Introduction
One of the most popular print-on-demand products out there is the ubiquitous t-shirt. But there’s a lot of options available which raises the question of how to figure out which is the best print-on-demand t-shirt for your business.
While I don’t currently sell any traditional POD shirts – the ones with a single design printed on the front – that doesn’t mean I won’t in the future. I have been dabbling in all-over-print designs which is a whole other discussion.
Plus, I’m a volunteer with an anime convention and, in my role as Assistant Treasurer, have a lot of responsibility for purchasing supplies and merchandise. And we definitely sell t-shirts to our attendees!
So I decided to start a research project. And started by placing a bunch of sample orders!
Bottom Line Results
While your choice might be different based on your market and what you’re looking for in styling and fit, overall my favorite of those I’ve tested to far is the Bella & Canvas 3001. There’s a reason it’s one of the best selling t-shirt styles out there.
The fabric quality and construction are solid, it takes printing well, and it comes in a multitude of colors. The style is also available at a wide range of POD suppliers. It does shrink more than average after washing. It’s not the cheapest option out there, but it offers good value and consistent construction for you and your customers.
I do have to offer an honorable mention for the Next Level 6010. I just love the fabric and was impressed with the design reproduction. But it’s definitely limited in application by the color range, especially the fact that there doesn’t seem to be a true white available. It’s also not offered at all of the bigger POD suppliers.
Methodology
To make sure I was doing apples-to-apples comparisons to the greatest degree possible, I established the following for my approach:
- Unisex size XL
- Two colors: 1 black, 1 white (or closest equivalent)
- Same design file. I did have to resize by an inch or so for one or two shirts depending on the vendor, but I was starting with an Illustrator file and so could keep the same resolution.
- Measured 3 points on each shirt upon receipt:
- Center back from base of collar to hem
- Chest width just below the arm hole
- Sleeve length from shoulder seam to hem along the top center
- Washed each shirt twice using the label instructions and then remeasured along the same points.
I ordered the samples from a mix of Printful, Printify, and Gooten. There’s a fair amount of overlap in available t-shirt models, but each has at least some that are limited or unique.
While my focus was the shirts themselves, obviously the print quality was important, too. And I definitely noticed some differences.
With one shirt style the print was so bad that I ordered another set from a different supplier to make sure it wasn’t the shirt itself causing the problems. And it wasn’t: the second sample was much better.
Given what I saw with the variable print quality, I am planning to get additional samples from multiple POD vendors for one or two of my top t-shirts. That will allow us to look at the quality across suppliers.
T-Shirt Brands and Options Reviewed – Fabric and Styling & Fit
If you see a style linked in the table below, it’s to a more detailed review of that specific option, including exact measurements before and after washing.
One interesting thing I found is the degree of variance in sizing between individual samples of the same model and size. In some styles I found as much as 0.75″ (three-quarters of an inch) difference in length and/or chest width between the black and the white samples.
NOTE: This type of sizing difference is actually not uncommon in ready-to-wear! Even with increasing automation, human hands are still involved in many steps.
| Manufacturer | Model | Fabric Content | Sample Supplier | Styling, Fit, Construction Notes |
| Anvil | 980 | 100% cotton | Printful & Printify | Tubular knit construction. Consistent sizing between 2 sets of samples. One of the more generously sized in chest width. Many color options. Fabric soft but otherwise unremarkable. Print quality on 1st set was poor and started to deteriorate after only one wash. Colors really pop on white shirt in 2nd set. Average on the black shirt in the 2nd set. |
| Bella & Canvas | 3001 | 100% cotton in ordered options. Other colors have some polyester content. | Printify | Side seam construction. Soft fabric that feels high quality. Most color options of those reviewed. Black is a slightly soft shade – not a stark one. Slightly longer than average but with one of the slimmer fits. Longest sleeves. Most consistent sizing between the two colors. Excellent print quality on both colors. |
| Champion | T105 | 100% cotton in ordered options. Other colors have some polyester content. | Printful | Side seam construction. Slightly shorter than average but most generous fit in terms of chest width. Boxy styling and heaviest weight fabric. High quality but most expensive. Limited colors. Excellent print quality on the black while oddly mottled on the white. |
