How to Wash & Maintain Your Fleece

How do you stay comfortable for extended periods outdoors in nature? Bring a fleece.

Fleece is a staple for anyone who traverses the outdoors, for good reason. Since fleece are often worn as a mid-layer or outer layer, it tends to get frequent use, which means correct washing and care are essential.

Washing your fleece will help keep the material soft, maintain the loft, and so will extend the life of the fleece too. It’s well worth learning or following a set of instructions for maintaining your fleece tops.

In this guide, we’ll explain how to wash your fleece, how to dry fleece, whether fleece can go in the dryer and general information on looking after your fleece and fleece jackets.

So, how do we wash our fleece? In this section, we’ll talk through everything you should do before and during washing your fleece. Be mindful that any advice we give is generic. You should always read your fleeces label for specific details such as what temperature to wash at, whether you can iron the fleece, etc.

• Check the care label: Look for washing temperature, drying temperature or even if your specific fleece should dry cleaned.
• Turn the fleece inside out to protect the pile: During tumbling in the machine, the fleece will rub against other garments. If your fleece is not inside-out, this will encourage piling, shortening the life of the fleece.
• Fasten up all buttons, zips and touch fasten or Velcro: This step lowers the chance of any snags or anything catching on the fleece, which is one of the more damaging things that can happen to the garment.
• Wash on a cool wash: We always recommend washing all clothing on a cool wash. Hot washes, especially with synthetic materials, can warp the fibres, meaning your fleece may not fit the same after a hot wash. It is also better for the environment.
• Avoid washing with tougher fabrics: Wash fleece with other fleece. If you’ve turned your fleece inside out already, washing with other garments like jeans can still potentially cause damage to the garment, for example, if a pair of jeans' zip catches on your fleece, it will spend the rest of the wash cycle pulling the sensitive fabric.
• Use a mild detergent: Harsh detergents can strip fibres. Ensure that you avoid bleach entirely.

If you’ve followed our instructions on washing fleece, you’ll likely already know what to do and what not to do. However, for your convenience, we’ve created a short list of things to remember when it comes to maintaining your fleece and preventing pilling.

• Wash inside out.
• Don’t overload the machine.
• Wash with similar soft fabrics.
• Air dry instead of tumble drying.
• Store folded, not crushed.

Yes, you can, though we would recommend that you don’t tumble dry your fleece. High or consistent heat can warp, dry out, flatten or even melt the fleece fabric, reducing the insulation properties and shortening the life of the fleece. Whilst air drying will preserve loft and avoid pilling.

Looking after your fleece is very simple and, once you know, there’s no reason not to take care of your fleece. You’ll get more life out of it, it’ll keep you warmer for longer, and it will look nicer for longer.

We’ve created other care guides for looking after your outdoor clothing. Our most popular post is How to Wash & Maintain a Puffer Jacket.

Why not add to your fleece collection? We have a range of warm, functional mens fleece and women's fleece available to browse.

To maximise the life of your fleece:

• Avoid ironing. Direct heat can melt fibres.
• Spot clean stains. Treat marks early with mild soap.
• Avoid high heat exposure. Don’t leave your fleece to dry on hot radiators or heaters.