What Is Polyester Fabric? Where It Fits in a Clothing Line

Polyester fabric is knitted or woven from polyester fiber. Fiber makers produce it by melting a plastic called polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and spinning it into strands. Polyester passed cotton as the world's most used fiber in 2006 and made up 59% of all fiber produced in 2025. It's the natural fabric for pool swimwear and sublimated sportswear. Pleated skirts and loose-fitting kids' pajamas are harder to make in anything else.

Cones of pink, red, cream and orange polyester filament yarn.
Polyester filament yarn wound on cones.

Polyester fabric from polymer to yarn

PET is made by polymerizing ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid. Heated together with catalysts, they turn into a thick molten mass that can be spun straight into fiber. Mills then stretch the fresh strands to line up the polymer chains, and that alignment gives polyester its strength and stiffness.

Fine synthetic filaments drawn down from a spinneret on a spinning machine.
Filaments leaving a spinneret.

The strands either stay continuous as filament yarn or get cut short and spun the way cotton is. Filament yarn is glossier and stronger than spun yarn. Gym tops and satin dresses get their slick surface from it. Spun polyester has less shine. Its short fibers leave ends poking out of the yarn. For tees that shouldn't look synthetic, spun polyester is the right yarn.

Polyester drawn finer than the most delicate silk is sold as microfiber. Finer fibers make softer, more flexible fabric, and microfiber drapes easily and can feel like suede. Tightly woven microfiber shuts out wind and makes a good windbreaker fabric.

Polyester fabric in daily wear

Cyclists wearing fitted jerseys and padded shorts in a riding position.
Cyclists in fitted jerseys.

Untreated polyester shirts feel clammy on a hot day. The fiber absorbs so little moisture that sweat stays on the skin. Cotton soaks it up but takes much longer to dry. Workout pieces need a wicking finish that lets sweat pass through the fabric and dry on the outside.

Polyester resists shrinking and stretching in the wash. It dries quickly and comes out with few wrinkles. Plain polyester can go in a warm wash and a low dryer, and a moderately warm iron is enough if it needs pressing. Sublimated prints need gentler care because the dye starts moving again above 138°C (280°F). Their care label should call for a cold wash and low tumble drying. Ironing should stay at the one-dot setting of 110°C (230°F) or lower.

Polyester fabric by garment type

Activewear

Leggings and sports bras combine spandex with polyester or nylon. Nylon is exceptionally strong and abrasion resistant, but it holds up poorly in continuous sunlight. For leggings that take a lot of rubbing, nylon-spandex lasts longer. Printed designs and gear worn for hours outdoors belong in polyester-spandex. Sublimated designs, from team jerseys to printed leggings, need a fabric that's at least 65% polyester.

Finished numbered sports jersey being inspected in a garment factory.
A numbered sports jersey at inspection.

Approve a printed sample on the actual garment color before bulk for screen prints and DTF (direct-to-film) transfers on polyester. Heat from curing can pull dye out of a polyester garment and into the print. White lettering on a red jersey can turn pink.

OEKO-TEX, a testing and certification system for harmful substances in textiles, often found bisphenol A (BPA) in tests of textiles worn directly on the skin. The World Health Organization classes BPA as an endocrine disruptor. OEKO-TEX cut its STANDARD 100 limit for BPA from 100 to 10 milligrams per kilogram in April 2025. Get the fabric's current STANDARD 100 certificate in product class 2, the class for items worn against the skin, before you approve an activewear sample. Certificates last one year and can be checked online at any time.

Swimwear

Swim fabric is roughly four parts polyester or nylon to one part spandex. Polyester and nylon hold their shape when wet and dry fast. Chlorine attacks the spandex first and can cut a swim fabric's strength by 65% after 300 hours of chlorine and sunlight. Polyester stands up to chlorine well compared with nylon.

Make lap and swim-team suits in polyester-spandex. Seawater is gentler on swim fabric than chlorine. Nylon-spandex works for fashion styles worn mostly at the beach. Fabrics made with PBT, another type of polyester, are sold as more durable in chlorine. They make sense for team swimwear used in daily training.

Outerwear

Rain shells are made from polyester and from nylon, but the fiber matters less than the waterproof layer behind the face fabric. That layer is either a coating or a laminated membrane. Membranes stay waterproof longer and breathe better than coatings because they're thinner and can't wear off.

Durable water repellent (DWR) finishes on the face fabric make rain bead up and roll off. No DWR is permanent. Fluorine-free DWR keeps the jacket clear of state PFAS bans. Taped seams keep rain from seeping in through the needle holes.

Dresses

Very fine polyester filament is used as artificial silk. Dresses in chiffon or georgette need a lining. The two fabrics are see-through. Chiffon is a lightweight plain weave of finely twisted yarns. Georgette's dull, crinkled surface comes from yarns twisted in alternating directions, and crepe gets a similar fine crinkle from high-twist yarns or a crepe weave.

