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Blog / Style & trends / Hanes vs. Gildan Hoodie Compared: All You Need to Know
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Blog / Style & trends / Hanes vs. Gildan Hoodie Compared: All You Need to Know
A hoodie is more than just a wardrobe staple—it's the perfect blend of comfort, warmth, and effortless style. Whether running errands, chilling at home, or breaking a sweat at the gym, a great hoodie has your back.
When choosing the right one, Hanes and Gildan are two of the most popular names out there, both offering a mix of quality and affordability. But with slight differences, how do you know which brand is your best bet?
We’ve put together this Hanes vs. Gildan hoodie comparison to give you all the details you need to make the right choice. We'll break it down from fabric and fit to sizing and color options.
So whether you’re shopping for a new favorite custom hoodie or looking to design your own custom piece, keep reading to find out everything you need to know about these two iconic brands.
Let’s dive in.
Hanes is an American brand that launched in 1900. It makes clothing and underwear for men, women, and children.
The brand has set targets to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, cut back on energy and water use by 25%, move to 100% renewable electricity, and take landfill waste to zero. Plus, Hanes aims to eliminate single-use plastic in its apparel by 2025.
To learn more about their sustainability goals and efforts, visit the Hanes website.
Printful gets the Hanes blank products we print or embroider from Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador.
*Hanes hoodies are currently not available at Printful.
Gildan’s roots go back to 1946. Initially a children’s apparel manufacturing company, it grew into Gildan Textiles Inc. by 1984.
The brand is known for its Genuine Responsibility® program, which focuses on circular fashion, material quality, safe and ethical working conditions, empowering communities, and producing garments using renewable energy and less water than the industry average.
Much of the cotton the brand uses to make its shirts comes from the US, but manufacturing occurs in Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.
Gildan 18500 Unisex Heavy Blend Hoodie
Snuggle into the sleek Gildan Heavy Cotton Blend Hoodie. Made with a combination of pre-shrunk cotton and polyester, this hoodie has a soft feel and a tight weave for reduced pilling—durability to the max.
Another plus? It looks really flattering on the body. There’s no creasing down the middle, and the double-needle stitching on the collar, shoulders, armholes, cuffs, and hem gives this hoodie a structured look. The athletic rib-knit cuffs and waistband are also made with spandex to create a tailored fit for anybody.
Now that you know a bit about each, let’s explore the similarities and differences between Gildan and Hanes hoodies by taking a closer look at:
Style
Fabric composition and weight
Colors
Sizes
Embroidery and print placements
Price
By the end of this comparison, you’ll be able to make an informed decision and choose the best hoodie for yourself or your store.
Both hoodies are unisex, which is excellent from a seller’s perspective. By adding unisex hoodies to your product catalog, you appeal to a broader customer base.
Plus, you can promote inclusivity and diversity in your brand messaging, which could help attract a larger audience and improve current customer loyalty.
Both brands offer hoodies in the same style: a unisex classic fit hoodie with a front pocket pouch and a double-lined hood with a color-matched drawstring.
Overall, the Hanes hoodie is considered a lightweight hoodie by our customers. The Gildan Heavy Blend hoodie’s a bit heavier.
Hanes Unisex Fleece Hoodie:
50% cotton, 50% polyester (up to 5% recycled polyester, made from plastic bottles)
Fabric weight: 7.8 oz/y² (264.5 g/m²)
Patented low-pill, high-stitch density PrintPro® XP fleece
Gildan Unisex Heavy Blend Hoodie:
50% pre-shrunk cotton, 50% polyester
Fabric weight: 8.0 oz/yd² (271.25 g/m²)
Air-jet spun yarn with a soft feel and reduced pilling
Gildan uses pre-shrunk fabric, which means garments shrink less after washing and have a more consistent sizing and fit.
Follow our care instructions to ensure:
You won’t damage, shrink, or stretch your hoodie
They maintain their quality and appearance over time
The print doesn’t fade, and embroidery doesn’t pinch or become misshapen
You’ll get a broader range of colors with Gildan:
Gildan Unisex Heavy Blend Hoodie comes in sixteen colors. Check them out on our product page.
