Our Top 10 Best-Selling Fabrics for Performance Tops are often used to manufacture athletic and activewear shirting.
When manufacturers ask us which fabrics to use for activewear tops our sales consultants first listen to their goals for function, capability and pricing. Then, depending on the project requirements we most often suggest one or more of the fabric choices we've listed below so we wanted to share these with you. These fabrics are recommended for most athletic performance tops and they offer softness and cool feel.
Applications include sports such as: baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cycling, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, paintball, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball. A brief summary of each fabric is listed below, along with the links to each product page for more information.
- Polyester Micro Fiber (Birdseye) Flatback Mesh, 2A Wash This mesh fabric is a popular choice for various types of athletic shirts and jerseys. Also known as No Hole Mesh or Birdseye, this fabric is specially treated with a wicking finish for performance wear. The material is ideal for dye sublimation and is a nice apparel weight for comfortable shirts for a wide variety of sports. The fabric is often used in team apparel for bicycling, field hockey, volleyball, baseball and for football workout jerseys. We also offer a heavier weight fabric, Polyester Micro Fiber Heavy (Birdseye) Flatback Mesh, 2A Wash. The heavier fabric is engineered for cooler weather and increased durability.
- Polyester Boxed Flatback Mesh, Wicking Finish Our Polyester Boxed Flatback Mesh is often used in shirting for bicycling, field hockey, volleyball, baseball and football workout jerseys. The material offers performance features including wicking and anti-microbial finishes, and it's excellent for creating custom team apparel using dye sublimation.
- Spun Polyester T-Shirt Jersey Fabric, High Loft, Wicking Finish Our Polyester High Loft T-Shirt Fabric is ideal for manufacturing T-shirts and related shirting where a quality, lightweight jersey fabric is needed. This material offers a wicking finish for performance. The spun polyester in this fabric feels like a cotton, and is designed for those who want the feel of a high-end "beefy" athletic T-shirt. This is another fabric that is excellent for creating custom fashions with dye sublimation.
- 84/16 Polyester Spandex Semi Matte Tricot, Wicking Finish Tight-fitting compression tops for athletic, military and workwear apparel are often manufactured with our 84/16 Polyester Spandex Semi Matte Tricot. The tight fit and great stretch of this blended fabric allow for a comfortable wear and good lateral movement. This fabric is excellent for creating custom apparel with dye sublimation, and it's also available in a full dull version for superior opacity.
- 92/8 Polyester/Spandex Micro Fiber, Wicking Finish, Anti-Microbial Our 92/8 Polyester Spandex Micro Fiber knit is a popular choice for casual fit and tight-fitted compression activewear and athletic clothing that is currently very popular. The wicking and anti-microbial finish of the material, tight fit, and great stretch of this blended fabric allows for a comfortable wear and good lateral movement. These attributes make this spandex fabric popular in casual lifestyle wear and athletic apparel, most notably in yoga, hiking, volleyball, and lacrosse. This fabric is excellent for dye sublimation printing.
- 90/10 Polyester Micro Fiber/Spandex, Woven 4-Way Stretch, WR. Optic White This fabric is popular for sports with quick and extreme movements as it offers great stretch and flexibility. The elasticity in this product is greatly improved by the special construction of micro fiber spandex in the material. This polyester stretch fabric also prints very well, making it an excellent choice for dye sublimation. Basketball jerseys that offer the traditional, heavier feel are often made from this fabric, along with shorts for coordinating uniforms. Other common applications are for ultimate fighting, wrestling, boardshorts, swimwear and a variety of surfwear-inspired streetwear for active lifestyles.
- Polyester Woven 2-Way Micro Stretch Our Polyester Woven 2-Way Micro Stretch is used in all athletic markets, from golf windshirts to shorts and workout pants. This fabric is often used for sports with quick and extreme movements like ultimate fighting, as this fabric offers great flexibility. This woven polyester material is wrinkle-resistant, is a comfortable fabric, and has good wind and water resistance. It dries quickly and is popular for creating custom apparel using dye sublimation.
- Polyester Scuba Polyester Scuba is a mid-weight circular knit fabric that is a popular choice when great stretch and recovery along with durability and wrinkle resistance are important. Common applications of our Polyester Scuba fabric include jerseys, baseball pants, sporting goods and team apparel for a wide range of sports. This fabric is often used in cheerleading tops and bottoms, and in team apparel for cool weather. Our Polyester Heavy Scuba, Wicking Finish is a slightly heavier version of our traditional Polyester Scuba listed above. The heavy scuba is available in white and is ideal for creating custom team apparel using dye sublimation printing. The Polyester Heavy Scuba also offers increased abrasion-resistance and pill-resistance.
- Polyester Athletic Mesh Our 75 Denier Polyester Eyelet Athletic Mesh is ideal for many sports apparel applications. This polyester mesh fabric is used for both tops and bottoms for athletic apparel, and in all youth sports including soccer, lacrosse, football and basketball. This fabric is ideal for dye sublimation. We also offer the related Polyester Heavy Athletic Mesh, which has a heavier hand and provides increased durability.
- Polyester Dazzle The shiny bright yarn in this fabric gives an appealing "dazzle" athletic look. Often used for sports apparel for soccer, lacrosse, basketball and football, this fabric is ideal for dye sublimation. We also offer Heavy Dazzle, which offers a heavier feel and increased strength and durability.
Want to see for yourself? Request a sample today by calling one of our sales consultants at 855.618.4500 or leave a message on the web by clicking the red help button on the right side of this page and we'll be in touch with you soon.
