Blank t-shirt buying guide: the five decisions in order

A blank t-shirt is a simple product with a short list of decisions, and almost all of the cost and quality lives in how early you make them. Choose fabric weight after the print is approved and you either reprint or accept a worse result. Choose the fit after the labels are ordered and you re-cut the pattern.

This guide is the order we work in with buyers, with the numbers we quote and the questions that separate a supplier with a specification from one with a price list.

Decision 1: fabric weight

Weight is grams per square metre, and it is the first number because it constrains everything downstream: how the garment drapes, whether a print shows through, how it ages, and what it costs.

Weight	What it is	What it is for
140–160gsm	Light jersey	Promotional, events, single-colour print
180–200gsm	Standard retail jersey	Light retail tees, summer programs
220–240gsm	Mid-heavy jersey	Premium basics, uniform, the safest program weight
260–280gsm	Heavy jersey	Boxy cuts, retail streetwear
300–350gsm	Ultra-heavy	Structured streetwear, heavy print coverage

Two rules of thumb worth carrying into a meeting.

200–240gsm is the safest place to start. It is opaque enough for a dark print, light enough for summer retail, stable enough to print cleanly, and priced so a $35–$45 retail ceiling still works.

Above 300gsm the product changes. A 300gsm tee is not a better version of a 200gsm tee; it is a different proposition with a different customer, a firmer hand before the first wash, and a cost that only works at a higher retail price.

Ask for the finished weight, not the greige weight. A washed 240gsm body can ship at 232gsm and still be honest — it is the same garment, weighed after finishing.

Decision 2: yarn

Yarn is where the quality difference actually lives, and it is the spec buyers forget to ask for.

Combed vs carded. Combed cotton has the short fibres and the seed husk removed before spinning. The result is a smoother, stronger, more even yarn that pills less. Carded cotton keeps the short fibres, which is cheaper to produce and shows as a fuzzy surface after five or six washes. At the same gsm, the combed tee feels more expensive and looks newer for longer.

Ring-spun vs open-end. Ring-spun yarn is twisted more tightly and produces a smoother, stronger fabric. Open-end (rotor-spun) yarn is faster and cheaper, with a slightly rougher surface. Most premium blanks are ring-spun combed cotton; most promotional blanks are open-end.

Yarn count. Expressed as a number with a slash, like 30/s or 40/s — higher numbers mean finer yarn. A 40/s yarn knits into a smoother, lighter fabric than a 20/s yarn at the same weight. If a supplier cannot tell you the yarn count, they probably do not specify it.

Long-staple cotton. Longer fibres need fewer twist turns to hold together, which is why long-staple yarn is softer at the same strength. Supima is a long-staple cotton; it is also a licensed trademark with a paper trail, so treat the word as a fibre claim that needs documentation.

Decision 3: construction

Construction is the part of the spec that decides how the garment looks in month six, and it is invisible in a product photo.

Collar. A 2×2 rib of adequate height with a taped neck holds its shape. A single-stitch collar on a light rib starts to wave within ten washes, and once a collar waves the shirt reads as old no matter how heavy the body is. Ask for the rib height in centimetres and whether the neck is taped.

Side seam vs tubular. A tubular body has no side seam, less waste and a lower cost. A side-seamed body twists less after washing and holds a straighter line down the sides. For a premium program the side seam is usually worth the cost; for a promotional run it is usually not.

Hem and sleeve finish. A double-needle hem with a consistent stitch density resists curling. A single-needle hem on a light jersey curls after a few washes, and a curled hem is the second-most-visible sign of a cheap garment after a collapsed collar.

Stitch density. More stitches per inch means a stronger seam and a slower line. Ask what density is held on the hem and side seam; the number tells you whether the factory is set up for speed or for durability.

Decision 4: fit

Fit is a pattern decision, not a fabric one, and it is the decision most often made by accident — the buyer sees a shirt they like and assumes the fit will transfer.

Regular fit. Straight body, modest shoulder drop, hem at the hip. The safest seller, because most customers already know their size in it.

Relaxed fit. Wider through the chest and body with the same shoulder. Comfortable without reading as oversized, and the extra width comes from the body panel rather than a dropped shoulder.

