# American Apparel - Good or Bad for DTG?



## Arithian (Dec 27, 2007)

Ok I have heard mixed reviews on this. Some have said that AA have great results with DTG and others have said they have had poor results with DTG.

The most logical opinion I have heard was from a DTG tech that said that AA was too thin and thus darker garments came out very poor because of the thick texture with white ink.

Now my predicament is that I want to provide the best shirts regardless of cost (within reason) to my customers and AA has had great reviews and is a good brand name. However, if its not "better" than a Hanes Tagless, Gildan, Beefy T, etc then I would opt to not spend the extra money, especially if it was "worse."

Anyone use or have used AA for DTG have any input on this? If its better how much better? Worth doubling the cost of the t-shirt? Also if you have used it and had good/bad results, please specify if it was for light/dark.


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## csquared (Sep 8, 2006)

I have only printed on light AA shirts but did get good results. Hanes and AA have a totally different fit and appeal to different types of people so I would look at who you are printing for and what they would enjoy more.


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

I know that some dtg users have had problems printing on AA because it has sizing on them. You might want to press the shirt before printing or putting the pretreatment on the shirt to try and remove the sizing. Try it out and see how it will affect the wash test. Just a tip for AA Apparel.


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## akaratemom (Feb 20, 2007)

I use AA light shirts a lot. Younger girls especially like the fit. I have had no problems at all with them.


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

I have also printed several orders on AA and they came out really nice. I think because they are not as fuzzy as the other tees, not nearly as much fibrilation. I have also wash tested them and they looked great after washing. The AA's that I printed on were also white. I did tees and hoodies.
I agree with Chris that it also depends on what your market is and they are a totally different fit than the Hanes or Gildans


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## zhenjie (Aug 27, 2006)

Agreed with Bobbie. Even though they are ringspun they seem to have far less fibrilation then other t-shirts. Its easily one of my 'top 2' light weight white t-shirts to print on (the other is Alstyle Gaziani range).

White ink printing can be a bit tricky with AA. Just go easy on the pretreatment and perhaps less white ink because AA has a tight knit face, it can pool the white ink easily.


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## Arithian (Dec 27, 2007)

Awesome guys, thanks for the feedback!


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## adawg2252 (Dec 12, 2007)

I have also printed a lot of light and dark AA shirts. The white ink definitly does pool/buildup on AA's because they don't absorb white ink like I've seen when printing on hanes. You can easily drop the settings of white ink down one setting (720 instead of 1440 on FastRIP) and have great results.

Also never had a washing problem with them either and they wear and fit great.

I would always leave the final decision up to your customer. Why charge them more for the AA shirt if they don't care about who made it? Give them the option, tell them that it's vertically integrated manufacturing made here in the U.S.A. and that it's a little more expensive but it's a quality product.

Let them decide. But do some testing so you know ahead of time which settings work best for AA and whatever other brands you decide to print with. Make sure to write them down or save a text file on your cpu so you won't forget.

Good luck!


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## csquared (Sep 8, 2006)

to also go along with this I wanted to know if anyone has printed on an Alternative shirt?


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## 24Express (Feb 25, 2008)

DAGuide said:


> I know that some dtg users have had problems printing on AA because it has sizing on them. You might want to press the shirt before printing or putting the pretreatment on the shirt to try and remove the sizing. Try it out and see how it will affect the wash test. Just a tip for AA Apparel.


Mark, I need to disagree with you. American Apparel probably has little to no sizing in their shirts. Sizing would give it a stiffer hand, which AA defiantly does not have.


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