Blank joggers and sweatpants: buyer's guide

Fleece bottoms come up whenever an order covers more than the top half: team warm-ups, school spirit wear, a gym's lounge line, a camp bundle. Picking the blank comes down to leg style, fleece weight, fiber and cut. Fiber matters most, because it decides which decoration methods you can use. This guide goes deep on fleece. Work pants and athletic shorts are in the blank bottoms guide.

These twelve styles cover the main leg styles, weights, fibers and cuts:

• Gildan Unisex Heavy Blend Joggers (18250): 8 oz, 50% cotton / 50% polyester, unisex, modern classic fit. Best for team and school orders that mix embroidery and screen print.
• Gildan Unisex Heavy Blend Open-Bottom Sweatpants (18400): the same 8 oz 50/50 fabric with an open bottom, classic fit. Pairs with the 18250 on spirit-wear orders.
• Hanes Unisex EcoSmart Sweatpants (P650): 7.8 oz fleece, 50/50, unisex. Works for embroidered or screen-printed school and camp runs.
• Lane Seven Unisex Urban Joggers (LS16006): 10 oz fleece, 80% cotton / 20% polyester, unisex, relaxed fit. Best for a retail lounge line, printed or stitched.
• TriDri Women's Fitted Maria Joggers (TD055): 7 oz, 60% cotton / 40% polyester, women's slim fit. Made for women's gym and lounge lines.
• TriDri Unisex Riley Cargo Joggers (TD604): 8 oz fleece, 60/40, unisex. The cargo option for retail.
• Badger Men's Sport Athletic Fleece Joggers (1215): 9.5 oz ringspun, 60/40, men's. Suits men's warm-ups with an embroidered logo.
• Badger Men's Performance Fleece Joggers (1475): 7 oz fleece, 100% polyester, men's. Best for sublimation and heat-applied vinyl.
• Holloway Youth Fleece Joggers (229648): 9 oz fleece, 60/40, youth. Fits youth teams and camps.
• J. America Unisex Tie-Dyed Fleece Joggers (8884): 7.5 oz fleece, 55% cotton / 45% polyester, tie-dyed. Event and festival merch with a stitched mark or screen print.
• Boxercraft Unisex Flannel Joggers (BM6625): 4.3 oz flannel, 100% cotton, unisex. A light flannel pant for screen print or DTF.
• Shaka Wear Unisex Garment-Dyed Straight Leg Sweatpants (SHGDSSP): 13.5 oz, 100% cotton, garment-dyed, unisex. A heavy retail sweatpant for screen print, discharge or embroidery.

Joggers or sweatpants?

Leg style is mostly about the look your group wants. Nine of the twelve are joggers, and the TriDri Riley is the only cargo. The other three are sweatpants: the Gildan 18400 has an open bottom, the Shaka Wear has a straight leg, and the Hanes P650 is a plain sweatpant.

You don't have to pick one for a whole team. The Gildan 18250 jogger and 18400 open-bottom share the same 8 oz 50/50 fabric. One team can order both, and the decoration runs the same on each.

How heavy should the fleece be?

For warm-ups and spirit wear, 7 to 8 oz is a comfortable middle, and that's where most of these styles sit. The full range runs from 4.3 oz to 13.5 oz.

• Lighter: the Boxercraft flannel, at 4.3 oz.
• Middle: most styles, 7 to 8 oz.
• Heavier: the Holloway (9 oz), Badger 1215 (9.5 oz) and Lane Seven (10 oz).
• Heaviest: the Shaka Wear, at 13.5 oz. That's close to twice the 7 oz TriDri Maria and Badger 1475, so pick it when the pant itself is the product.

Selling these as a set? Weight should match on top too, and the core value hoodies guide covers the top half.

Cotton, 50/50 or polyester?

Fiber decides your decoration plan. Cotton opens up discharge and DTG, polyester opens up sublimation, and embroidery works across all of them. Here's how each fiber group plays out.

All cotton. The Shaka Wear and the Boxercraft are 100% cotton, so screen print works well on both, and the Shaka Wear takes discharge too. The Shaka Wear also takes embroidery well. DTG works on it too, though the heavy fabric has a coarser surface. The Boxercraft is a strong DTF base, and DTG, embroidery and vinyl work on it as well. If you're leaning toward that flannel, the Boxercraft guide has more on the brand. Neither pant has polyester, so sublimation won't bond.

Cotton-led blends. The 60/40 and 80/20 styles take DTG, with a little less fine detail than pure cotton. Screen print, embroidery, vinyl and DTF all work too. Sublimation comes out faded, since there isn't enough polyester for full color. The tie-dyed J. America is 55/45, and DTG is a weaker fit there. Lean on screen print, embroidery, vinyl or DTF instead.

50/50. The two Gildans and the Hanes are half polyester, so DTG and discharge are off the table. Screen print, embroidery, vinyl and DTF work. Sublimation works too, with softer color than pure polyester gives. As with any sublimation, plan on light colors.

All polyester. The Badger 1475 is the sublimation pant, with the brightest color of the group. Vinyl bonds well to it, it embroiders well, and it takes DTF. Screen print is possible, but it's the harder route on this one.

Light inks on dark colors need care on the poly-heavy styles: the 50/50s, the J. America and the Badger 1475. On dark colors, polyester dye can bleed into a light ink. As a general shop practice, a low-cure ink or a blocker under-base helps.

Where does the print go on a pant?

The left hip or upper thigh is the usual spot. A small embroidered mark sits there well, and so does a short screen print or transfer. Team names sometimes run down one leg.

Mixing fabrics on one order? Embroidery works on every style in this guide, so a stitched hip logo is the safest choice.

Which cut do you need?

Most of these are unisex. The exceptions are easy to spot:

• Women's: the TriDri Maria, in a slim fit. Dressing a women's line top to bottom? See the women's sweatshirts guide.
• Youth: the Holloway.
• Men's: both Badgers.

Will they shrink?

A pant that loses length is hard to fix after it ships, and cotton fleece can move in the wash. When sizes have to hold, as on a team order, wash and dry one sample and measure it before you lock in sizes.

Which style fits which job?

For a team order that has to cover embroidery, screen print and both leg styles, our pick is the Gildan 18250. Its 8 oz 50/50 fleece takes a stitched hip logo or a screen print. It also has an open-bottom twin in the same fabric, so a whole roster can match without two decoration setups.

For other jobs:

• Team warm-ups, mixed print and stitch: Gildan 18250, with the 18400 for anyone who wants an open bottom
• Men's athletic team, sublimated: Badger 1475
• Men's warm-ups with an embroidered logo: Badger 1215
• School or camp spirit wear: Hanes P650
• Youth programs: Holloway Youth Fleece Joggers
• Women's gym or lounge line: TriDri Maria
• Retail lounge line: Lane Seven Urban Joggers, or the TriDri Riley for a cargo
• Heavy premium sweatpant: Shaka Wear Straight Leg
• Events and festivals: J. America Tie-Dyed
• Light lounge pant: Boxercraft Flannel