What to Know When You Buy T Shirts in Bulk

There are many reasons to buy t shirts in bulk. Whether you on just wearing them plain or printing your own designs, blanks tees are a perfect canvas to build any look off of. Here at Clothing Authority, we keep hundreds of blank garments from industry-leading manufacturers. Whether you’re looking for wholesale prices on hundreds of shirts or you just want to order a few blank t shirts to wear, we can help you get the clothing you need at a great price.

Our inventory ranges from loose tanks and crops to heavy hoodies and jackets. No matter what kind of garments you need, we can help you find the perfect options. When it comes to printing on your garments, there are several factors to consider before you buy t shirts in bulk. Every printing method has its positives and negatives, and today we’ll be walking you through how each of these processes works and which garments they best on.

The easiest way to differentiate between shirts is to split them into a few categories. There are cotton shirts, polyester shirts, and blends. Cotton is definitely the most common variety of shirt you will encounter when you are looking to buy t shirts in bulk. When it comes to cotton, there are two categories to consider. There are standard preshrunk cotton shirts as well as ringspun cotton shirts. The ring spinning process helps to create a finer cotton thread before the garment is formed. The result is a softer and finer cotton fabric that tends to have a more fashionable fit. Standard cotton shirts will feel like what you would expect from a standard Gildan or Fruit of the Loom tee. If you have an existing shirt and you need help finding more of that model, our customer service team can help you find the correct company and model.

The next main group of shirts will be your polyester shirts. These garments are made from 100% synthetic poly fibers, which makes them ideal for activewear. Polyester fabrics help to pull moisture away from the body and evaporate it quickly. Polyester is not very polar on a chemical level, meaning water has a hard time staying in the shirts. You can find poly options ranging from tanks to long sleeves, with plenty of options in between. If you are buying T shirts in bulk for an outdoor event or athletic event, these might be your best choice.

Your final choice will be blended t shirts. These shirts will most commonly be a mix of cotton and polyester, though there are also garments that will use additional fibers like rayon. These garments have a range of different textures. A 50/50 blend may feel almost exactly like cotton, but it will keep the wearer drier than pure cotton. Triblend shirts with rayon will be incredibly thin and soft. These shirts are perfect if you are looking for a very specific look or feel.

No matter what garment you choose, you should be able to find a wide range of colors to suit your needs perfectly. For more popular brands, like Gildan, the range of colors will include dozens of options. The more specialized the garment, the harder it may be to find the perfect color option. Picking the perfect shirts for a bulk order can be difficult, so be sure that you are confident in your color selection so that when you start printing, your designs compliment the colors you chose perfectly.

The first and most popular method of garment printing is screen printing. This process involves using a screen for every ink color on the final print. The screens are coated in a layer of emulsion, a stencil of each color’s layout is applied, and then the screens are exposed to light. The emulsion hardens to the screen on contact with light while the areas that were covered by the stencil remain soft. These soft spots are washed out, creating your final screen. The screens are aligned on rotating heads and, after laying down a base layer of white ink, inks are squeegeed through each screen onto the garment until the image is completed. The shirt can then be dried and they will be ready to wear.

Cotton garments are perfect for screen printing. The fibers hold the ink well and there are rarely any negative reactions/discoloring. As long as you ensure the shirt does not move on the board, the results you achieve will only be limited by the fineness of your screens and the inks colors you have available.

If you want to screen print onto polyester, there are a few factors you have to consider when buying t shirts in bulk. Polyester garments can experience an effect known as dye migration where the dye from the surface can “flash” through the garment and it will affect the other side of the shirt. This occurs during drying and can be mitigated by drying the garment with a protective layer within the shirt while it dries. These shirts can also be “slippery” so it is important to make sure you have your pallet properly prepared so the shirts do not shift during printing.

Cotton/poly/rayon blends can be screen printed, though there are possible complications. Similar to working with 100%, there can be some dye migration issues. Testing the garment with white ink(the most likely color to migrate) will help let you know if you have to take extra precautions when printing.

