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The Tee shirt "a " List

106633 Views 150 Replies 73 Participants Last post by  MAYBTMRW
When I first got into this business and knew I was going to be using mostly white Cotton shirt I bought 5 different types. All were at least 6 oz 100%. I made my decision as to which one I liked. But hay I am I guy.. You want opinions you ask your wife.. I did and my daughter. I put the shirts on the table and left the room.
Now here is what you need to know.. I don't want to know about special cut or urban shirts or color or fashion tees. I make promotional tee shirts and hopefully offer the best quality that my clients will be happy with. Now I already made my choice and my wife and daughter picked the same one. The shirt that I use is a Gildan 6.1 oz 100% cotton. But I am curious as to what you people are using that do the bulk printing and not the fashion tee. I am not in that business. Lou:confused:
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I also prefer the Gildan 6.1oz 100% when I am providing shirts for customers.

I won a shirt at my job with the company logo on it, and thought it was a pretty nice shirt. Of course being in the T business I looked to see what kind it was, and sure enough, it was the Gildan 6.1oz 100%.

So I decided that's what I would use for my customers.
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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.
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The gildan 6.1 oz is pretty nice, for general t-shirt purposes. I hovever prefer the fabrics of anvil and hanes shirts, since they are softer. The anvil and hanes 5.6 oz shirts feel as heavy as the gildan 6.1 oz shirt, in my opinion. I get alot of customers commenting on how much they like the anvil t-shirts especially. To me, gildans fabric is a little scratchy feeling. So all in all, if I have my choice, my preferance of shirts, based on price and quality is:

1. Anvil 5.6 oz
2. Hanes 5.6 oz
3. Gildan 6.1 oz
4. Fruit of the loom 5.6 oz.

The worst brand by far is jerzees.
I love Gildan shirts, bar the absurdly flared arms. I think for promotional shirts, Hanes or FOTL are the best bets (and FOLT would even count as a borderline "fashion" shirt).

I also loath Jerzees.
I am rather impressed by Gildan Ultra Cotton's wide range of colours. I am definitely lconsider them if I cannot find decent local supplies.
Yes what's wrong with Jerzeez Ztees 215 I've had one 5 years and must have washed it 200 times its keep it's shape and still looks good?
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Jerzees have way too small necks, oversized bodies, and their fabric feels rough like sandpaper. They are like sacks
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We're slowly phasing out Gildan and moving to Hanes Beefy-T. They're much softer, but also more expensive. :(
I've alwas used Jerzees 180 and they have proved very good, very soft. I agree thatthe neck is a little on the small side though! I ues Starworld here in the UK and they seem hard to beat for the price.
I've never liked Fruit of the Loom but have recently printed myself a few shirts onto the Super Premium and have to say I am very impressed. Not as soft as the Jerzees, not as hard as a Gildan....A good compromise.
Justin
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We do both heat set transfers and embroidery in our store. Customers get to feel shirts before they place orders. The Gildan shirt is our favorite based on cost effectiveness and color selection. We find a number of customers who ask for (and get) the Hanes Beefy Tee. Especially for small business like lawn care, construction, etc, they strongly believe the look better than Gildans after repeated washings.

To add a comment, we do a lot of sweatshirts also. We generally stock the Jerzees 9 ounce, 50/50 sweatshirt. Good cost, wide range of sizes and consistent quallity. We also use the Jerzees hoodie. Mostly this is for schools and other younger groups. Any comments on experience with sweatshirts?

We also use a FOL women's sweatshirt. This is a box bottom cut made to women's sizes. We do a lot of our one-of-a-kind designs as presents on this item.

Jim
We also use the Jerzees hoodie. Mostly this is for schools and other younger groups. Any comments on experience with sweatshirts?
Jerzees sweatshirts are the worst. Thin fabric, and they dont hold their shape well after washings. They get stretched out.

Lees makes great sweatshirts.
We are using Gildan 6.1oz for our men's cut shirts, and Hanes Silver for our Ladies' cut shirts.

I can feel the shirts and see that, for example, Alternative Apparel is softer than American Apparel is softer than Hanes Beefy Tee is softer than Gildan. However, when I'm actually wearing them, I really don't notice any difference.
We are using Gildan 6.1oz for our men's cut shirts, and Hanes Silver for our Ladies' cut shirts.

I can feel the shirts and see that, for example, Alternative Apparel is softer than American Apparel is softer than Hanes Beefy Tee is softer than Gildan. However, when I'm actually wearing them, I really don't notice any difference.
Totally agree with you there. Except for jersees, which feel gross when you where them. Everything elso feels fine to wear.
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.
port & co = cardboard after enough washings. never again.
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.
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