We all have them, political campaign shirts, funny saying shirts, organizational shirts, vacation shirts…. Custom printed t-shirts are an excellent way to show off your organizational pride.
Choosing a t-shirt
With hundreds of styles in dozens of fabrics by dozens of brands and thousands of colors, choosing a t-shirt can be overwhelming. We wrote this guide to help make the selection as easy as possible.
Choose Your Artwork
Once you have your artwork ready, you are ready to pick a color. If your organization has an official color then this step is already done. If you have not decided on a color, pick a nice color that enhances the artwork.
Pick Your Style and Fabric
T-shirt styles have become fairly complex over the years. 100% cotton, ring-spun cotton, poly blends, racer back, french sleeves, long sleeves, hooded and more.
Fabrics:
- 100% Cotton- 100% cotton is soft, gentle on the skin, comfortable and absorbent. It holds colors well and is ideal for many printing methods. 100% cotton will shrink over time and its absorbent tendency also retains moisture which may not be a desirable quality.
- Ring-spun cotton – Ring-spun cotton is 100% cotton but feels softer and is more luxurious than regular cotton. Ring-spun cotton yarn is constructed of twitched and thinned cotton strands to make a very fine, strong, soft rope of cotton fibers. Ring-spun cotton is more durable and will last longer than their regular 100% cotton.
- Polyester – Polyester is a durable synthetic material. Polyester shirts are not as soft as cotton but it doe snot shrink and is wrinkle resistant.
- Poly/Cotton blends – Poly/cotton blends offer softness similar to cotton with shrink and wrinkle resistance similar to polyester. If in doubt, poly/cotton blends are the ideal shirt for comfort, retaining its shape and colorfastness.
- Performance – Performance fabrics are synthetic fabrics that exhibit incredible moisture wicking properties and are quick drying. With performance t-shirts, you will feel cooler and stay drier.
Pick Your Brand
- Gildan – Our most popular shirt. Inexpensive and offers many styles and fabrics.
- American Apparel – Made in the USA. Our American Apparel t-shirts are made with 100% ring-spun cotton and are super soft and durable. For the best quality, choose American Apparel.
- Bella – many of our women’s t-shirts are from Bella. Bella offers v neck and racer-back shirts for women.
- A4 – We carry a line of 14 performance shirts and jerseys.
- Union Made – 100% preshrunk cotton made in a union shop and printed at Good Guys Signs, a union print shop.
- Next Level – Another performance brand.
- Jerzees – We carry the Jerzees economy line of poly/cotton blends as a cost effective option with exceptional quality.
- Fruit of the Loom – 100% preshrunk cotton economy shirts.
- Ultra Club – A line of premium performance t-shirts.
- Hanes – 100% cotton with no tags.