What Are Swim Trunks Made Of
Swim trunks are made from woven fabric using synthetic materials, primarily polyester, nylon, and spandex.
Looking for the perfect swim trunks to enjoy a fun-filled summer or considering expanding your brand’s swimwear collection? It’s important to get familiar with three key materials and the fabrics woven from them. The performance of swim trunks can vary greatly based on the fabric used, so paying attention to these details can make a real difference. By understanding the similarities and differences between these materials, you’ll be able to choose the fabric that best meets your needs.
When shopping on Amazon or in brand stores, you’ll often come across fabric compositions like “100% polyester” or “92% polyester, 8% spandex.” But what do these labels actually mean for swim trunks? And what are the fabric names behind these compositions? In this blog, we’ll clear up common misconceptions and break down the information in a straightforward way, helping you make the best choice when it comes to selecting the ideal swim trunks.
Polyester
Polyester is a widely used synthetic material, derived from petrochemical products. Due to its durability and affordability, it is commonly applied in clothing, home textiles, and other materials. It is often blended with natural fibers like cotton or synthetic fibers such as spandex to create various types of textiles.
Peach Skin Fabric
Peach skin fabric is 100% polyester and it is one of the most popular fabric used for swim trunks, especially in the wholesale market. This fabric is highly favored by wholesalers due to its affordable price and good performance. You’ll most commonly find it in local wholesale markets. The price is relatively low, typically around 8-10 EUR in local retail stores and stalls in Europe, while in branded stores it usually ranges around 15 EUR, according to our 2024 survey of wholesalers.
Peach Skin Fabric gets its name from the tiny, soft fibers on its surface, just like the texture of peach skin. There are two common processing methods for this fabric. One involves additional polishing to make the surface smooth and flat, resulting in smooth peach skin fabric. The other method involves brushing the fabric after production, giving it a cotton-like feel with a slightly fluffy texture. Overall, brushed peach skin fabric tends to be more popular.
It’s important to note that we’ve found some sellers tend to confuse brushed peach skin fabric with microfiber in their marketing, using it as a selling point. However, peach skin fabric is not microfiber. If you look closely, you’ll notice the fibers are actually quite thick. The fabric’s weight typically ranges between 100-110 GSM.
The image above comes from the top-selling listing on Amazon US, and the fabric used is Brushed Twill Peach Skin Fabric. Besides this one, most swim trunks priced under 20 USD on Amazon US, labeled as 100% polyester, are made from this fabric.
Peach Skin Fabric is the most widely used fabric in our production. Our clients typically sell swim trunks made from this fabric to small shops and retailers across Europe, where they are eventually purchased by tourists visiting European beaches. This fabric is also the most commonly found on Amazon and other e-commerce platforms, often representing great value for its affordable price and quality.
Pongee
Pongee is another common type of polyester fabric, typically made of 100% polyester with a weight of around 70-80 GSM. Its most notable feature is its lightweight and dry texture, making it one of the thinnest fabrics available and particularly suitable for swimwear. Pongee has a very smooth feel and is not overly soft. The price of Pongee fabric is also among the lower options for swim trunks, making it a popular choice among wholesalers.
You may have noticed that this fabric has the same composition as Peach Skin Fabric, so to be honest, it’s difficult to distinguish between the two just by looking at pictures without handling the actual material. Typically, when you receive a sample, the fabric that feels smooth and thin is Pongee. In the apparel industry, this is common—it’s hard to get a true sense of a fabric’s texture or characteristics from images, and what pictures show isn’t always accurate. Often, it’s the physical sample that helps you make a final judgment.
Feature of Polyester
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Cute Price
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Slight stretch
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Comfortable on the skin
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Generally lightweight
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Medium to slightly firm texture
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Typically not wrinkle-resistant
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Quick drying
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UV resistant and resistant to seawater corrosion
Nylon
Nylon is another man-made fabric invented by DuPont in the 1930s. It is famous for its high strength and durability, making it widely used in textiles, industrial applications, and various other fields. In the fashion industry, nylon is considered a high-performance material.
Taslan
100% Nylon Taslan is quite commonly used in swim trunks. The most notable feature of trunks made from this fabric is that they have a structured, stylish look, resembling casual pants worn in everyday life. The stretchability of this fabric is similar to that of Peach Skin Fabric, offering moderate elasticity. In terms of price, it is slightly higher. Stylistically, Taslan is often used for solid-colored, business-casual designs, and it tends to be on the thicker side. It is one of the fabrics for swim trunks that most closely mimics the feel of fashion apparel.
Feature of Nylon
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Usually associated with high-quality
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Normal stretch, similar to casual pants
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Comfortable on the skin
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Generally heavier fabric weight
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Medium to slightly soft texture
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Wrinkle-resistant and holds its shape well
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UV resistant and resistant to seawater corrosion
Spandex
Spandex, also known as Lycra or elastane, is a synthetic fiber with exceptional elasticity. It can be stretched to several times its original length and quickly return to its original shape, making it widely used in clothing and textiles that require stretch and a close fit.
4-Way Stretch Fabric
If you have no idea about what material your favorite material is, 4 Way Stretch Fabric will be your best choice.
4 Way Stretch Fabric is another popular choice for swim trunks, especially in the wholesale market. As the name suggests, this fabric is known for its superior elasticity, allowing it to stretch in all four directions. This fabric is typically made from yarn consisting of 92%-95% polyester blended with the remaining percentage of spandex, with a GSM (grams per square meter) generally ranging between 125-135.
The most notable feature of this fabric is its incredibly smooth and skin-friendly texture, combined with exceptional elasticity, making it one of the best stretch fabrics available on the market. Swim trunks made from this fabric can also be found in wholesale markets, but they are less common due to their higher price compared to the more popular Peach Skin Fabric. However, thanks to its outstanding comfort, this fabric is highly favored by brands, especially in the U.S. market, where it has received great feedback. In fact, pants made from this fabric are so comfortable that they can even be worn as sleepwear.
