# What is the best shirt / print process available?



## glamsniper (Jan 7, 2009)

Hopefully my post isn't too general, and, keep in mind, I'm not wondering about brands like Split or Quiksilver, just T shirt blanks and subsequent printing protocol. OK, in a nutshell, this is my question: 
Is there a "Rolls Royce" as far as T shirt fabric / quality / manufacturer(s) and is there also an optimal printing / dying process that may be considered the ultimate by industry or consumer standards? Thanks !


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## drivernumberone (Oct 23, 2008)

There isn't really and "rolls royce" of materials, just better quality of the same materials. There are plenty of normal brands out there like hanes, or alstyle or gildan that make 100% cotton, and cotton/poly blends. Most companies just adjust the fit and weight of the shirts to appeal to different consumers. 

A good example of high quality would be like american apparel. These shirts are very soft, fit well and retain color well. They are more expensive though. Some companies use organic cotton or bamboo to make shirts too to give the "green" consumers something to appeal to. These are also very soft and more expensive. 

The three main types of screen printing use Plastisol, waterbased, or discharge inks. An example of plastisol would be most LRG shirts. Ed Hardy uses primaly water based and maybe discharge.

let me know if you need more info on inks and stuff


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## lburton3 (Aug 14, 2008)

Yes, the "Rolls Royce" of t-shirts would be considered American Apparel, unless you're looking for something really specific like acid-wash distressed vintage cut tee. They stick to the standard tee, with slight variations here and there.

As for printing methods, it's pretty much personal preference, but these days (as the poster before me mentioned) it seems to be all about the water-based and discharge printing. Plastisol has been the standard forever, though, and it can have a soft-hand feel similar to water-based and discharge printing if the correct additives are used. With any of these methods, nobody will be complaining about the quality of your shirts (unless, of course, the printer totally sucks)!


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## Peleg_86 (Dec 1, 2008)

is plastisol what most people here use for their shirts? is it expensive?


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## lburton3 (Aug 14, 2008)

Gratz_The_King said:


> is plastisol what most people here use for their shirts? is it expensive?


Plastisol is the industry standard. It's very inexpensive compared to other forms of printing. Do a search of the boards, and you can find out everything you've ever wanted to know.


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