Activewear Fabric Chart: What Popular Leggings, Shirts and Base Layers Are Made Of

Brushed nylon with about 20 percent spandex makes the softest yoga leggings, polyester dries fastest for training and running, and merino is the base layer for cold runs. The chart below backs that up with what popular leggings, training tops, base layers and jackets are actually made of, for anyone comparing fabrics before buying. Brands give their fabrics names (Nulu, Everlux, Dri-FIT, UA Tech, Butterluxe) and rarely say what is in them; our reviews usually do, one product at a time, and this page puts them in one place.

Each row repeats what one of our guides says about a product's fabric and links to that guide. We compiled it in September 2026. Where a guide gives exact percentages, so does the chart; where it only names the fibres, the chart does too. Nothing here goes beyond what a guide states.

Selected-listing update: The linked Butterluxe is Black / Small, 25-inch; the linked NELEUS, where included, is a 5033 mesh three-pack, US Medium / EU Large. These replace inaccessible ASINs. Earlier testing observations concern the older selections and have not been repeated for these variants. The current cards carry no inherited rating.

Leggings and yoga pants

Tops, tees and tanks

Base layers and cold weather

Hoodies, jackets and socks

How to read the percentages and weights

Spandex share. Our best workout leggings and squat-proof leggings guides both put the sweet spot at 15 to 25 percent spandex or elastane. Below 15 percent, a legging doesn't spring back to shape after a workout. Every legging in the chart with a stated percentage sits at 20 percent; the prAna Halle trail pant, at 5 percent elastane, is built for hiking rather than squats.

Fabric weight (GSM). Grams per square metre is the best single guide to how opaque and how warm a fabric is:

Nylon or polyester. Our hot yoga guide calls brushed nylon the soft, cool fabric most hot yoga regulars wear; polyester blends like Dri-FIT wick and dry faster but feel slicker. Our fabric guide covers the trade-offs in full, and our cotton vs polyester guide explains why cotton stays out of sweaty workouts.

Merino share. Fibres on a US label are listed by percentage of weight in descending order, as the FTC's textile labeling guidance requires. Our fabric guide's rule: the first fibre on the label drives how the garment behaves, and a blend under 60 percent merino loses most of merino's odor resistance and temperature control.

If you are choosing between sizes as well as fabrics, our activewear sizing table lists which of these brands run small, large or true to size.

Where the figures come from

We searched our guides for fibre percentages, fabric names and fabric weights tied to a named product, and kept only those. Each row links to the guide it comes from; where the guide took the figure from the brand's listing rather than our own handling, the row says so. Several popular fabrics (Alo's Airlift and Airbrush among them) are missing because our guides describe how they feel and fit, not what they are made of.

Frequently Asked Questions

What to buy by fabric

For soft yoga and everyday leggings, buy brushed nylon with about 20 percent spandex: Nulu if you want Lululemon, Butterluxe or Colorfulkoala for less. For training and running, polyester (Dri-FIT, UA Tech, Sunzel) dries faster. For cold weather, merino or a merino-polyester blend in the 150 to 250 g/m2 range covers most runs. Then check the weight: 220 GSM and up for leggings you will squat in, 120 to 160 for a shirt you will sweat through.