gsm). The heavier fleece are warmer.
Fleece can range from being high loft to tightlyknit. High loft fleece is warmer because it traps tiny air pockets which holds body heat.[8] Traditionally, polar fleece always had a two-sidedpile (i.e., they were fluffy on both sides), but now clothes are often advertised as polar fleece even if they lack a two-sided pile.[9][10] High pile fleece (which have a higher loft), will eventually lose some loft by becoming matted over time. High pile fleece are also more prone to collecting dirt than low pile fleece.
Fleece can also be made out of recycledpolyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, or even recycled fleece.
To prevent high pile fleece from matting, they can be brushed regularly (which also removes dirt) and hung rather than folded.[11] To remove already existing matting, rinse it in cool water and while it is still damp, gently and unidirectionally brush the matting out (while optionally lightly spraying it with water), and then use a lint roller.[12] Fleece is machine washable and dries quickly.
Fleece readily generatesstatic electricity, which causes the accumulation oflint, dust, and pet hair. It is also susceptible to damage from high temperature washing,tumble drying, orironing under unusual conditions. Lower-quality polyester fleece material is also prone topilling (i.e., the jacket's fabrics break and reform into tiny balls on the jacket).
It ishydrophobic, but it is not waterproof and can absorb water. When wet, it holds less than 1% of its weight in water, and depending on its weight takes 1–4 hours to dry (even on your body in cold temperatures).[13][14][15] Fleece loses most of its insulating quality when wet.[16] Regular polar fleece is notwindproof.[17][18]
Washing synthetic textiles like fleece releases microfibers, a type ofmicroplastic.[19] The release of these microfibers into the wastewater is proportional to the microplastic pollution in soil, marine, and freshwater habitats.[20] Studies also show that tumble drying of polyester releases airbornemicroplastics.[21]