French Terry

French terry is often mistaken for fleece, but flip either one inside out and the difference is obvious: fleece has a brushed nap, while this fabric has small, uncut loops left right where the knitting machine formed them. That loopback construction runs lighter than most fleece, usually 8-10 oz, and it breathes better because the loops stay open instead of matting into a solid brushed surface.

It's the fabric behind the 'elevated basics' look — premium joggers, lightweight crewnecks, and fashion-forward sweats that are meant to drape rather than insulate hard. Brands like Bella+Canvas and Independent Trading built entire loungewear lines around French terry because it reads soft and expensive without the bulk of a heavyweight fleece hoodie.

On press, the loops in French terry compress more predictably under heat and pressure than deep fleece nap does, so both screen printing and DTG perform closer to a jersey tee's results — though the smooth face, not the looped interior, is always the print side. Pros still bump ink deposit slightly above a standard tee spec to account for the texture underneath.

The recurring mix-up is buyers using 'terry' and 'fleece' interchangeably on a purchase order, which sends the wrong blank to the press. French terry's open loops and lighter weight change both the drape of the finished garment and how a large graphic sits on it, so the two aren't safe to substitute for each other.