how to choose blank t shirt fabric
Fabric choice is three decisions in a fixed order: weight, then yarn, then knit. Buyers usually start with the knit or the brand name and work backwards, which is why so many first orders arrive feeling wrong.
Send the weight, colour, fit and quantity. We return a unit price per quantity tier within 24 hours.
Grams per square metre measures how much cotton is in the fabric. It does not measure quality, and a 200gsm shirt from one mill can feel better than a 230gsm from another — but it does predict cost, drape and how a shirt behaves in heat.
The practical bands: 160–180gsm promotional, 200–230gsm retail standard, 240–280gsm premium and streetwear, 300gsm+ statement pieces.
Carded yarn keeps short fibres; combed yarn removes them. Combed is smoother, stronger and pills less, and costs 8–15% more on the blank.
Ring-spun versus open-end is a separate question about how the yarn is twisted. Ring-spun is smoother and finer; open-end is faster and coarser. A shirt can be combed and open-end, which is why "combed cotton" on a label tells you less than it appears to.
Single jersey is the standard t-shirt knit: thin, stretchy, drapes. Interlock is denser and smoother on both sides, holds shape better, and is more expensive.
Tubular versus side-seamed is a construction choice, not a knit: a tubular body has no side seams and is cheaper, with a slightly different fit through the waist.
Shrinkage, colour fastness and neck rib recovery decide whether the shirt survives three washes. None of them appear in a spec sheet you will be sent, and all of them appear in a wash test you can do yourself.
Wash the sample twice at 40°C, measure again, and look at the neck. That fifteen-minute test tells you more than any fabric description.
| Promotional | 160–180 gsm |
|---|---|
| Retail standard | 200–230 gsm |
| Premium / streetwear | 240–280 gsm |
| Statement | 300 gsm+ |
| Yarn premium | Combed adds 8–15% |
| Test | Two washes at 40°C before bulk |
No. It is heavier and more expensive. For a summer giveaway, 180gsm is better than 300gsm.
Jersey is thinner and stretchier; interlock is denser, smoother both sides, holds shape better and costs more.
On a shirt sold on feel, yes. On a heavily printed shirt the difference is hidden.
Wash the sample twice at 40°C and measure length again. 4–6% is normal; 8%+ is a defect.
A body knitted as a tube with no side seams — cheaper to make, slightly different fit.
A fabric swatch and a sewn sample come before the bulk run, and finished goods are photographed before packing.