# Print On Demand & Fulfillment with ORGANIC/SUSTAINABLE sourcing



## alohamom

Hi, I hope I'm doing this right. I recently joined the forum and asked this question in the New Member/Intro section; but I think I'm supposed to direct questions more specifically in categorized forums?

Well here goes:
I'm trying to take my eco-friendly, apparel for the whole family line into the DTG/POD/fulfillment world. But I'm having trouble finding a printer with organic/sustainable POD catalog. Oh, and I live in Hawaii (which means different things for inventory and shipping and quality assurance.)

The most I've found is on Printful which has 3 organic blanks (1 mens, 1 womens, and 1 youth tshirt). Print Aura has 1 mens sustainable tshirt and 1 women's racerback (which apparently has inconsistent inventory). Great Apparel For You has some items in their complete catalog but not in their POD catalog. And no one has organic baby onesies. 

The last couple years, I've discovered that Royal Apparel has a great many styles, high quality, ethical manufacturing policies and good prices for organic/sustainable and I would LOVE to continue to use their blanks.

Does anyone (printer) out there work with Royal Apparel on a POD basis? I'd appreciate any voices of experience or solid references from others.

Big mahalo (thank you)!


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## kendal

I'm looking for the same thing, just want to follow the thread. 



alohamom said:


> Hi, I hope I'm doing this right. I recently joined the forum and asked this question in the New Member/Intro section; but I think I'm supposed to direct questions more specifically in categorized forums?
> 
> Well here goes:
> I'm trying to take my eco-friendly, apparel for the whole family line into the DTG/POD/fulfillment world. But I'm having trouble finding a printer with organic/sustainable POD catalog. Oh, and I live in Hawaii (which means different things for inventory and shipping and quality assurance.)
> 
> The most I've found is on Printful which has 3 organic blanks (1 mens, 1 womens, and 1 youth tshirt). Print Aura has 1 mens sustainable tshirt and 1 women's racerback (which apparently has inconsistent inventory). Great Apparel For You has some items in their complete catalog but not in their POD catalog. And no one has organic baby onesies.
> 
> The last couple years, I've discovered that Royal Apparel has a great many styles, high quality, ethical manufacturing policies and good prices for organic/sustainable and I would LOVE to continue to use their blanks.
> 
> Does anyone (printer) out there work with Royal Apparel on a POD basis? I'd appreciate any voices of experience or solid references from others.
> 
> Big mahalo (thank you)!


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## TerryM

Following! looking for the same thing. Love Royal Shirts


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## Smckee21

A Alohamom, I tried sending a PM but your inbox is full.

Mahalo

Steve


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## alohamom

Hi Steve, thanks for letting me know. I just deleted my messages in the inbox so should be able to receive a PM from you now. Appreciate your interest, Sonya


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## splathead

Smckee21 said:


> A Alohamom, I tried sending a PM but your inbox is full.
> 
> Mahalo
> 
> Steve


Why not post here and share with everyone who is interested?


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## cosmopolinaut

Also looking for any company that can print on demand using sustainable apparel here in the US. Royal Apparel has been noted but also open to using the Econscious brand. 

Any leads?


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## alohamom

Hello all, just a quick update on my search for print on demand with organic/sustainable blanks. 

So far, I have found that Heritage Screen Printing in PA does DTG/POD fulfillment using some sustainable blanks (econscious, Alternative, American Apparel). I had a helpful conversation with Steve, who seemed very customer friendly and understanding. I like that they also do screen printing and embroidery and have a full service art department. This may be perfect for any of you looking to print on sustainable garments. However, their catalog of sustainable blanks DOES NOT contain any infant/toddler apparel which is problematic for my business. Royal Apparel has a good line of sustainable infant wear and we talked about how we could work it out. Because Royal Apparel doesn't have many free freight options, it would require me to more or less keep an inventory of RA stock with them -- which defeats much of the beauty of POD.

Similarly, I also spoke to a lovely gal from ANA Custom Products in Georgia and they could do DTG POD fulfillment using Royal Apparel, but again, it would require a sort of limited RA inventory with them. ANA seems to have better cost margins for me, so I may end up doing my baby things with them and maybe working through Heritage for the adult POD, sustainable apparel. 

Great Apparel for You in Chicago also said they could work out an inventory arrangement on Royal Apparel blanks. Again, this is not the POD model I was looking for.

