Fleece Types Explained: Which One for an Indian Winter?

Two fleece jackets on a screen look identical. One label says polar fleece, another says micro, a third says nothing at all, and none of them tells you which will actually keep you warm in Manali in January.

Here is the short version. The type name tells you what the surface is like and what the fabric was made for. The weight, measured in grams per square metre, tells you how warm it is. Most listings give you the first and skip the second, which is why so many people end up with a fleece that is either too thin for the hills or too hot for the city.

This guide covers both.

The Five Types of Fleece You’ll Actually See

There are more than five if you count every manufacturing variation. These are the ones that turn up on labels in India.

Polar fleece

Brushed on both sides, mid-weight, and the default for a standalone jacket. The surface is flat and dense rather than fluffy. If a jacket is described simply as “fleece”, this is almost always what it is. It is also what the women’s fleece jackets from Eddie Bauer India are made from, at 240 GSM.

Microfleece

The same construction, thinner. Light, packs down small, and built to go under a shell rather than to be worn on its own. Good for an air-conditioned office, a flight, or a Bengaluru evening. Not enough on its own in real cold.

Sherpa fleece

A deep, curled pile made to imitate sheep’s wool. You will usually find it as a lining inside a denim or canvas jacket rather than as the jacket itself. It is bulky for the warmth it gives, and it sheds more than a flat-faced fleece.

Grid fleece

Raised squares or channels on the inside face. The ridges hold warm air while the grooves let moisture and heat escape, which is why it suits climbing and fast hiking. Honest caveat: it is uncommon in the Indian market, so you will likely be importing or paying a premium for it.

Cotton fleece and French terry

Not the same family at all. These are knitted cotton, not brushed polyester. Warm indoors, soft, and slow to dry. Indian listings often label sweatshirt fabric as “fleece”, so check the composition if drying speed matters to you. For a trail, it is the wrong choice, for the same reason cotton loses to quick-dry fabric on a trek.

Why Fabric Weight Matters More Than the Type Name

A heavy microfleece can be warmer than a light polar fleece. The type name on its own decides nothing.

Fleece weight is given in GSM, and the market has settled on three rough bands. Polartec popularised the shorthand with its 100, 200 and 300 series, and the numbers correspond loosely to grams per square metre.

Weight	Band	What it is for
Around 100 to 200 GSM	Light, usually microfleece or grid	Layering under a shell, mild cold, moving fast
Around 200 to 300 GSM	Mid-weight, usually polar	Wearing on its own in winter, or as a mid-layer at altitude
Around 300 GSM and up	Heavy, usually sherpa or thick polar	Severe cold, standing still rather than moving

One important caveat. These bands are trade convention, not a defined standard. There is no ISO rule that says a fleece at 230 GSM is “mid-weight”. The mass itself is measurable and repeatable, but the labels around it are industry habit.

Which makes the number more useful than the adjective. An Indian fabric wholesaler we checked recommends roughly 240 to 320 GSM for everyday apparel, which puts a 240 GSM jacket right at the entry of that range.

Which Fleece for Which Indian Winter

Where you are	What to look for
Delhi, Jaipur or Lucknow in January	Mid-weight polar, 200 to 300 GSM, worn on its own
Bengaluru or Mumbai evenings	Microfleece or a light polar. Anything heavier is unwearable
Hill stations in November	Mid-weight polar with a high collar and a full zip
Himalayan trek, October to March	Mid-weight polar as a mid-layer, with a shell over it
Sahyadri monsoon	Reconsider fleece. It soaks and stays wet. A quick-dry layer serves you better
Air-conditioned office or a flight	Microfleece. Packs small, no bulk

That monsoon row is not a typo. Fleece is the wrong tool for a wet Sahyadri morning, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.

What Fleece Doesn’t Do

Fleece is not waterproof and it is not windproof. It resists light moisture and dries faster than cotton, but soak it properly and it loses most of its insulation until it dries out. Wind cuts straight through it.

None of that is a flaw. It is how the fabric works, and it is why fleece and a shell are a pair rather than alternatives. The air trapped in the pile is what keeps you warm, so anything that displaces that air, water or wind, takes the warmth with it.

Pilling, and What “Anti-Pill” Actually Means

Pills are the small fibre balls that form at the cuffs, along the forearms, and wherever a bag strap rubs. They come from loose surface fibres tangling under friction.

An anti-pill finish reduces how readily that happens. It is a finish, not a guarantee, and there is no published consumer standard behind the phrase, so one brand’s “anti-pill” is not measurably comparable to another’s. Treat it as a signal that the fabric was finished with some care, not as a warranty.

The same principle applies to cotton, where an enzyme wash removes loose surface fibres instead of coating them. What bio-washing does to a cotton t-shirt covers that in more detail.

Washing cold and skipping fabric softener does more for pilling than any label claim. Softener coats the pile and flattens the loft that keeps you warm.

The Microplastic Question

Fleece sheds synthetic microfibres in the wash. That is worth knowing before you buy, and the honest numbers are less dramatic than the ones usually quoted.

A 2016 research brief from the Bren School at UC Santa Barbara, commissioned by Patagonia, tested five synthetic jackets in domestic machines. Shedding ranged from 160 mg to 2,700 mg per wash, or roughly 8,500 to 250,000 fibres. Two findings are more useful than the headline figure: older, worn jackets shed about 1.6 times more than new ones, and a top-loading machine produced about 2.7 times more shedding than a front-loader.

So the practical levers are straightforward. Use a front-loader if you have one, wash cold, and wash less often, because fleece does not need washing after every wear. And the lowest-impact fleece is the one you keep for five years rather than two, which is the real argument for buying a well-constructed one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which type of fleece is the warmest? Weight decides warmth more than type. Heavy sherpa and thick polar fleece are the warmest, but a dense fleece with no wind protection will still lose to a lighter one worn under a shell. Check the GSM before the type name.

What is the difference between polar fleece and microfleece? They are the same construction at different weights. Polar fleece is mid-weight, usually 200 to 300 GSM, and warm enough to wear on its own. Microfleece sits around 100 to 200 GSM and is built to layer under something else.

Is 240 GSM fleece warm enough for an Indian winter? For most of the country, yes, worn on its own. At altitude or anywhere windy, wear it as a mid-layer with a shell on top, since fleece offers no wind protection.

Is cotton fleece the same as polar fleece? No. Cotton fleece and French terry are knitted cotton. Polar fleece is brushed polyester. Cotton versions feel soft and work indoors, but they hold water and dry slowly, so they are a poor choice for a trail.

Does fleece shed microplastics? Yes. Measured shedding ranges from about 160 mg to 2,700 mg per wash depending on the garment and the machine. Front-loading machines, cold water and washing less often all reduce it substantially.

Choosing Yours

Weight decides how warm a fleece is. Type decides what the surface is like and what it was built for. Get those two right and the rest is colour and fit.

Work out where you will actually wear it, pick the band from the table above, then check the label gives you a number rather than an adjective. Browse women’s fleece jackets or men’s outerwear to compare, or read how our fabric technology works.