Choose Fabric and Construction That Holds Your Ink
Fabric decides how your ink lays down long before the squeegee moves. Combed ring-spun cotton gives you the smooth, tight surface plastisol and water-based inks need for crisp edges and clean halftones, while open-end carded cotton on budget tees will fuzz and blur fine detail. Ring-spun blanks in the 4.2 to 5.3 oz range from Bella+Canvas and Next Level are the workhorse for soft-hand fashion prints, and heavier 6 oz styles from Gildan or Comfort Colors give you the opacity to print bold on darks with fewer flash passes. Watch fiber content too, since 50/50 and tri-blends dye-migrate under the dryer and often demand a low-bleed white or a poly-blocking underbase to keep reds and navies from ghosting.
Tubular Versus Side-Seam and Why Registration Depends On It
Tubular-knit tees like the Gildan 5000 have no side seams, so they platen fast and lay flat, but the body twists after the first wash and can throw off a wrap-around or side print. Side-seamed, fashion-fit blanks from Bella+Canvas and Next Level hold their shape and register more predictably for multi-color and oversized placements, which matters when you are chasing tight registration across a run. Match the garment to the art: single-color left-chest work is forgiving on tubular, but a four-color process print across the front belongs on a stable side-seamed body. Knowing the construction before you quote saves you from misprints you eat later.
Build Size and Color Assortments Around the Break
Our pricing runs six automatic quantity-break tiers per style, and the break counts across mixed sizes and colors within that style, so a 72-piece order of one tee in three colors and a full size run still drops you into the deeper tier. That means you can quote a customer their real spread of S through 3XL without splitting the order into weak little price bands. Plan your assortment to hit the next break, add the upcharge sizes at the same tier, and pocket the difference. When a rush reorder lands, in-stock orders placed before 3 PM EST ship the same day from the closest warehouse, so a Tuesday-afternoon approval is still a Wednesday press date.