To accurately order a fitted hoodie, measure a hoodie you already own and compare it to the sizing tables we’ve included below.
To accurately measure your hoodies, here are our garment measurement guidelines:
Source: Printful
Now, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of each hoodie’s sizing.
The Hanes Unisex Fleece Hoodie is available in sizes S–3XL. Some of our clients have said that it’s best to order this hoodie a size bigger to get a more comfortable fit.
Hanes size chart in inches. Source: Printful
Gildan has a slightly more extensive offering: the Gildan Unisex Heavy Blend Hoodie is available in sizes S–5XL.
Gildan size chart in inches. Source: Printful
Gildan hoodies have a looser fit and are more suitable for people with long torsos and those who prefer longer sleeves.
Printful only offers Gildan, and here are the customization options you can get:
Gildan hoodie customization options. Source: Printful
Remember to also read our guidelines for creating the perfect print file. You’ll learn:
What’s the best format to save your files
How to ensure excellent print quality
What are common mistakes you can avoid
And check out our guidelines for creating the perfect embroidery file to discover:
How to set your design up for success
How to avoid common issues with embroidery files
Everything you need to know about file digitization
Check out the Gildan Unisex Heavy Blend Hoodie’s print and embroidery design placement options below.
Here are the Gildan hoodie print placement guidelines:
Placement | Sizes | Max print area* | Recommended print file size | Print file template |
Front print | All sizes | 27.94 × 27.94 cm – 35.56 × 35.56 cm | 35.56 × 35.56 cm | Download |
Back print | All sizes | 30.48 × 40.64 cm | 30.48 × 40.64 cm | Download |
Outside label | All sizes | 7.62 × 7.62 cm | 7.62 × 7.62 cm | Download |
Sleeve print | All sizes | 7.62 × 30.48 cm | 7.62 × 30.48 cm | Download |
* Each size has a different front print area due to the pocket. We will scale graphics proportionately.
Here are the Gildan hoodie embroidery placement guidelines:
Placement | Sizes | Embroidery file size | Embroidery file template |
Left chest | All sizes | 10.16 × 10.16 cm | Download |
Centered | All sizes | 10.16 × 10.16 cm | Download |
Large Center | All sizes | 25.40 × 15.24 cm | Download |
Left Wrist | All sizes | 2''x3'' | Download |
Right Wrist | All sizes | 2''x3'' | Download |
Get inspired: 37 Hoodie Design Ideas
With Printful, you can design and sell only the Gildan hoodie:
The full price is $21.75
If you buy 200 items, you’ll get 15% off, but the maximum bulk discount is 19% for 500 items
Both brands are committed to sustainable manufacturing. To paint a better picture of what we mean, further details are shared below.
Hanes brand:
Sources 70% of the cotton they use from the US and Australia
Takes cotton fiber that would have been thrown away and re-spins it into yarn
Is working towards eliminating single-use plastic in its packaging by 2025
Gildan brand:
Is a member of the US Cotton Trust Protocol (USCTP)
Recycles 100% of textile clippings from the cutting and sewing operation
Gets 39% of its energy from renewable sources
Both Hanes and Gildan have earned their reputation for quality and affordability over the years, making either a solid choice. The right hoodie for you comes down to your preferences: if you want a super-soft, lightweight feel, Hanes is the way to go. But if you’re after a thicker material and more color and size options, Gildan has you covered.
We’d love to hear which one you choose—drop your thoughts in the comments!
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Karlina Rozkalne
SEO Content Writer
Karlina is an SEO Content Writer specialist at Printful. As a firm believer in attitude over aptitude, Karlina gives her 100% whenever she works on something new. Karlina spends her free time reading, traveling, and doing yoga.
Karlina is an SEO Content Writer specialist at Printful. As a firm believer in attitude over aptitude, Karlina gives her 100% whenever she works on something new. Karlina spends her free time reading, traveling, and doing yoga.
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