T-Shirt printing – T-Shirt fabric for printing – Which one is the best?

There are many textiles suitable for screen printing. However, only a handful of them make sense in terms both of wearability and cost. The most popular choice in modern t-shirts today is cotton. However, you have the option to choose a natural cotton plant over synthetic polyester. A screen printed t shirt can be made from combed cotton or semi-combed, ring-spun cotton, and an enzyme wash.

Combed Cotton

Screen printing is easy with combed cotton t-shirts. It’s soft, strong, and a favorite tshirt!

Combed cotton fibers have been thoroughly carded before being combed in the same direction. The process of combing removes dirt, impurities and shorter fibers, resulting in fewer fibers sticking out from the thread. A t-shirt made of combed cotton will feel more comfortable on your skin and is less likely to fray or rip. This t-shirt is ideal for printing on because the smooth fibers will accept the ink. However, the additional processing involved in spinning combed Cotton thread results in a more costly textile.

A t-shirt made of this material can be washed and dried as normal, but dyed combed cotton might bleed at high temperatures.

Semi-combed Cotton

Semi-combed Cotton T-shirts often have the same quality as its superior sister, combed, but at a much lower price. It is not as soft as combed cotton, and it has shorter combing cycles, which leave less fibers in the thread. This results in a rougher feel, and less durability.

Ring-spun Cotton

Nowadays, most combed coton found in high-quality tees and linen materials is made using a ring-spun process. This creates a soft, smooth textile that is easy to wear and stylish. “Ring-spun,” refers to the process of turning carded and combed cotton into thread using electric spinning frames.

The cotton is split into a number of “hanks”, and then twisted around each other. The number of hanks that are spun into a thread is called “ply”. Two hanks are 2-ply, three hanks are 4-ply, and so on. Open end spun fibers are a common alternative to ring-spun cotton. They are often found in towels and bathrobes, and less often in tee shirts. Open end spun fiber is not suitable for screen printing and does not lend itself well to t-shirt design. Other options include air jet spun and compact ring spun.

We recommend ring spun combed cotton for your t-shirt screen printing needs!

Enzyme washed

There are many uses for enzymes in textiles. They can be used to clean, finish, or create texturing effects. The best t-shirts that are enzyme washed are the ones that can be worn straight off the shelf. Enzyme washing is used to remove dye from fabric. It gives the fabric a faded appearance and a soft feel without compromising its strength. Enzymes are a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional industrial textile treatments.

Enzymes are applied after a garment is manufactured but before it can be screen printed. They effectively break down the dye molecules into smaller molecules that can then be washed. It pulls out the dye from the fabric, rather than adding another chemical substance. This results in a greater softness, less factory smell, and a greater ink binding power for screen print.

Source: Joel J Taylor