The Original Factory That Made Polarfleece
Fleece fabric, as we know it today, came about in the year 1981, when Malden Mills Industries invented a fleece fabric which they named Polarfleece.
Some of the great features of this fabric were that it dried quickly and it also pulled moisture away from the body. In addition, it was wonderfully warm, even though it was lighter in weight than previously available materials, making it an ideal fabric to use for manufacturing into blankets.
The invention of this fabric brought about changes in the industry.
Malden Mills Industries later invented Polartec also, which was a different version of Polarfleece, with some improved qualities. These improvements to the fabric were that the pile of the fabric surface did not pill (now called anti-pill fabric) and it was now possible also to manufacture it in various fabric weights for various uses.
Fleece fabric today is manufactured from 100 percent polyester. Recycled plastic materials are used in the making of polyester.
Malden Mills Industries, Lawrence, Massachusetts, has some fame for their fabric inventions. Unfortunately, there was a fire in their factory in the year 1995. Of course, this left all of the factory workers abruptly jobless. The CEO at that time, Aaron Feuerstein, went against the norm and continued to pay these unemployed workers while the rebuilding of the factory was taking place.
The company struggled after the fire and the rebuilding and was eventually forced to file for bankruptcy.
In the year 2007, the Polartec LLC company was created. This company began by acquiring the Malden Mills Industries assets and went on to employ the former workers of Malden Mills. Polartec LLC now makes over 300 types of fabric and has various factories around the world.
About Polartec LLC: They are a developer and manufacturer of Polartec fabrics. Many of the best known brands in the world use Polartec fabrics in the producing of clothing lines. Polartec LLC specializes in performance textiles. The United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Special Operations Forces all make use of Polartec textiles in many ways.
As previously mentioned, recycled materials play a large part in the manufacturing of polyester, which is used to make fleece fabric and for the year 2011, the Polartec LLC company incorporates even more recycled content in their manufacturing process.
An interesting note is that another new company called Mill Direct Textiles was also formed after Malden Mills Industries was bankrupt. This new company is made up totally of former employees of the Mill and of the Malden Mills Retail Store, who work directly now with Polartec LLC in Lawrence, Massachusetts to retail a line of fabric by the yard and by full rolls, including from their online site milldirecttextiles. Because they formally worked in the Mill factory and Retail Store, working firsthand with the manufacture and the selling of fabrics, they have a thorough knowledge of all aspects of the various details for the types of fabric that they retail.
Fleece fabric today is used in homes for the sewing of a wide variety of items such as blankets, hats, jackets, mittens, scarves, slippers, throws, pillows, vests and even more.
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Filed under Sewing Information by on Feb 26th, 2010.
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