What’s Your T-Shirt Made of?

We carry a large selection of t-shirts varied in style, color, functionality, and material. Most shirts are composed of a proportion of cotton to polyester. This week we want to give you a few tips on choosing the right material for your perfect custom t-shirt.

Cotton

Cotton is the most common and widely used material for t-shirts. It is a natural product harvested from cotton plant, spun into fibers. One benefit of cotton is that it is very absorbent. This is advantageous for people who are more active and more likely to sweat. Cotton t-shirts are also very soft to touch and hugs the skin comfortably; however, it is more prone to wrinkling.

PolyesterPolyester is manufactured by mixing different chemicals together, creating a strong and durable fiber that makes it more resistant to wrinkling. Polyester resists stains and shrinkage better than cotton because of its chemical makeup, as it can hold its shape better than cotton. However, polyester might not be as breathable and absorbent as cotton fabric.

Blend Fabrics

Due to the unique advantages and disadvantages of both cotton and polyester, mixture blends were created of the two materials as a compromising solution of the two. For example, Gildan Ultra Blend 50/50 T-shirt is a mixture of 50% preshrunk cotton and 50% polyester. It is a great loose fitting athletic shirt that will help keep you cool and dry in hot weather or during physical activity while resisting stains.

Cotton and polyester are both great fabrics for custom t-shirts. Comment below to let us know what your favorite custom t-shirt styles and fabrics are!