Polar Fleece

Polar Fleece

In 1979, when Malden Mills first sold their lightweight, hydrophobic polyester fleece under the trademark Polarfleece, they did not realize that they would be coining a term, i.e., polar fleece, that would eventually come to describe a type of fabric rather than a brand.

Malden Mills' original fabric was revolutionary because it was both lightweight and warm. It picked up less than 1% of its weight in moisture, and even when completely wet, it maintained its loft and insulating properties. It made an ideal outerwear fabric because it actively wicked moisture away from the body.

Today the term polar fleece is applied to a class of high technology, high performance products that offer tremendous warmth relative to their weight, that are soft to the touch, and that are able to wick moisture away from the body so that they feel dry even when soaking wet. This class of fabric includes both fleece and pile fabrics, even though the two fabric types are constructed differently.

Pile fabrics emerged in the 1960s and 1970s as a result of the introduction of finer gauge, high speed, computerized knitting machines with sophisticated jacquard capabilities accompanied by the introduction of microfibers--high-crimp polyesters and fine denier polypropylenes. Pile fabrics are slightly lighter in weight than fleeces. The loose fibers are dyed, mixed and combed into a long fluffy rope that is guided into a sliver knitting machine. The machine permanently locks the fibers into a fine denier backing. A pile results from the individual fibers standing on end. Finally, the fabric is sheared and finished.

In contrast, fleece is made by first twisting fibres into yarns that are then knitted into a fabric. The fabric is then brushed vigorously to loosen some of the fibers to create a fuzzy (fleece) surface that is then sheared and finished.

In 1998 there were a half dozen or so North American manufacturers of polar fleece; these included Malden Mills, Dyersburg Corporation, Menra Mills, Huntington Mills, Siltex Mills, and Glenoit Mills, in addition to numerous offshore producers.

The history of one leader in the fleece market, Dyersburg Corporation, parallels that of the industry. Begun in 1929 as a family-owned business, Dyersburg originally made cotton sweaters, long johns and cotton fleece gloves. In the 1930s, they introduced the first knitted fleece fabric, a wool blend. By the end of the 1960s, they had expanded into pile fabrics. In 1972, they followed up with the introduction of the first flame retardant fleece made of Monsanto's SEF Modacrylic. By 1976 they had become the leader in acrylic fleece production. During the 1980s they emerged as a fleece specialist. Responding to changing market trends, they put their expertise in surface finishing to work, creating new cotton-rich fleece products. In 1993 they introduced the world's first post-consumer recycled polyester fleece made from recycled plastic soda bottles.