Best GSM for Hoodies and T-Shirts: 140 to 500 GSM Explained

For most brands the best GSM for a t-shirt is about 180 GSM for an everyday tee and 200 to 240 GSM for a structured or boxy one, and the best GSM for a hoodie is 320 to 360 GSM, with 280 the lightest that still reads as a hoodie and 400 to 500 for true heavyweight streetwear. A 350 GSM hoodie, about 10.3 oz per square yard, sits where a standard hoodie turns heavy: substantial, warm and structured, without the stiffness and drying time of the heaviest cloth. Choose the weight for the fit, the season you sell into and where the product should sit on price, then confirm it on a swatch, because GSM measures weight and nothing else.

This guide is the decision, not the definition: our fabric and GSM guide explains what GSM means, and the GSM to oz converter translates every figure here into ounces. What follows is which weight to choose, what changes the feel at the same weight, how to check it and how to write it on a tech pack.

The weight chart: which GSM for which garment

T-shirts: choosing between 140 and 240 GSM

The tee range is narrower than most people expect. We cut and sew t-shirts from 140 to 240 GSM: our lightest summer tees at 140–160, the everyday weight at 180, structured premium tees at 200–220 and heavyweight tees at 240. All of them are single jersey, so the difference between them is how much cloth sits in every square metre.

Start with the fit. A fitted tee is meant to follow the body, and a lighter jersey of 150–180 GSM does that; if it has to recover at the neck and the side seams, 3–5% elastane helps more than extra weight. A boxy or oversized cut is the opposite problem. It needs the cloth to hold a square shape away from the body, and that usually takes 200–220 GSM, or 240 for the stiff, dropped-shoulder streetwear tee. A boxy pattern on 150 GSM jersey collapses into folds.

Then the season and the market. A tee sold into heat should be lighter than one sold into a northern autumn. For hot markets such as Australia, 140–180 GSM generally works better than the 200-plus weights that read premium in cooler places.

Then the price position. Jersey is bought by the kilo, so weight is the cleanest lever on unit cost: a 220 GSM tee uses over half as much cloth again as a 140 GSM tee cut from the same pattern. But weight is not the only route to a premium feel. A combed ring-spun tee at 180 GSM can feel more expensive than an open-end tee at 220, which is why the yarn belongs on the spec beside the weight.

Why we stop at about 240. Above that, single jersey starts to feel dense rather than substantial. If you want more weight and structure in a top, interlock or a light French terry will usually get you there more comfortably than heavier jersey.

Hoodies: choosing between 280 and 500 GSM

We make hoodies across the full 280–500 GSM range, in French terry or brushed fleece. Around 280 the hoodie drapes softly and suits warm climates, and we do not go lighter because thinner fleece starts to feel cheap. 320–360 GSM is the everyday streetwear standard and the sensible place to start; 400–500 gives the boxy, structured heavyweight feel.

Fit decides more than it does on a tee. A regular-fit hoodie with set-in sleeves wears well at 300–350 GSM. A cropped, boxy hoodie with a dropped shoulder needs 400 GSM or more, because the shape comes from the cloth holding itself away from the body; at a lighter weight the same pattern simply hangs.

Season matters most of all. A heavy brushed-fleece hoodie sells hard from September and sits still in June. French terry moves all year, which is usually the better first choice when you are carrying the stock yourself.

Price position. A hoodie carries far more cloth than a tee: a pullover hoodie in 300–400 GSM fleece uses roughly 0.65–0.85 kg of fabric in a size M, against roughly 0.18–0.23 kg for a tee, because the hood and the pouch pocket are extra panels on top of the heavier cloth. So moving from 280 to 400 GSM raises the fabric cost of every unit and the weight of every carton. The fabric consumption calculator shows the kilos for your own pattern and weight.

What a 350 GSM hoodie is like

350 GSM is about 10.3 oz per square yard. In our chart it is both the top of the standard hoodie band and the start of heavyweight, and that is a fair description of how it wears: heavy enough to hold the shape of a hood and a deep rib, to carry dense embroidery without puckering and to feel substantial on the hanger, but still light enough to wear indoors, without the drying time of the heaviest cloth. That makes it a sensible target for a brand that wants a heavyweight feel without committing to the heaviest cloth.

