Teach me he different fabrics put into shirts: t-shirt terminology

like people that know about shirts and their quality how do they learn that stuff is their one of those "for dummies" books, i want to learn what everything means with shirts, all types of stitching, weights, materials

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There is no "for dummies" book like that that I know of. A lot of people learn just by experience by researching on their own and by asking questions when they can't find an answer.

A piece of information here, a piece of information there.

I've learned about a LOT of t-shirt terminology by just reading these forums, and I already considered myself pretty knowledgeable before these forums existed.

When I didn't know *anything* about t-shirts, I just did research. I heard one term like "Hanes Beefy Tee" and asked someone what it was. Then I heard about 6 oz and searched and found what that meant. I never read a book that laid it all out for me. Maybe someone will write one soon

Even now, if someone posts about a term I don't know, I just ask what it means or I look it up in Google or wikipedia.com

I know what you're saying though. It would be nice if there was a reference point where you could find all the answers. These forums are great for that if you have the time and patience to follow along with the discussions and search through past topics and ask questions.

Some people prefer to learn in a "book" format or an "encyclopedia" type format with reference points and a glossary. We're working on that type of t-shirt information source as well, but it will take some time to gather the information and get people contributing their knowledge

There are many things to consider when choosing a “quality” t-shirt. When a shirt says it’s 100% Cotton, that really doesn’t give you too much information about the fabric. Nor does it tell you if it’s a good quality shirt or a cheap shirt. Have you ever noticed some shirts are softer than other shirts, yet the label still indicates that it’s 100% cotton? Even the softer shirts are 100% cotton. You really can’t tell unless you ask the manufacturer or a knowledgeable distributor about what type of fabric they used in the production process. Perhaps this information may be of some help.

Cotton is a natural fiber that breathes well, whereas man-made fibers such as polyester do not provide the same ventilations. When the cotton is processed, there’s two main methods use to select the fibers.

Combed Cotton
Combing is a process used to separate the longer, thinner, cotton fiber from the shorter, more coarse fibers. Fibers selected using the combing process is often stronger and more even. Longer strands of fiber makes better yarn, which makes better t-shirts. Once the fibers are separated, the yarning process begins. Combed cotton are often ring-spun to produced yarns. Ring-Spun Cotton uses thinner, stronger fibers twisted together to make a yarn. These yarns are finer and smoother to feel. Often times, these are the more expensive t-shirts everyone covets because they are softer and has minimal shrinkage. These t-shirts can run anywhere up from $7.


Carded Cottons
Carded cotton fibers are often the shorter, thicker, and less desirable fibers. T-shirts using such cotton fibers are rougher, heavier, and tends to shrink more. Carded cotton are blowned together and wrapped by other fibers using air jets to produced Open-Ended cotton. Open Ended Cotton uses fewer, and coarser fibers bound loosely together. These t-shirts are also the cheaper t-shirts that are sold under $5.00.

It’s no surprise that many people are unfamiliar with how t-shirts are made because they simply purchase them from the cheapest source. Often times we ask as our customers what type of fabric are they interested in prior to having their custom shirts made, and their answers are usually, “I want some quality t-shirts that are soft and won’t shrink”. They don’t understand that such t-shirts are usually more expensive because of the material and process involved.

This is one of the reasons why we don’t accept other manufacturer's apparel for printing, embroidering, or embellishing because we can not ensure their quality and craftsmanship.

I understand a lot of people on this forum do this as a side job and may not have all the knowledge of what’s involved in producing a shirt. I hope this information will shed some light for many people here.