Another extremely popular method of garment printing is the use of vinyl. Vinyl, which is composed of paper-thin sheets of polyvinyl chloride plastic(PVC) with paper backing, is cut into designs. Once the designs have been cut, the unwanted portions of the vinyl have to be “weeded” out to leave only the intended design on a piece of paper. These designs can then be pressed onto garments using heat. This softens the plastic, allowing it to bond to the fibers of the garment in question. Because of the manner in which vinyl is applied, the designs have to be printed mirrored so the final design will be forward. Vinyl can also be printed on to produce intricate designs before printing. One advantage of vinyl printing is the garments are instantly ready once the vinyl is pressed.

Cotton and blends are both great options for vinyl printing. When it comes to pressing vinyl, size will be your biggest obstacle. You are basically adhering a piece of plastic to your garments, which can have a few potentially negative side effects. The first issue is breathability. Large vinyl prints will produce regions of the garment where sweat cannot escape. The prints can also be more rigid than other printing methods. While a large stiff print may not be a big deal on a hoodie, it can make a t shirt extremely awkward.

Polyester poses a challenge for vinyl. These garments will adhere well to vinyl, and vinyl is often used to adhere team numbers to polyester sports jerseys. The biggest factor to consider is how to prepare the shirt. Poly easily shifts, folds, and stretches. It can be easy to have your shirt fold during pressing and end up with an ugly crease under the vinyl. If you want to achieve the best possible results, make sure your shirts are flat and relaxed before you use the press.

DTG, also known as direct to garment or digital garment printing. This is one of the more advanced printing techniques, as it requires extremely specialized inkjet printers. This printing method allows for photo-realistic prints. In order to avoid having the ink sink into the fibers of the garment, you have to use a special pretreatment(PT) solution on most garments before they can be digitally printed. The process is similar to using a home computer printer, but with a few added steps. Before color can be printed, a layer of white ink has to be applied. Once the garment is completed, it has to be dried before use.

Cotton garments are ideal for DTG printing. If you are using white or very lightly colored shirts, you can even skip the pretreatment process. The biggest issue you will face with cotton shirts are reactions with the pretreatment. This can cause staining and lighten or darken regions of the shirt. Some of these effects will disappear after washing. Aside from these issues, you should have no problems printing on cotton as long as the PT was properly applied and the garment is correctly secured to the pallet.

Polyester garments will be more of a challenge when printing with DTG printers. This is because it is harder for the water-based inks to form strong colors on the synthetic fabric. This is especially true for the white ink against bright or very dark colors. Even if the shirt looks good when removed from the pallet, it’s wise to wait until the first shirt is dry before continuing. It’s very common for the garment’s color to show through the final print, leading to a weak and washed out appearance.

DTG printing on blended garments will involve the same risks as printing on poly, especially if you are using a low color blend. Heather or antique colored garments, while commonly grouped with cotton shirts, are actually blends. Because these colors will contain less than 10% polyester, they tend to print almost exactly like cotton. Triblends and dri fit shirts may require adjustments to achieve the vibrant results you are looking for.

The final printing method we will be covering is dye sublimation. This process is unique in that it can be used to print on a number of surfaces, including plastics, paper, and fabric. The process involves printing a mirror of your intended design onto transfer paper using special inks. This paper is then placed, ink side down, onto the printing surface and heat pressed to transfer the design. In this process, the dyes convert to a gas and then bond with the fibers or surface of the object being printed on. The paper is then removed and the shirt is done.

Dye sublimation is an excellent printing method for achieving high-quality images on polyester shirts. If you are buying t shirts in bulk and you decide to go for breathable polyester, dye sublimation might be your best choice for printing. The dyes used in this process bond well to synthetic fibers and will form a vibrant long-lasting print.

If you want to attempt to use sublimation on cotton, it’s likely that you will have to deal with lackluster results. The dyes used in this process will fade significantly when they are not bonded to a synthetic material. Special pretreatment options may help, but in general sublimation on cotton should be avoided, especially if DTG is a viable option for you.

Basically, the higher the synthetic content, the better the end results. Dye sublimation just does not look great on natural fibers. That doesn’t mean it is not worth trying, especially given how fashionable and comfortable tri-blend garments can be. If you plan to use dye sublimation printing on your blended garments, using brighter inks that the intended final result is ideal.

So if you are ready to start printing, these tips should help you when you are going to buy t shirts in bulk. Here at Clothing Authority, we offer amazing bulk quantity pricing on all of the blank garment options you could need. If you have any questions about any particular garments in our inventory, you can reach out to a member of our team at 888-929-5262.