Oversized fit. A different pattern: wider body, dropped shoulder past the shoulder bone, shorter length. Take your normal size for the intended silhouette; size down if you want it to read as a regular tee.

Two things to specify alongside the fit.

Size run. S–3XL covers most retail programs. Above 3XL the pattern usually needs its own grading, and the minimum per size becomes relevant because a single 4XL can consume a whole roll’s cutting plan.

Sizing basis. US, EU or Asian sizing changes the same letter by 2–4 cm of chest. If a supplier quotes in Asian sizing and the customer expects US, the return rate will explain it for you. This is the single most common reason a first order “fits small”.

Decision 5: decoration

Decoration comes last because it depends on the previous four, but it is where the visible value is added.

Screen printing is one screen per colour, cured through the film. It is the cheapest per piece above roughly fifty units and the most durable on cotton. It cannot reproduce a photograph, and each colour adds a setup.

DTG prints water-based ink into the fabric. Best on light 100% cotton, soft hand, no setup. On dark garments it needs pre-treatment and a white underbase, and that underbase is what fades first.

DTF prints onto a film and presses it on. It holds colour on dark polyester and blends better than DTG, but sits on the surface as a film rather than becoming part of the fabric.

Embroidery is priced per 1,000 stitches. It outlasts every print and cannot reproduce a gradient; on a knit it needs cut-away backing to stop the logo puckering.

The compatibility rule: a light, stretchy jersey moves under the screen. If the artwork needs a heavy deposit, the fabric has to be stable enough to receive it, which usually means 200gsm or more.

Colour, dye lots and the reorder problem

Colour is the decision that is cheapest to make and most expensive to revisit.

Ask for a physical swatch or a lab dip. A screen colour is not a fabric colour: monitors, lighting and the fabric surface all shift it, and the difference between navy and black-navy is invisible on a laptop.

Ask about dye lots. A bulk run is one lot, so colour is consistent inside an order. A reorder in six months may be a new lot, and a lot change can be visible side by side. A supplier who records lot numbers can tell you what the next lot will look like; one who does not will discover the problem at the same time you do.

Reactive dye vs pigment dye. Reactive dye bonds to the fibre and holds colour through washing; pigment dye sits on the surface and fades deliberately or accidentally depending on the finish. Neither is better — the choice depends on whether the product is meant to look new for a season or to look worn from day one.

MOQ, sampling and lead times

The commercial terms matter as much as the fabric, and they follow a shape.

MOQ is per colour and style, not per order. Sizes mix freely inside a colour, so a normal size curve meets a 100-piece minimum without over-buying one size. Two styles means two minimums.

Samples take 7–10 days, plus transit. A sample that needs a new pattern or a custom dye lot takes longer, and a factory that quotes three days is usually quoting a stock item rather than your specification.

Bulk runs 4–6 weeks after sample approval, plus transit. Anything faster during peak season is either a promise that will slip or a stock colour.

Payment is typically a deposit with the balance against documents. Ask what the deposit percentage is and whether the balance is against the bill of lading or against arrival — that difference is your risk, not theirs.

Landed cost, not unit price

The number that decides a program is landed cost per unit, not the FOB price. The components:

1. FOB price per unit at the quantity break
2. Freight per unit (sea vs air, and the volumetric weight of a folded tee)
3. Duty at the destination rate for that fibre content and origin
4. Port and clearance fees, amortised over the shipment
5. The cost of the sample and the label batches

A $1 difference in FOB is often smaller than the difference between air and sea freight, or between two carton configurations that fit 48 versus 60 pieces. Ask how many pieces go in a carton before you compare freight quotes.

Building the size curve

The size curve is the ratio of sizes inside a colour, and it is where a first order most often goes wrong — not because the ratio is complicated, but because it is chosen by instinct rather than from sell-through.

A common starting curve for unisex retail is S 10%, M 25%, L 30%, XL 22%, 2XL 10%, 3XL 3%. That is a reasonable default, and it is wrong for some markets: southern Europe skews smaller, northern Europe and the US skew larger, and streetwear skews larger again because the fit is intended to be loose.

Three practical rules.

