Hoodie Manufacturing
Fleece or French terry first, weight second, and the inside face is what the customer judges on the second wear.
The specification questions in a hoodie programme are unusually concentrated: one fabric family decision, one weight decision, and a handful of finishing details that decide whether the garment feels premium.
- Three routes cover all 15 articles in this cluster
- Four specifications decide whether a hoodie reads premium or promotional
- Every route ends in a line you can send to a factory
Three routes, and you only need one of them
Start from the fabric family, from the weight, or from the finish that stretches the lead time.
Fleece or French terry comes first
Fleece has a raised inner face that traps air and pills over time; French terry has visible loops that give a drier hand and survive repeated washing better. A 400 GSM brushed fleece and a 400 GSM terry are entirely different garments at the same weight, so the fabric family has to be settled before weight is discussed. Match it to the climate you are selling into rather than to what a competitor used.
Weight sets the season and the price band
Weight moves the fabric cost, the freight weight and the perceived value at once, which makes it the most consequential single number in a hoodie programme. A 280 GSM loopback terry is a mild-weather product; a 450 GSM brushed fleece is a winter statement piece with a corresponding retail price. Buying one weight for the whole year is the cheapest way to be wrong in both seasons.
The inside face is what the customer notices second
The inner face is felt on the second wear, after the novelty of the outside has worn off. Specify the brushing, the loop length and any enzyme or silicone finish, then test it with five washes on a production sample. This is where a cheaper fabric shows its cost: the outside can look identical while the inside tells the customer exactly what they paid for.
The inside face is what the customer notices second
A brushed inside that pills, or a terry loop that feels scratchy, is the most common complaint after fit.
Cost and lead time are set by the finish, not the fabric
Hoodie lead times stretch because of the finishing steps: garment dye, acid wash, distressed finishing and heavy embroidery each add a pass through a different department and each carries its own failure rate. Ask for the lead time broken down by stage so you can see which step is holding the schedule. Cost behaves the same way, because the finishing is where a hoodie stops being a commodity.
What to settle before the first order
Write the four down, add the measured points and the colour references, and the quote you get back will be comparable with the next one. Hoodies are a category where buyers frequently order from a photograph and then negotiate about the result, and the negotiation is always more expensive than the specification would have been. Ask for a sample in the actual fabric, not a stock swatch, before the production run is booked. Two more things worth settling at the same time: the hood construction, because a two-panel and a three-panel hood differ in cost and in how the garment sits when it is worn up, and the pocket, because patch, kangaroo and welt pockets each add a different cutting and sew…
Four decisions decide a hoodie programme
Everything else on this page follows from these four.
Fleece or French terry
Brushed fleece traps air and pills; terry gives a drier hand and holds its shape longer. Same weight, different garment.
Weight sets the season
Under 300 GSM reads light, 400 to 500 GSM reads premium streetwear, and the freight weight follows.
The inside finish
Brushing, loop length and any enzyme or silicone finish are felt on the second wear, not the first.
Hood and pocket construction
Two-panel and three-panel hoods differ in cost and in how the garment sits when it is worn up.
Where to go from here
The guides around fleece and knit programmes.
Hoodie manufacturing questions
Is fleece or French terry better for a hoodie?
What GSM should a hoodie be?
Why does my hoodie pill inside?
How long does a hoodie order take?
Does a heavier hoodie always sell better?
Start a hoodie programme
Send the fabric family, the weight, the finish and the quantity per colour, and we will come back with a unit price, a lead time broken down by stage and a sampling plan.
Send your hoodie spec