Swimwear Fabric: A B2B Buyer's Sourcing Guide

You've probably signed off a swim sample that looked perfect, then watched the production run go baggy and washed-out after one season in a chlorinated pool. That gap is almost always the fabric, not the factory.

This is our working reference for brands sourcing swimwear fabric — the exact blends, weights and finishes we run for swimsuit, competition and beachwear labels. We manufacture it in Keqiao, Shaoxing, so every number here comes off our own spec sheet.

The Two Blends That Cover Almost Every Swim Program

Blend	Chlorine life	Where we point buyers
Polyester / Elastane (82/18)	100+ hrs	Pool, competition, team swim
Nylon / Elastane (80/20)	Lower	Fashion swim, beachwear

We steer pool and competition brands to polyester-elastane every time. Nylon wins on hand feel, but chlorine eats it faster — recovery drops inside a season of regular pool use. If your line is boutique beachwear worn a few times a year, nylon's softness is worth it.

Weight Decides the Garment

• 180-200 GSM — lightweight fashion one-pieces and bikinis.
• 200-220 GSM — the workhorse band for most one-pieces.
• 220-240 GSM — compressive, opaque, built for team and competition suits.

Below 180 GSM you fight transparency when the fabric is wet. We flag that on the swatch card so it never turns up on a fit sample.

Four Things We Test Before Swim Fabric Ships

1. Chlorine resistance — pool-grade blends hold 100+ hours.
2. Four-way stretch — 40-60% elongation, recovers flat.
3. UPF — tight swim knits reach UPF 50+, blocking 98%+ of UV.
4. Colour fastness — grade 4-5, so black stays black.

For a plain-language rundown of what swimsuits are made of, see our swimming costume material guide. The chlorine detail sits on our chlorine-resistant swimwear fabric page, the recycled story on our recycled swimwear fabric page, and core specs on the Swimwear Fabric product page.

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