Put the risk in the size you can sell later. If you must over-buy, over-buy M and L, not 2XL. The sizes that sit unsold at the end of a season are almost always the extremes.

Order the full curve, not a partial one. A 100-piece minimum split across S–2XL gives you a usable store; the same 100 pieces in three sizes gives you three sizes that sell out and three that never existed.

Reorder the size that sold out first. The most common second-order mistake is reordering the whole run because one size sold out, then sitting on the sizes that did not move.

What a real specification sheet contains

When a factory builds from your spec, the document should carry six things. If any is missing, the pattern maker fills the gap with a guess, and a guess is what comes back in the sample.

1. Flat measurements for one size — half chest, body length, shoulder, sleeve, hem width, neck width — each with a tolerance.
2. Grading increments between sizes, so the pattern scales from the approved base rather than being redrawn per size.
3. Fabric specification: composition, finished gsm, knit type, yarn, and the wash or finish applied.
4. Construction details: seam type, stitch density, rib height, hem type, taped or bound edges.
5. Colourways with a physical reference for each, plus the labels and trims that go with them.
6. Packing: fold method, bag or none, size sticker, pieces per carton, carton marks.

That is the core of a tech pack. Our tech pack guide walks through the pages in detail, and the point of it is simple: the document is the cheapest place to fix a mistake and the most expensive place to leave one out.

The four traps that cost a reorder

Comparing weight without comparing yarn. A 180gsm combed tee and a 180gsm carded tee weigh the same and are not the same product. If a quote is significantly cheaper at the same weight, the yarn is the difference.

Assuming the fit transfers. A pattern approved at 240gsm does not behave the same at 300gsm: heavier jersey resists vertical stretch, so the same nominal length hangs shorter and the body stands away. Re-measure the sample whenever the weight changes.

Treating the sample as the product. The sample is one piece, often from a sample room. The product is 500 pieces off the line, and the gap between them is controlled by the tolerances and the change-control process, not by how good the sample looked.

Buying the cheapest blank and the most expensive print. Decoration amplifies whatever the blank does. A great print on a collar that will collapse in ten washes is a photograph that sells once and a refund that repeats.

Program management after the first order

A blank program is not an order, it is a series of orders that should look identical. Three things make that possible.

Keep a physical approved sample. Not a photo — the actual piece the bulk is measured against. When a second lot feels slightly different, the approved sample is the only evidence of what “correct” was.

Record the dye lot numbers. They are on the bulk paperwork, and they are the difference between “the navy changed” and “the navy came from lot 44B, which was 2% darker”.

Track the fill rate per size. If 2XL is consistently short, the curve is wrong, not the factory. If one shipment is short across all sizes, that is a capacity or material issue, and it is worth a conversation before the next order rather than after.

The ten questions to ask before a purchase order

1. What is the finished fabric weight in gsm, and what is the yarn?
2. What is the shrinkage after one hot wash, and was it pre-shrunk or garment washed?
3. Is the neck taped, and what is the rib height?
4. Is the body tubular or side-seamed?
5. What is the full size run and the grading increment between sizes?
6. What are the flat measurements for size M, with tolerances?
7. Which decoration method does this fabric support, and what is the minimum for each?
8. What is the MOQ per colour and style, and how do sizes mix?
9. What is the sample lead time, the bulk lead time and the payment structure?
10. How many pieces per carton, and what is the carton weight and dimensions?

A supplier who answers all ten in writing is a supplier you can build a program with. One who answers five and sends a catalogue is a supplier you will spend a month discovering.

What to check on the sample

When the sample arrives, check four things in this order:

1. Measurements against the spec sheet — chest, length, shoulder, sleeve, with the tolerance you agreed.
2. Shrinkage — wash it hot once and measure again. A 1–2% move is pre-shrunk; 4–5% means it was not.
3. Collar — does it still sit flat after the wash, or has it started to wave?
4. Decoration — does the print survive the same wash without cracking at the edge or lifting?

If those four pass, the bulk order is a repeat of a known result. If any fail, fix the specification now — the cheapest moment to change anything is before the cutting table.

The next decisions, once the blank is fixed, are decoration detail and the technical pack that goes with the order: our print service covers methods and artwork rules, and the tech pack guide covers the document a factory actually builds from.