Customer Guide: Why it is Important to Know Your Sportswear Fabric

The right choice of sportswear fabric will not only your team look and feel good about their uniforms but this also contributes to your players’ performance whilst on the court. 

Here is a less than 5-minute read about sportswear fabrics and how important it is for you.

What are the factors that affect your choice of fabric?

• Comfort - Does your sportswear offer this? A wrong choice of fabric, like a poor fit, can totally distract you from focusing on performance. You really need fabric that is not only comfortable against the skin, but the right weight fabric to keep you comfortable, safe and with full mobility.
• Strength and Durability-  Functional sportswear should be suitable for its purpose, of durable fabric that is abrasion, pilling, with enough stretch and tear resistance to withstand the significant rigours of the contest.
• Moisture-wicking -  Dehydration and heat exhaustion is one of the worst enemies of every athlete especially during the summer season. A good choice of sportswear should have moisture-wicking properties to help players regulate their body heat by increasing cooling and moving sweat away from the body for quick evaporation.
• Other Properties - Antibacterial, warming, magnetic, form fitting, quick drying, compression level or elasticity are other performance enhancing benefits available from either natural, man made or a combination of materials. Laminated, treated, infusing, double knitted, static and other processes are used to blend science and nature. 
• Environmental Impact - environmental sustainability by using recycled and recyclable materials is a green choice that doesn't have to impact performance and may save us money in the long term by reducing pollution and waste. 
• Easy Sublimation - though this does not directly affect your players’ performance, this will ensure that your team uniform colours and sponsor logos will look bright and crisp for many years with proper care and maintenance. Certain types of sportswear fabrics like Polyester are perfect for sublimation and won’t easily fade with proper care thus helping your team get greater savings instead of replacing your team uniforms each and every season.
• Weather Protection - This has also become an important factor when it comes to modern sportswear designs. Some fabrics are also waterproof, breathable, sunsafe and wind resistant that help players maintain performance at their highest level.

Common Types of Sports Fabric and Their Difference

C2C uses many types of fabrics for different garments to give the best performance for every sport and player. Some examples are below:

• 100% Polyester for sublimated garments-  Polyester is a popular choice for sportswear due to high strength and durability of this fabric that can help withstand strong and repetitive movements of players. This fabric is also known for its moisture-wicking properties and is wrinkle-resistant that is helpful to keep the original shape and form of your sportswear even after long-time use. It is the way it is woven into thread from microscopic fibres and made into fabrics that can wick moisture away from the body. Fabrics made from 100% polyester give the best results for sublimated basketball uniforms or other custom products. As the ink is impregnated directly into the fibres, not printed on top, it will rarely fade like cotton. Take note nothing is 100% fade proof if left under the sun or exposed to the elements for long periods. 

• Cooldry for essential range uniforms, polos, etc - This kind of fabric is superior in sweat wicking and quick drying, making it more beneficial when sweating. Its unique cross-shaped knitting structure provides breathability and hollow fibre or chemical treatment wicks sweat away from the skin surface to the outside of the fabric layer.
• Coolmesh (butterfly mesh) for high performance/unstoppable uniforms- Our base-level fabric yet sets a very high standard in functional sports fabrics. Your custom Basketball Kit will provide exceptional moisture wicking properties to help keep you cool and dry during wear.

• Elastomeric (spandex and lycra) - C2C also uses stretch fabrics with elastomeric yarn for unstoppable range uniforms like custom netball uniforms due to its ease of movement and shape retention which are important properties for sportswear. Lycra is the famous Dupont trademarked type of elastomeric yarn, which like spandex has the ability to stretch up to seven times its original length without the worry of losing its normal state when released. Imagine how compatible it is for your intense movements on the court!

Can you tell the difference?

C2C uses many different types of fabric depending on the needs of the sport, equipment used and athlete contact and these are just a few of the most common fabrics we use. If you have any questions on the specific fabric we use on your type of product that you prefer, we’re happy to discuss it with you!

Takeaway Tip: If your custom sportswear supplier is confident about the fabrics they use, they should be transparent about it and will not hesitate to discuss them with you. Quality should always come first before design or quantity because this will make you wear your team uniforms longer at their best condition.

Do you find this blog helpful? Or do you have any recommended topics that you would like us to write about? We’ll be happy to hear your comments!