combed cotton t shirt wholesale
Combed cotton is the same plant as ordinary cotton with one extra process: the fibres are combed to remove the short ones. That single step is why a premium tee feels smoother, pills less and takes a cleaner print — and why it costs more.
Send the weight, colour, fit and quantity. We return a unit price per quantity tier within 24 hours.
Raw cotton contains fibres of different lengths. Short fibres stick out of the yarn, which is what makes a cheap tee feel rough and pill after a few washes.
Combing aligns the long fibres and removes the short ones. Fewer protruding fibres means a smoother surface, a stronger yarn, and less pilling over time.
Carded and combed describe fibre preparation. Ring spun describes how the yarn is twisted. A shirt can be combed and ring spun, or carded and open-end, and the two combinations feel very different.
Marketing often conflates them. If the difference matters to your product, ask both questions: how was the fibre prepared, and how was the yarn spun.
Worth it when the shirt is sold on feel: retail basics, premium blanks, anything a customer will touch before buying. Not worth it on giveaways or on a shirt that will be heavily printed, where the print covers the surface anyway.
The premium is typically 8–15% on the blank. On a $4 shirt that is 30–60 cents — small per unit, significant across 600 pieces.
Our stock range is a mix: most styles are 100% cotton jersey, with combed and ring-spun constructions on the higher-weight styles. The 240gsm heavy crew and the 260gsm drop-shoulder sit at the smoother end; the 180gsm tubular crew is the workhorse at the other end.
If a specific yarn construction is a hard requirement, tell us before ordering — it changes the mill and the minimum.
| Fibre preparation | Combed or carded depending on style |
|---|---|
| Yarn | Ring spun or open-end depending on style |
| Typical premium | 8–15% over carded for the same weight |
| Best use | Retail basics and premium blanks sold on hand feel |
If the shirt is sold on feel, yes. On giveaways or heavily printed shirts, the difference is hidden.
Combing is fibre preparation; ring spinning is a yarn method. They are often used together but they are not the same thing.
It pills less and is stronger, but shrinkage is driven by knitting and finishing, not by combing.
Typically 8–15% on the blank — small per unit, meaningful at 600 pieces.
A fabric swatch and a sewn sample come before the bulk run, and finished goods are photographed before packing.