Tips for Choosing the Right T-Shirt Fabric and Decorating Technique

Updated by Anne Dorfman on 11/7/2024

A fantastic graphic t-shirt should captivate your buyers, while also offering an impeccable fit, comfortable feel and long-lasting durability. In a way, it’s like matchmaking – pairing your design with the right t-shirt fabric and decorating technique. 

We’ve got some practical tips to selecting the right t-shirt for your design, considering the shirt fabric and quality, and decorating method. Whether you’re creating custom shirts to sell in your t-shirt shop, or for a team, event, or business, this information will help you make the right t-shirt.

Lots of t-shirt shop owners prefer cotton shirts, since they’re affordable, long-lasting and can provide an excellent print surface. Better-quality cotton, like combed, ringspun and organic varieties, are more expensive, but they’re softer, less wrinkly and provide a smoother print surface. 

Overall, though, when you’re choosing the right t-shirts for your shop, it’s key to look at fabric materials, texture and thickness, softness, knit and whether they’re preshrunk or not. The texture and thickness of your garment can affect the clarity and quality of the printed image. When you choose a smoother print surface from tightly woven cotton, you’ll get cleaner, crisper images. Conversely, if you choose a more textured fabric, like fleece or peached fabrics, your images will appear different. However, depending on the effect you want, you can choose a material, texture and thickness that get you there.

For the best possible t-shirt and fabric quality, we recommend purchasing garments from reputable, name-brand clothing brands. Here are a few we like, which you can order from Threadsy.com: 

• Bella + Canvas Unisex Jersey T-Shirt (style #3001C), a premium unisex crewneck t-shirt made of 100% combed and ringspun cotton for a superior printing surface. This side-seamed t-shirt offers an on-trend retail fit and unisex sizing. 
• Bella + Canvas Ladies' Relaxed Jersey V-Neck T-Shirt (style #6405), a premium women’s V-neck t-shirt with fitted sleeves. This retail-fit t-shirt is made from super-soft 100% combed and ringspun cotton.
• Gildan Adult Heavy Cotton™ T-Shirt (style #G500), a heavyweight 5.3 oz. unisex crewneck t-shirt made from 100% sustainably grown USA, preshrunk cotton. This classic-fit t-shirt style comes in lots of colors, and is quarter-turned to eliminate the center crease for an optimal print surface.
• Gildan Ladies' Heavy Cotton™ V-Neck T-Shirt (style #G500VL), a 5.3 oz. 100% USA sustainably and fairly grown cotton women’s crewneck t-shirt with cap sleeves and a missy contoured silhouette with side seams.

A good rule of thumb is to start with your design and t-shirt, and then choose the best print method to get the best, long-lasting look. Let’s run down five of the most popular decoration methods t-shirt shop owners like you love to use. 

Direct-to-garment (DTG) printing: DTG is a great choice if you’re printing a photorealistic image or graphic with a lot of details, gradients and colors. It’s like printing out a full-color image onto paper with an inkjet printer, but using a t-shirt as your canvas. For DTG printing on dark or black garments, you’ll need to apply a pretreatment solution to prevent your white underbase or white inks from soaking into the fabric. However, this solution can affect certain fabric dyes, resulting in discoloration.

DTG printers use water-based inks, so we recommend choosing a shirt with a high natural fiber fabric content. Natural fibers, like cotton, can absorb ink well, so you’ll print very vivid colors right onto the garment. Choose t-shirts made from cotton, combed and ringspun cotton, and organic cotton. If you choose a blended cotton/poly shirt, pick one that has at least 50% cotton to absorb the ink. 

If you have a high-volume order, DTG printing can become more costly and time-consuming for you to produce. In that case, screen printing would be a better choice. Your decision will also come down to your design. If it’s highly detailed or photorealistic, and you want an “exact copy,” DTG might win out. 

Heat transfer vinyl (HTV): HTV presents a unique vinyl material ideal for personalizing t-shirts and garments such as hoodies. HTV has two distinct sides: the vinyl itself and a heat-activated adhesive backing. By using a heat source like a heat press or an iron, the adhesive facilitates a permanent transfer of the vinyl onto the fabric. Achieving a lasting bond between the vinyl and the garment means using the appropriate time, temperature and pressure.

The versatility of heat transfer vinyl emerges in the extensive array of colors, patterns, and finishes available, including options like glitter or glow-in-the-dark HTV. Layering HTV lets you create multicolor custom designs, resulting in eye-catching, top-quality t-shirts that last through numerous washes and wears. 

If your design includes text and simple graphics in one or two colors, HTV will work very well. The good news is that you can use HTV on t-shirts made from different materials, including cotton, polyester, poly/cotton blends, canvas, denim, nylon and rayon. Some printers recommend a t-shirt made from 100% preshrunk combed cotton for the best results.

Direct-to-film (DTF) transfers: Decorators love DTF transfers because they give you full-color, detailed prints on both light and dark garments. DTF transfers are images that get printed on a film transfer with a special direct-to-film printer. Then, you use a heat press to adhere the design onto your t-shirt. Unlike other printing methods, you can apply these transfers to almost any fabric type, including cotton, polyester, 50/50 blends, synthetics like rayon, silk and even treated leather – giving you lots of design freedom. 

