# What makes a shirt soft?



## Fat Tire (Aug 18, 2006)

Why is it that you can have two 100% cotton tees, and one is extremely soft, while the other is not? What is the hidden factor that affects softness, since it's obviously not material?

Old Navy just had a tee shirt sale where they were selling plain colored tees for like $3 each. They're amazingly soft. My girlfriend even commented on how soft they are this weekend. The labels say 100% cotton, but as far as softness, there's a world of difference between these and every other 100% cotton tee I have. Anyone know?

Here's a link to the Old Navy tee:

http://www.oldnavy.com/browse/product.do?cid=5251&pid=363569&scid=363569022


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

Lots of things affect it: the grade of the cotton itself, how it is processed, what is done to it chemically, how it is dyed, etc. etc.

Not all cotton is grown equally, and then each one of the many stages of the manufacturing process can play a part in how the end product feels.

As an end-consumer there isn't a simple one thing to look out for.


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## Ky_swish (Oct 10, 2006)

Cut(gauge) of the yarn is one factor, shirts as Hanes use a 18 0r 20 cut, the finer shirts are using a 40's cut. Finer the gauge softer the hand. Also quality of cotton as Peru and their Pima. Also facors as open end yarn vs ringspun yarn. There are books written on all these factors...jst depends how much you want to spend.....the new really soft garments are organic cotton and bamboo blends..70/30%


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## RisingBlue7 (Oct 8, 2006)

Continental Clothing will have the new bamboo blends in a month or so. They are one of my suppliers. Once I receive them, I will let everyone know. Also they plan on having organic dyed tees...vegetable dyed. 

I think pima cotton is one of the softest. Also Article 1 has extremely soft tees, they also carry organics.


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## gtsecc (Sep 28, 2006)

Who sells Article 1 t-Shirts?


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## RisingBlue7 (Oct 8, 2006)

Gts,

Here is Article 1's website. You can order them directly through their office in Orange County, CA.

www.article1.net


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## MZDEELO (Oct 14, 2006)

what makes a shirt soft?

on the manufacturing end....
(the manufacturing of the fabric itself)

1. using 100% cotton is softer then using a poly cotton. the synthetics in poly just give the fabric a "slicked" appeareance n feel. nothin 2 do w/the actual softness.

2. how the yarn is knitted. there is open-end and there is ringspun cotton.
ringspun is a better process then open-end. 

3. having combed cotton contribues to having a softer hand to the fabric.


and on the post garment end....
 (after the shirts been cut & sewn into a shirt)

4. you can make a shirt even softer by takin it to a garment dying & finishing house
- there are a variety of washes & finishes that you can have done to ur garment.


remember the big issue is makin ur shirt as soft as u wish without compromising the quality of your garment.


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## MZDEELO (Oct 14, 2006)

Ky_swish said:


> Cut(gauge) of the yarn is one factor, shirts as Hanes use a 18 0r 20 cut, the finer shirts are using a 40's cut. Finer the gauge softer the hand. Also quality of cotton as Peru and their Pima. Also facors as open end yarn vs ringspun yarn. There are books written on all these factors...jst depends how much you want to spend.....the new really soft garments are organic cotton and bamboo blends..70/30%


 


for mens i prefer a 30 singles - 40 singles
and womens i like 40 - 50 singles

60's are just way too thin for my taste. they are good for solid garments. but i dislike them w/a print.


btw.. have any of u felt cotton/cashmere?? 
true, its only like 2% cashmere, but god! its so soft!


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## RisingBlue7 (Oct 8, 2006)

Bamboo blends are probably the softest. Its 100% organic, 70% bamboo and 30% organic cotton. 

A bit more expensive, wholesale. Worth it though! 

Downside is that Bamboo Clothes have a limited number of colors and are out of stock on most sizes. Hoodies will arrive before Thanksgiving.

www.bambooclothes.com

Also, Continental told me that they will carry organic bamboo/cotton blend tees and hoodies late November


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## VariantArt (Sep 17, 2006)

In addition to the above comments, a softer shirt with imprints printed on them are often softer because they are washed after printing.


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## RisingBlue7 (Oct 8, 2006)

I wonder how the bamboo/cotton blend looks when printed? Hmmm...my main concern is that after two washes, they will crack or fade...MY BIGGEST FEAR! ugh! Last thing I need is a buyer or customer to complain about that...

Then again, I'm naive about the screenprinting process, let alone screenprinting on bamboo/organic cotton tees as opposed to the 100% ring spun cotton...eh?


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