The typical composition of 4 Way Stretch Fabric is 92% polyester and 8% spandex.
Feature of Spandex
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Often paired with polyester, offering a mid-range price
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Good stretchy
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Comfortable and very smooth on the skin
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Medium fabric weight
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Soft texture
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Quick drying
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UV resistant and resistant to seawater corrosion
Typical wrong ideas
While writing this article, we noticed that many other sources spread some misleading ideas. This section will clear up these common misconceptions to help customers and buyers better understand swim trunks and make the best choices.
The truth is, features like quick-drying, softness, durability, and breathability mostly depend on how the fabric is woven and the thickness of the yarn. The finishing process of the fabric also greatly impacts these characteristics. Compared to these factors, materials like polyester or nylon does play a role, but its importance is less significant than these aspects. For example, if you use thicker yarn, the fabric will be tougher, and it doesn’t really matter whether it’s polyester or nylon. And when it comes to softness, that’s mostly about the finishing process used on the fabric.
As you can see, some features of swim trunks aren’t really tied to their composition. What the composition actually affects are things like stretchiness and texture. It also impacts the production process. For instance, fabrics with high spandex content can’t be used with heat transfer printing because the colors fade quickly, so digital direct printing is the only option for these materials.
Some blogs are spreading oversimplified or incorrect information, like saying things such as “elastane is smooth and lightweight, polyester is durable and quick-drying.” This view oversimplifies the role of fabric composition, and the reality is much more complex. Textiles are a vast industry, and with over 20 years of experience, we understand it well. If you have any questions or need further information, feel free to message us or send an inquiry.
Therefore, unless you are very familiar with the fabric and its composition, we strongly recommend that you purchase the actual product and experience it for yourself. Also, consider other buyers’ feedback as a valuable reference, rather than relying solely on the seller’s claims. We’ve even come across items on Amazon that are labeled as 100% nylon, but they were actually made entirely of polyester. So, when it comes to clothing, always prioritize the real product over descriptions.
Inner lining
The inner lining is normally made of 100% polyester. The differences in the inner lining among various brands mainly lie in the mesh density and whether it has edge binding. For material, there is no difference; it’s all 100% polyester. Because polyester is the cheapest material, its performance is comparable to other materials, and users rarely pay much attention to the inner lining.
This inner lining only plays an secondary role in swim trunks, and some people even choose to remove it after purchase, brands usually don’t pay much attention to it. We have been producing swim trunks for over a decade, and every piece we’ve made, as well as all the samples we’ve purchased, uses 100% polyester for the inner lining.
This lining in swim trunks is designed to absorb sweat, keep sand out, and create a light barrier between the fabric and your skin. We’ve discussed its usage in other posts. Still, I have to say, not everyone likes it.
Why swim trunks don’t use cotton as material
One thing to note about swim trunks is that cotton is hardly ever used in making them. Because swim trunks are used around water and for swimming, they need to be somekind waterproof and quick-drying. Cotton, on the other hand, absorbs water. If swim trunks were made with cotton, they’d get heavy when wet, making them bad for swimming—and you might even have the embarrassing problem of your shorts falling down. That’s why cotton isn’t used in swim trunks fabric.
However, some fabrics on the market have a touch similar to cotton—they’re soft, slightly hairy, and fluffy. This is achieved by adding a brushed process after fabric are produced, giving it the feel of cotton, while it’s still made of synthetic fibers. A popular example is brushed Peach Skin Fabric, which is super popular in wholesale markets.
If you’re looking for a fabric that’s soft, comfortable, and skin-friendly like cotton, you might consider options like polyester blended with spandex, such as 4-way stretch fabric, or nylon taslan. These fabrics are often used for swim trunks, providing a soft and comfortable feel without losing the benefits of cotton.
Tips for fashion buyers
There is a common misconception that polyester is inferior while nylon is superior. In reality, it’s best not to get too caught up in just the fabric’s composition. Even top brands often use materials that may not seem premium at first glance, and many of their products made from 100% polyester receive little to no negative feedback from customers. For a buyer, knowing just the fiber composition isn’t enough. The same fiber can feel completely different based on how it’s woven, its weight, and the finishing process used. These factors influence both the texture of the fabric and its price. For example, even though peach skin fabric and polyester taffeta are both made from 100% polyester, peach skin fabric costs only half as much as polyester taffeta.
If you’re not sure about the fabric you need, ask your supplier for popular options and feel them yourself to check the comfort and stretch. Or, you can just tell your supplier which brand and product you’re aiming for, and provide them real samples. A professional supplier can develop new products based on existing designs, and this is our area of expertise.
Some characteristics of the fabric are unrelated to its composition. For example, if fabric safety features are important to you, such as UV resistance, fade resistance, or wrinkle resistance, these typically require additional processes during production. Extra effects like cooling properties are usually added in post-production through special treatments. If you need these features, it’s crucial to communicate them to your supplier and verify the appropriate testing standards. You can always message us or send an inquiry, as we have extensive expertise and experience in all aspects of woven fabrics.
So every time when you talk to your supplier, it’s strongly recommended that give them the exact fabric name, rather than just the composition, as composition alone doesn’t convey much. The best approach is to provide the fabric name, what it’s made of, and the GSM (grams per square meter). For example, you might say “100% polyester Peack Skin Fabric GSM 105-115” or “92% polyester 8% spandex 4-Way Stretch Fabric GSM 125.” To be extra precise, you can even ask for a fabric swatch from your supplier, or send one to them if you have, to make sure everything is exactly as expected.