The prints, which are flexible and have a soft hand, hold up exceptionally well through many washes. Many decorators report that applying the transfers is easier than other print methods, including direct-to-garment printing. It’s relatively easy to apply transfers to t-shirts and other garments, including on difficult areas since you’re using a heat press to adhere the design. You also don’t need to pretreat the garment or weed the design before applying it. 

However, some decorators say that the print quality and vibrancy may be less than what you can get with DTG or sublimation printing. The hand of the print, while soft, is more noticeable than a DTG or sublimation print.

Screen printing: Screen printing produces vibrant artwork and spot-color designs that are bright, consistent and long-lasting. If you have a detailed, multicolor design with lots of gradients and shading or typography, this is a great imprinting method to choose. Screen printing also works for one- or two-color designs, as well as distressed looks. Because of the setup time, screen printing is better for high-volume orders vs. minimum quantities.

Unlike other decorating methods, there isn’t just one fabric that’s best for screen printing. In fact, there are several materials that take screen-printed designs well. Cotton is most printers’ fabric of choice, but cotton/polyester blends and tri-blends follow close behind. Look for combed or ringspun cottons or blends with a smoother weave for a better printing surface and a crisper design. (That’s why we recommend avoiding open weave carded cotton, which is rough and results in lower-quality screen prints.) Preshrunk shirts also help you maintain your design’s integrity. If you want a distressed, vintage vibe to your design, choose a shirt with a heathered or garment-dyed fabric.

If you’re using water-based inks, look for a higher percentage of cotton in cotton/poly or tri-blends, so you get a sharper, cleaner print. In a 50/50 or 65/35 cotton-poly blend, the inherent wrinkle-resistant properties make it easier for you to transfer the ink to the shirt for a better application. Unless you have experience with curing 100% polyester shirts, we recommend not screen printing them, since they can bleed during printing and may get damaged during curing. 

For screen printing, choosing the correct ink for your fabric makes a big difference in your results. For example, plastisol inks, made from a PVC polymer that sits on top of the fabric, produce vibrant designs that don’t absorb into the fabric. If you’re printing on darker fabric, plastisol inks are a better choice. 

Water-based inks give you a soft feel on screen-printed artwork. These inks work best on shirts that have a higher percentage of cotton, in a cotton/polyester blend or a tri-blend garment. 
Water-based inks require a higher percentage of cotton in a poly-cotton or tri-blend t-shirt to adhere to the shirt. We don’t advise using water-based inks on darker shirts, since they can absorb into the fabric and be difficult to see. If you add an underbase, though, you can get a more vibrant print.

Sublimation printing: This print method is ideal for super-vibrant, full-color, long-lasting, photorealistic designs. If you have a full-color or complex design that you’d like to see perfectly replicated in vibrant color on a t-shirt, sublimation printing’s the answer. Since sublimation uses CMYK printing, you aren’t able to print white ink as part of your design. Of course, you can print onto a white t-shirt and use the fabric color as a white tone. 

Whatever your budget, you can purchase custom sublimation transfers from a vendor or invest in an at-home sublimation printer setup. Sublimation transfers start as images that you create in an artwork program. Then, you print them on a chemically coated transfer paper with a special printer that uses sublimation inks. When you apply heat and pressure to your sublimation transfer, the image transfers right into the t-shirt material. When you run your hand over the design on the t-shirt, you won’t feel any hand at all since the design becomes part of the fabric.

Sublimation printing is ideal for polyester or poly blend shirts in white or light colors. We don’t recommend it for black or darker-colored t-shirts; in this case, DTG printing or screen printing is a better choice.

For sublimation, it’s a good idea to look for shirts that take this decoration method well, those with a high polymer content like polyester, nylon or spandex. Some t-shirt manufacturers even offer sublimation-ready shirts that you can purchase.

While 100% polyester isn’t mandatory for sublimation, we advise using blended shirts with a polyester content of at least 50/50 to achieve optimal sublimation transfer results. Keep in mind that you can’t sublimate 100% cotton t-shirts since the decoration process requires polymers present in the fabric. As a natural fiber, cotton lacks the necessary artificial polymers.

Choosing the right fabric and decorating technique is crucial for creating must-have and durable graphic tees. Consider factors like fabric materials and texture, as well as the specifications of each decoration method. Whether it’s selecting high-quality cotton shirts for printing or matching your design with the appropriate technique like DTG, HTV, DTF, screen printing or sublimation, making informed decisions will help you create t-shirts that are truly a match made in design heaven.

Now that you’re ready to start decorating your t-shirt, it’s important to choose high-quality shirts to showcase your beautiful and stylish designs. Choosing the right t-shirt is one of the most important parts of producing t-shirts people want to buy and wear. After all, a t-shirt is a blank canvas for creativity and self-expression! Choose from our great selection of wholesale t-shirts for men, women and children from brand names you know and love.