# Best dtg t shirts you use



## mattb (Mar 25, 2015)

Been using Keya mc180's for my first runs of t shirts as well as Anvil 980 and a couple times gildan and hanes. 
On my colored shirts though it has been the Keyas. I want to try some other brands....I am getting "ok" results on the Keya colored shirts...and I have no doubt some of it may be inexperience on my part....but I feel like it could be better.
I did do a search on the forums and found the list that one of the members had posted a while back which was helpful. I just wanted to see if anyone had some good "go to" shirts that print real nice, will hold a nice white on colored shirts and cure real nice.
so, if you all wouldn't mind pointing me in the right direction I really would appreciate it. I can then go and buy some and do some testing.


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## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

mattb said:


> Been using Keya mc180's for my first runs of t shirts as well as Anvil 980 and a couple times gildan and hanes.
> On my colored shirts though it has been the Keyas. I want to try some other brands....I am getting "ok" results on the Keya colored shirts...and I have no doubt some of it may be inexperience on my part....but I feel like it could be better.
> I did do a search on the forums and found the list that one of the members had posted a while back which was helpful. I just wanted to see if anyone had some good "go to" shirts that print real nice, will hold a nice white on colored shirts and cure real nice.
> so, if you all wouldn't mind pointing me in the right direction I really would appreciate it. I can then go and buy some and do some testing.




Here is a list of some brands we recommend for direct to garment printing:

Hanes Tagless 5250
Jerzees Hidensi-T
Fruit of the Loom HD
Cotton Heritage MC1080

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## mattb (Mar 25, 2015)

Thanks Harry, I will check them out. Appreciate your response.


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## GHEENEE1 (Jan 8, 2007)

I outsource my DTG printing, after many different shirts I settled on the Hanes 5250


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## EricDeem (May 7, 2011)

American Apparel #2001
Alstyle #1701R / #5301
Anvil #780
Bella-Canvas #3001
Cotton Heritage #1082
District #DT7000 / #DT104
Hanes Nano
Keya
LAT #6901
Next Level #3600
Otto #651-201
Spectra Tees #3100

Here is a video about choosing the right t-shirt.


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## mattb (Mar 25, 2015)

ah yeah, dekay, yours was the list I read the other day! and funny enough I watched that video just last night whilst searching on Google for dtg shirts.


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## Brian Walker (Jul 28, 2008)

I joke about the best printing shirt. It is like regular copy paper and photo glossy paper printed on the same printer. One will look great, the other just OK.

The tighter the weave, the higher the thread count, usually will result in a better finished print. The less fibers sticking up will help result in really good prints. 

One thing you can do, not matter the shirt, is people will often use a Wooster brush or plastic type squeeze and wipe the shirt fibers in one direction after pretreating. This can help on shirts with higher fibrillation opportunities. 

however, most of the shirts I've seen listed above will work really well for general DTG printing.


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## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

The Keya brand 180 seems to work very well.

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## mattb (Mar 25, 2015)

equipmentzone said:


> The Keya brand 180 seems to work very well.
> 
> _


have been using the keya 180 and 205 and had decent results. on some of the 180's, i used the results weren't the best, but that could have been down to me and my inexperience.


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## chaztek (May 10, 2017)

easy guys. anyone care to up-to-date this thread please as the shirts that people said were good are now a couple of years old and i bet people have moved on, as in better shirts have come out? or are you all still using the ones that have been listed? more specifically what are available in the UK without crazy import prices from the US cheerz chaz


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## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

The Keya brand does not seem to be available any longer in the US.

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## flolo (Jul 28, 2017)

Just saw this cool video from BellaCanvas's youtube channel about DTG on their different fabrications. They also have a few others referencing DTG printing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU6...campaign=BC_DTG_WORTHY_BLENDS_072617_VideoSub


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## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

We've had very good results dtg printing on Bella & Canvas 3413C Triblend t-shirts.
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## Comicsans (Nov 7, 2012)

I like the
Next Level 3600
Bella 3001

Havent tried the direct sale shirts like Spectra, Cotton heritage, or keya. But they are probably great.

Some people use the tagless and gildan for white ink, but I havent found the secret to those shirts.

Most all white/heather grey shirts work well with CMYK with some Light Pretreat.


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## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

Comicsans said:


> I like the
> Next Level 3600
> Bella 3001
> 
> ...




You would like the Cotton Heritage t-shirts. We use them for our sample printed shirts.

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## FJG (Aug 11, 2011)

I've been using mostly Next Level 3600 and Gildan 64000.

Next Level is definitely superior than the Gildan, but some customers are happy with the Gildan 64000 because of the price difference.


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