Fleece Questions

[TrishWSU]

I was at Hancock Fabrics tonight and all their fleece is on sale so I got some of the stuff that is labeled "Anti-Pill" but it only comes in solid colors. I want to make some pull-on style fleece soakers so I wanted to get some cute prints, but I'm worried it will pill really bad after I wash it. Is there anyway to tell if fleece is going to pill badly before you buy it?

ETA: I had another ? so I added it at the bottom and changed the thread name

[ReneeC]

If the fleece is "hairy" (has long "fuzz") it will pill. The best way to see how bad the pilling will be is to rub the fleece with a fingertip in a small circle. If it pills up, it will do the same thing when you wash it.

I've found the best way to keep fleece covers looking nice is to wash them by themselves (or with other synthetics). Washing with cotton and other natural fibers makes the fleece attract the little bits of "fuzz" that natural fibers lose with each washing. Drying cotton and fleece together does the same thing. So I wash my cotton dipes in one load, and wash my microfiber towels, PUL covers and pockets, and fleece covers in another (smaller) load.

HTH!

[TrishWSU]

Ok, so I got some "low hair" printed fleece and washed it to see what it'd do and it didn't pill, yay!! So, can I use just a single layer as a cover or should I double it up? Same goes for the soild stuff I picked up. They're both about the same 'thickness' as my 200 wt MM fleece, the print is a little thinner.

[milehighmonkeys]

I typically do a single layer unless it's microfleece.