Pilling Tests for Fleece

A circular fabric swatch is rubbed against an abrasive standard fabric on a Martindale tester in a Lissajous (figure-of-eight) pattern under a set load. After a fixed number of cycles the sample is graded against reference photographs. ISO 12945-2 is the industry-standard fleece method.

• 500 cycles — apparel screening, catches obviously bad fleece.
• 2,000 cycles — standard retail baseline.
• 5,000 cycles — heavy-use / workwear grade.
• 7,000+ cycles — outerwear / uniform contracts.

• Grade 5 — no pilling, surface unchanged.
• Grade 4 — slight surface fuzzing, no defined pills.
• Grade 3 — small pills forming, acceptable at retail.
• Grade 2 — pronounced pilling, visible at arm's length.
• Grade 1 — dense pilling, garment looks worn out.

UK / EU high-street: minimum Grade 3–4 at 2,000 cycles. Premium streetwear and outdoor: Grade 4 at 5,000 cycles. Corporate uniform: Grade 3 at 7,000 cycles minimum. We test every new fleece build to the standard the client's buyer specifies and issue the certificate with the PP sample.

• Testing at 500 cycles and claiming a 'pilling-free' fleece — the meaningful threshold is 2,000+.
• Approving a fleece on hand-feel without a pill test.
• Assuming heavy GSM = pill-free. Fibre length and twist matter more.
• Ignoring the difference between staple-cotton fleece and open-end yarn fleece — the latter pills much faster.