Whether a 350 GSM hoodie feels mid-weight or heavy depends mostly on two things. In French terry it feels dense and smooth, drapes cleanly and wears from spring to autumn. In brushed fleece the same weight lofts up, feels thicker and warmer, and belongs in an autumn and winter range. If the silhouette in your mood board stands away from the body on its own, ask for a swatch at 400 as well as 350 and compare them in your hand.

French terry or brushed fleece at the same GSM

Fleece is French terry with the back loops brushed into a nap, and that one step makes two fabrics at the same weight behave differently, so name the fabric as well as the number.

Why "heavyweight" is not a standard

No standards body defines a heavyweight tee or a heavyweight hoodie. The test methods for fabric weight, such as ASTM D3776 and EN 12127, say how to measure mass per unit area; none of them says what weight earns the word. In practice some suppliers call a tee heavyweight from around 180 to 220 GSM, while others sell tees well above 220 under the same label, so one supplier's heavyweight tee can be lighter than another's regular one. For hoodies it usually means 350 GSM and up.

The word also hides the stage of measurement: fabric changes weight when it is dyed and compacted, so a knitted weight and a finished weight are different numbers, and ounces per linear yard are not ounces per square yard. Ask for the finished GSM and the construction, and the word stops mattering.

What changes the feel at the same GSM

GSM is weight per square metre and nothing more. Five other things change how a fabric at a given weight feels and wears, and each belongs in the conversation with your factory.

• Yarn count. In the English cotton system, written Ne or as 30/1 or 30s, the count is the number of 840-yard lengths in a pound of yarn, so a higher number is a finer yarn. The count and the weight travel together: a 160 GSM single jersey is commonly knitted from a 30s yarn on a 24-gauge machine, and heavier tees from coarser, lower counts. Combed ring-spun yarn is also smoother and slower to pill than open-end, as our guide to cotton yarns explains.
• Knit structure. Single jersey, interlock, French terry and fleece behave differently at identical weight. Loft and structure change how much air the cloth holds, so thickness and warmth vary at the same weight.
• Stitch length and gauge. The weight is set at the knitting machine, by the yarn and the stitch length. A tighter stitch with the same yarn gives a heavier, firmer cloth, and a looser one a lighter, softer cloth, so two mills can reach the same weight by different routes.
• Shrinkage. Cotton knits shrink unless they are compacted before cutting, and a well-finished cotton tee should show only about 3–5% residual shrinkage. Shrinkage also moves the number: when a fabric shrinks its area falls while its mass stays almost the same, so its GSM rises. That is why the finished weight, after dyeing and compacting, is the one to specify.
• Drape. Heavier cloth gives structure and lighter cloth gives drape. Above roughly 400 GSM a hoodie stops draping and starts holding a shape; a long-sleeve tee needs a little more weight than a short-sleeve one to hang right.

How weight changes the print and the embroidery

The decoration and the weight should be chosen together. In screen printing, plastisol ink sits on top of the fabric as a layer you can feel; on a 200–240 GSM tee a large plastisol print looks at home, while the same print on a 140 GSM tee can feel like a plastic panel. Water-based ink dyes the fibre and suits lighter tees and light colours.

Embroidery needs a stabiliser behind the stitching, and the type follows the fabric: stretchy jersey needs a cutaway that stays in the garment, while firmer fleece can take tearaway. A heavier hoodie carries a dense logo well; a dense logo on a light tee pulls at the cloth and is more likely to pucker, so on lightweight tees keep embroidery small or save it for the heavier pieces in the range. DTF prints on cotton, polyester and blends, so it leaves the weight choice open. Sublimation only works on polyester or high-polyester fabric, so it is not an option on a cotton heavyweight at any GSM.

How to test GSM yourself

You need two things: a GSM cutter, a round cutter that takes a sample of exactly 100 square centimetres, and a scale that reads to 0.01 g. Cut the sample, weigh it in grams and multiply by 100. A 100 cm² circle that weighs 3.42 g is a 342 GSM fabric.