| Delta | 18100 | 100% cotton in ordered options. Other colors have some polyester content. | Gooten | Tubular knit construction. Lighter weight fabric but not super-soft. Black not a true black – skews toward brown. Slimmer fit but average length. Print quality inconsistent in placement and longevity. [10/10/21 Updated for Print Quality] |
| Econscious | EC1000 | 100% certified organic cotton | Printful | Inconsistent construction: black made with side seams while white was a seamless tubular knit. Fabric of black shirt a little heavier weight than white shirt. Slightly longer than average. Second most pricey. Only 11 color options. Very good print quality on black shirt. A bit mottled on white shirt after 2 washings. [10/24/2021 Update for Color Options] |
| Gildan | 2000 | 100% cotton in ordered options. Other colors have some polyester content. | Gooten | Tubular knit construction. Fabric on the thin side but a bit rough – did not improve with washing. Average fit but a shorter than most. Shrank a lot in length. 3rd highest number of color options from POD suppliers reviewed. Excellent print quality on both black and white shirts. |
| Gildan | 64000 | 100% cotton in ordered options. Other colors have some polyester content. | Printful | Tubular knit construction. Fabric is soft and seems decent quality, especially since this is one of the lower priced options. Average fit but shrank a lot in length. Print quality average overall, and the colors popped nicely on the white shirt. |
| Next Level | 3600 | 100% cotton in ordered options. Other colors have some polyester content. | Gooten | Side seam construction. Fabric one of the softer among the 100% cotton. Light/medium weight. One of the slimmer fitting and shorter styles. Good color selection. Inconsistent print quality so TBD. |
| Next Level | 6010 | 50% polyester/25% cotton/25% rayon | Printify | Side seam construction. This “tri-blend” fabric is very soft. No true black or true white: only “heather” or “vintage” versions. Slimmest fit of tested options. Side seam construction. Print quality one of the best on the Vintage White. |
How Much Did Each Style Shrink?
Shrinkage after washing was definitely worse length-wise that width-wise. On average across all shirts, I measured the following reductions:
- Length: 5.3%
- Chest Width: 1.5%
- Sleeve Length: 4.3%
Oddly, with some styles the black and white shrank at different rates. I suspect the actual shirt manufacturers have varied supply chains for their fabrics – they probably don’t get all of their fabric from the same factory in many cases.
The Gildan styles had the greatest degree of shrinkage overall while the ones from Next Level had the least.
Design Reproduction
With most shirts the design printed just fine given the nature of a jersey knit t-shirt. The designs printed with this direct-to-garment technology will never be perfect and smooth, but there’s degrees of reproduction quality.
As always, there’s differences between the white and black shirts. With darker color shirts, they usually lay down an additional layer under the actual design to improve color reproduction. This technique affects the texture of the design area and just comes with the territory.
When considering the application of the ink to the fabric surface, the overall best print results among my samples were with the Bella & Canvas 3001. The results on the Gildan 2000 and Next Level 6010 also stood out.
Broadly speaking, I noticed that the shirts that are a tubular knit – meaning the body is knit all in one piece with no side seams – were the most inconsistent in terms of design placement. This makes some sense, because side seams give a definite reference point when setting up the blank for printing. It’s more challenging with a tubular knit, especially if the shirt manufacturer didn’t get it exactly on grain.
There were two styles where the print quality was notably bad:
- Anvil 980. Both shirt colors were equally bad from the first vendor. The design looked like it was already starting to peel when I got the shirts, and it only got worse after I washed them. This is the one style where I ordered a second set to compare the results with a different supplier. The second set was much better, so the shirt blank was not the issue.
- Next Level 3600. Oddly, only the print on the white shirt was very, very faded. The black shirt was fine. So clearly some quality control issue at the printer.
The fact that I received a fair number of crooked prints also tells me that quality control is not very consistent with some suppliers. I tried to take into consideration that I was doing a lot of my sample ordering at the peak of pandemic restrictions when the POD suppliers were struggling. But I was still surprised.
Conclusion
The differences among of the POD t-shirts I tested were mostly minor. But one or two stood out for me, in particular the Bella & Canvas 3001. But that’s my personal opinion, so always get some samples when deciding what is right for your customers.
I plan to do a couple of follow-up research projects, notably
- Women’s styles and sizes
- Print quality results for one or two styles across multiple POD suppliers. I’ll definitely be including the Bella & Canvas 3001.
Do you have a favorite t-shirt that is your go-to for POD fulfillment?