Mocha satin slip skirt with a lightly flared hem, worn with a brown knit top and pointed-toe pumps.
A satin slip skirt.

Heat-set pleats hold well in machine-washable polyester. It's the fabric for pleated dresses and skirts that get washed at home. Require a seam-slippage test on first samples in satin and chiffon. The lab pulls on a sewn seam and checks whether the yarns slide apart beside the stitching.

Basics

Cotton-rich fabric is the better pick for everyday tees. Cotton absorbs the sweat that polyester leaves on the skin. Polyester-cotton blends dry faster and wrinkle less than all-cotton. Training tees are where 100% polyester with a wicking finish makes sense.

Dusty blue quarter-zip fleece sweatshirt with a short upper-front zipper and raised collar.
A quarter-zip fleece sweatshirt.

Pilling is one of polyester's known weak spots. On fleece pullovers and quarter-zips, it's worth washing a sample and checking it for pills before you approve bulk.

Workwear

Polyester-cotton uniform fabric combines polyester's strength and wrinkle resistance with cotton's absorbency. Polyester attracts oily soil, and oil loosened in the wash can settle back onto it. Its low absorbency makes those stains hard to remove. Specify a hydrophilic soil-release finish on uniform fabric. Soil-release finishes are based either on fluorocarbons, which repel oil, or on hydrophilic substances that draw water to the fiber surface. Rhode Island's PFAS ban covers everyday work uniforms by name.

Children's sleepwear

Loose-fitting pajamas, nightgowns, robes and loungewear in sizes above 9 months through 14 have to pass federal flammability tests. Untreated 100% cotton, silk, rayon and modal typically fail them. Most fabrics that passed the 1972 standard without chemical treatment were polyester. It became manufacturers' fabric of choice for children's sleepwear.

Loose styles go through a lab accepted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in three rounds: the fabric, prototype garments and production garments. Production garments are tested in batches of up to 500 dozen. As the importer, you issue the Children's Product Certificate from those results. The garments need a permanent care label with instructions that protect their flame resistance and a unit-number label that traces them to the tested fabric and production lots.

Tight-fitting styles within the CPSC's maximum measurements skip the sleepwear tests but have to meet the general flammability standard for clothing. The front of the size label at the center back has to show WEAR SNUG-FITTING, NOT FLAME RESISTANT in capital letters directly under the size, inside a line border. The hangtag must read "For child's safety, garment should fit snugly. This garment is not flame resistant. Loose-fitting garment is more likely to catch fire."

State PFAS bans

State bans on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) cover apparel, including chemicals added to the fabric for a finish. New York and Rhode Island define the manufacturer as the company whose brand name is on the garment. The legal duty is yours. Keep a PFAS test report on file for any fabric with a repellent finish. An importer or first US distributor takes the manufacturer's role only when the brand owner has no US presence.

StateEveryday apparelOutdoor gear for severe wet conditions
CaliforniaBanned from Jan. 1, 2025, for PFAS added on purpose or total organic fluorine of 100 parts per million (ppm) or more, dropping to 50 ppm in 2027Banned from Jan. 1, 2028, with a "Made with PFAS chemicals" disclosure until then
New YorkBanned from Jan. 1, 2025, for PFAS added on purpose, with a limit set by regulation taking effect by Jan. 1, 2027Banned from Jan. 1, 2028
MaineBanned from Jan. 1, 2026Disclosure required from Jan. 1, 2029
VermontBanned from Jan. 1, 2026Not listed separately
WashingtonBanned from Jan. 1, 2027Reports due Jan. 31, 2027
Rhode IslandBanned from Jan. 1, 2027, including everyday work uniforms"Made with PFAS chemicals" disclosure required from Jan. 1, 2029
ColoradoBanned from Jan. 1, 2028Disclosure until the ban on Jan. 1, 2028
ConnecticutNotice to the state and a PFAS label on the product from July 1, 2026, then banned from Jan. 1, 2028Disclosure from Jan. 1, 2026, then banned from Jan. 1, 2028

California requires manufacturers to give sellers a certificate of compliance. The severe-wet category covers gear built for outdoor experts facing extreme, prolonged rain or immersion and not marketed to everyday consumers. An everyday rain jacket counts as ordinary apparel.

Recycled polyester claims

The recycled polyester in a garment almost always started as plastic bottles. Recycled fiber made up about 12% of all polyester in 2025, and bottles and other non-textile waste supplied 97% of it. Only around 3% came from old textiles, equal to 0.3% of all polyester. You'd need proof of textile-to-textile content before claiming your polyester came from old clothes.

Textile Exchange allows its recycled logos only when certification reaches the seller in the last business-to-business sale. That's generally the garment factory or the brand. A brand that sells to retailers has to be certified itself.

Under the Federal Trade Commission's Green Guides, an unqualified "recycled" claim is fair only when the whole product, apart from minor parts, is recycled. For a tee with 60% recycled polyester by weight, the tag should read "made with 60% recycled polyester." Broad terms like "eco-friendly" need a specific benefit you can prove right beside them.

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