• Let the fabric settle first. Never weigh fabric damp or warm from a dryer. Laboratories condition samples first; ISO 139 sets the standard atmosphere at 20°C and 65% relative humidity.
• Take several samples. Weight varies slightly across the width and along a roll, so cut samples from different places, away from the edges, and average them. One reading can mislead.
• No cutter? A 10 × 10 cm square cut with a ruler and a rotary cutter is also 100 cm², and the same multiply-by-100 applies.
• A garment you will not cut up. Weighing it whole on a kitchen scale and comparing it with a garment of known weight in the same size and style gives a rough comparison, not a GSM, because rib, labels, print and seams all add grams.

If you want a weight written into a contract, cite a test method. ASTM D3776/D3776M covers mass per unit area of fabric, with Option C for a small swatch sent to a laboratory; its results apply to the sample tested, not automatically to the whole lot. BS EN 12127 covers small samples of woven and knitted fabrics. ISO 3801 is often quoted for fabric weight, but it is written for woven fabrics, so a knit specification usually cites one of the other two.

Tolerance: how close is close enough

A GSM figure is a target, because knitted fabric varies a little from roll to roll. The test methods tell you how to measure; they do not set a pass mark. The tolerance is something you and the factory agree, and it belongs in writing on the tech pack and the order before the fabric is knitted. For example, 330 GSM ±5% accepts finished fabric between about 314 and 347 GSM.

Make the tolerance specific. Say that it applies to the finished weight after dyeing and compacting, name the test method, and say that it applies to bulk fabric as well as to the swatch. Then check it twice: on the pre-production sample, and on pieces from bulk, because those are the garments you describe to customers.

What to write on your tech pack

A fabric line a factory can quote and test against looks like this:

• Construction and composition: for example "100% combed cotton single jersey" for a tee, or "100% combed cotton French terry (loopback)" or "brushed fleece" for a hoodie.
• Yarn, if you know it: the spinning (combed ring-spun or open-end) and the count.
• Finished weight with a tolerance and a method: for example "180 GSM ±5%, finished weight, ASTM D3776 Option C". Add the ounce figure in brackets if your team thinks in ounces.
• The rib, separately: rib is usually heavier than the body so it grips. Our templates use a 1x1 rib of 95% cotton and 5% elastane at 220 GSM for a tee neckband, and a 2x2 rib at 380 GSM for hoodie cuffs and waistband.
• The hood lining, if there is one: our hoodie example uses 180 GSM single jersey.
• A shrinkage limit and its test: for example a maximum residual shrinkage after washing, tested to ISO 5077 with an ISO 6330 wash cycle, or AATCC TM135 if your market works to US methods.
• A reference garment whose weight and feel you like. It settles more than the numbers do.

Both of our templates have these lines laid out with a filled-in example: the T-shirt tech pack template uses a 180 GSM combed cotton single jersey, and the hoodie tech pack template uses 330 GSM French terry.

A quick way to decide

• Fit first. Fitted tee: 150–180 GSM. Regular tee: about 180. Boxy or oversized tee: 200–240. Regular hoodie: 300–350. Boxy heavyweight hoodie: 400–500.
• Then the season and the market. Lighter for heat and for spring and summer drops; brushed fleece and the heavier bands for autumn, winter and cold markets.
• Then the price position. Choose the lightest band that gives the feel you want; every step up adds cloth and freight weight.
• Then the decoration. A big plastisol print or dense embroidery is an argument for a heavier base.
• Then sample two weights. Order swatches or samples at two weights in the same fabric.

We cut and sew tees and hoodies on our own floor in Narayanganj, with the jersey, French terry and fleece knitted to our specification at partner mills, from a minimum of 150 pieces per style and per colour. Organic cotton versions are made in our GOTS-certified facility (RSC 9687). Send a reference garment with your enquiry and we weigh it, swatch the weight we think matches and tell you what you trade away at either end. Sampling takes about 10 days and production 40–50 days after you approve the sample: about 70 days from order to your door by air.