Discuss the wholesale blanks industry: Factory direct, custom labels. You can also use this forum to locate a wide variety of wholesale products including t-shirts, hoodies, mousepads, coffee mugs and other imprintable products.
I find I can definitely tell the difference between an Alternative Apparel shirt, a heather grey Hanes Beefy and a Gildan (to name a spectrum). Or a FotL 50/50 best and a FotL heavyweight.
It's not pronounced, but when you put on the softer shirt you realise how much you missed that extra level of comfort without realising it. Whenever I feel like a lazy day of comfort around the house I put on my heather Beefy Tee (the heather is super soft, the black is scratchy - I'm surprised 10% or so of polyester can make so much difference, but it does).
I like the Jerzees Zt (18z). It's softer than their other jerzees styles, ringspun cotton. Better quality than a Hanes Beefy in my opinion.
I also like the M&O Knits for general purposes now. It's 5.5 oz, but because it's ringspun, it feels like a "stronger" weight shirt and has a nice cut and range of colors (and it pretty darn inexpensive).
For "fashion/vintage" type t-shirts, I would pick alternativeapparel, continental or americanapparel. I love wearing just blank alternativeapparel shirts. They are so soft, it almost feels like you're not wearing anything.
I have also learned to hate Jerzees. I haven't actually worn one, but they are horrible to print on. Very linty, which makes me assume they are of inferior quality.
I love Gildans for general purpose tees. I also fell in love with the Alternative Apparel shirts Rodney used for the forums shirts. I may be using those as well if I can eer get a halfway decent price on them.
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It's nice to see that we are in agreement with what everyone else says.
We offer the gildan ultra cotton mainly because of price and colors. I will agree they are scratcher than the beefy hanes which are SOO nice, but much more than most ppl are willing to spend.
One thing we have noticed with the Gildans are the construction (sewing) isn't always the greatest - seams being crooked etc.. but consider the price and the ability to get them quickly in a pinch this is our main shirt.
I my retail stores, I use the Gildan as the primary T. It is an good T for the price, and I can get it from several vendors in a pinch.
If you ask which T do I wear it is the Hanes Beefy T. The Gildan feels like sandpaper compared to the BT after a few washes.
The extra cost of the BT is hard to recover from the customer who only sees the final price. I do have customers who are happy to pay a little more to upgrade to the BT.
I didn't think the price difference was that great between the 2.
The Hanes Beefy is roughly 1.29 for white
and the Gildan Heavyweight is 1.00 for white
and Gildan Ultra Cotton is 1.13 for white
Are you customers uncomfortable with 15 - 30 cents more per shirt?
For guys I use Hanes Beefy Ts everywhere possible. When it's impossible to use Beefys I have been defaulting to Port & Company. For women I use Silver Hanes.
Personally, I wasn't too impressed with the Beefy Tee. A shirt I ordered from another shop came on a Beefy Tee... it is a tad softer than a Gildan, but the difference really seemed pretty negligible to me. If I wanted soft I'd definitely go with something like Alternative Apparel instead.
Personally I love the feel and fit of American A, Alternative A, and Hanes Beefy, but the prices could be a little lower. The ring-spun AA influence kinda irks me. Y'know, the vintage "worn" feel. While incredibly comfortable, it gives me the impression that I'm wearing some thread-bare rag. Hanes Beefy feel solid, warm, and inviting against my man nips. Gildan and Jerzees fit funky on my funky form. FOL Best tees I've found to be affordable, comfortable, and well-fitting. I recommend them to most of the bands or other youthful groups that place orders at our printshop. Bar none, the worst shirt I've ever worn was a DELTA! Uh! Big flappy arms holes and worst off all, a neck hole the that feels like it's on backwards. Have you ever done the constant-tugging-at-your-shirts-neckline thing?
I saw some comments about gildan, they seem to be popular. Are they popular because they are cheap?
They're popular because they're cheap, but they're not crappy either. Their sizing is a little odd - I know next to no-one who finds it ideal, but most people find it palatable. They're a brand for the cost conscious; you can do better, but you don't necessarily need to.
Hi, i will be producing printed t's for the Streetwear 18-30 market.(not promotional) I am wondering if anyone could give me any advice as to which supplier supplies the best quality t's... i.e. softness, fashionable, fit (i kinda like the slim fit). I believe the upperscale suppliers to be American Apparel, Alternative Apparel and Continental. I dont mind paying a little extra for the better shirt.
Hi, i will be producing printed t's for the Streetwear 18-30 market.(not promotional) I am wondering if anyone could give me any advice as to which supplier supplies the best quality t's... i.e. softness, fashionable, fit (i kinda like the slim fit). I believe the upperscale suppliers to be American Apparel, Alternative Apparel and Continental. I dont mind paying a little extra for the better shirt.
Sounds like you've already found the companies that would likely fit your goals best =) I would suggest that you now get some samples from each and see which type(s) you like best.
Re: The Tee shirt "a " List 
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