Antron fleece is the mainstay of foam and fleece puppet building among professional puppet makers. It was made popular by Jim Henson in its use in building the Muppets.
I have found Puppet Pelt’s new polyester fleece to be a wonderful substitute for Antron. It is not quite as fluffy as Antron, but it hides stitches well and is much better than the Polar fleece available at most fabric shops.
Antron fleece is only made by one mill. Antron fleece is getting harder to get. Distributors are facing problems with the quality being provided by the mill.
Antron fleece was originally made from Antron’s nylon fibers made by the Antron® Company. Antron nylon fiber is used to make carpets.
At one time Antron fibers were also used to make Antron® fleece. Antron fleece was a fluffy and shiny fleece fabric that Jim Henson used to make his Muppets. It soon became the go-to fabric for puppet makers.
Because of its fluffy nature, Antron was perfect for hiding stitches when sewing a puppet. On camera, TV shows have close-ups of the puppets and being able to hide the stitches was important for a professional look.
In about 2006, the original “Antron fleece” was discontinued when the smaller yarn that was used to knit the fleece was discontinued by the Antron company.
After 2006 real Antron fleece was no longer available. A new 12 oz nylon fleece was made, and although it was no longer made with the Antron fibers, but a new nylon fiber, the name stuck among puppet builders.
We have continued to call it Antron fleece, even though it is. Antron has become a generic name among puppet makers for the new nylon fleece.
In about 2017, the mill started having problems with the consistency and thickness of the 12 oz nylon fleece.
According to Puppet Pelts, “In 2018, the fleece company was sold and the 12oz fleece was discontinued. The new company started knitting the 14oz fleece with a new fiber. The initial runs of this fleece were great. The samples we were getting were really thick and nice to work with. The difference was, the finish was not as shiny as the old 12oz so it was clearly made with a different fiber.”
In July 2019, the fleece was again made in the 12 oz weight and problems ensued. Companies like Puppet pelts were having trouble dying the fleece, as were those who dye their own fleece at home or in their shops.
The thinner nylon fleece has problems with streaking, and does not dye evenly.
The Alternative To Antron/Nylon Fleece
Because of the quality problems, Puppet Pelts began looking for alternatives to the nylon fleece. In conjunction with Polartec®, Puppet Pelts developed a new polyester fleece that has many of the qualities of the Antron fleece. It is not quite as thick as the original Antron fleece but is working really well as an alternative fabric.
The new Puppet Pelts polyester fleece has a good stretch to it, for getting a great fit on your puppet, and the material hides sewing seams very, very well.
Personally, I am having great success with the new polyester fleece and I certainly recommend it to other builders.