E. Kleinbard which actually shows Royal Apparel on their blank catalog never returned my email/phone call.

The Printful does have 2 adult American Apparel tshirts in its DTG/POD catalog. Not the nicest styles, not great range or the quality of, say, the Royal Apparel line. But they exist. And the nice thing about the Printful is that it is already fully integrated with Shopify and you can upload designs straight through the Shopify app. Fulfillment seems pretty seamless; the other companies would require that I fill out an external form to send them and upload print files through Drop Box or the like. The Printful is just really easy an simple. Trade offs. Heritage is working on some sort of ecommerce integration, perhaps through Ship Station.

I am still trying to figure this out and will need to send sample designs to each organization I'm considering to see if I can depend on the quality. Printful made it easy to get their RGB templates on both black and white shirts so I can color correct my png files. ANA Custom Products and Heritage said they could do something similar but it takes more than just a couple clicks of the mouse to get those things handled so I'm behind on that work.

Hope that helps!


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## dumus4

Just wanted to make a correction that the business in Georgia being referenced is AnA Custom Prints not products. anacustomprints.com


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## cnaughton

I am also very interested in this topic and I have been unable to find a company to do POD and drop shipping using organic products.

I have contacted several companies and gotten no where. I have approached Gooten about starting to carry an organic line and will keep you posted.

Has anyone tried "inkthreadable?" They are based in the UK and offer an extensive line using a brand called "Continental Clothing." My concern with them is that they mentioned that on rare occasion my clients might be charged an additional fee for customs or something like that but this cannot be determined ahead of time. They have a great selection and works seemlessly with Shopify but I will loose customers if there are hidden additional fees.

Has anyone used them?

Please keep this thread posted if you find a vendor.

Thank you!


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## AnACustomPrints

There are smaller fulfillment companies that deal in Organics, Royal, Alstyle and possibly some others. You just need to start contacting some of them.


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## alohamom

Hi, both ANA Custom Prints (Georgia) and Heritage Screen Printing (Philly area) have been cooperative in talking with me about POD using Royal Apparel sustainable/organic items, which I prefer. Neither of these companies stock inventory so we're working out how to do this, starting small. I haven't begun printing yet so can't tell you much more. But you might want to contact them. Best wishes!


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## dblue3000

Was looking for the same thing for my own company and came across these guys?

www.printaura.com

Boom.


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## fidelmartin

This is very interesting topic. I think you can get help from the internet and find some companies which offer on-demand printing service on users t-shirts. There are lots of companies that deal in the same.


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## fatmankhujo

Air Waves OnDemand LLC on Shopify is pretty legit


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## doitcoolprinting

Maybe you can consider keep those organic inventory by yourself and adopting plastisol transfer method to your business.


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## Cinehope

Hi everyone ! 

I was looking for the same thing. For now i've found two shopify Print On Demand companies. 
1. Inkthreadable : It's based in UK and offers a good variety of organic products. 
2. Print Aura : They are based in the US and also offer organic products. 

Inkthreadable seems more affordable and easy to use for me. I haven't worked with any of these companies yet. I'm implementing Inkthreadable now since their app is easier. 

Hope it helps


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## Peacenik

I've read that their quality isn't that good. Has anyone used them? After doing some research, Printful has great quality, is highly recommended but don't carry Royal Apparel. They do however have suggestions and many people, including me, have asked them to carry their line. You can vote on it here:
https://www.printful.com/feature-request/1913/offer-royal-apparel-sweatshop-free-made-in-usa


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## walden

cnaughton said:


> I am also very interested in this topic and I have been unable to find a company to do POD and drop shipping using organic products.
> 
> I have contacted several companies and gotten no where. I have approached Gooten about starting to carry an organic line and will keep you posted.
> 
> Has anyone tried "inkthreadable?" They are based in the UK and offer an extensive line using a brand called "Continental Clothing." My concern with them is that they mentioned that on rare occasion my clients might be charged an additional fee for customs or something like that but this cannot be determined ahead of time. They have a great selection and works seemlessly with Shopify but I will loose customers if there are hidden additional fees.
> 
> Has anyone used them?
> 
> Please keep this thread posted if you find a vendor.
> 
> Thank you!


I have used Inkthreadable through my Shopify store as I also am on the hunt for an organic/sustainable brand of POD clothing. The Continental Clothing t-shirts they use are really nice and carry the Earth Positive certification label (even though they don't tell you that). They are also Fair Wear Accredited.
However, they are not efficient with orders. If I didn't email them to see if my orders were actually happening, they wouldn't have gone out...and I had paid for them!
Their customer service is quick and courteous but again...no good if there is such a disconnect.
I have decided not to use them for a while because I just don't have time to be chasing up orders like that.


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## Deerharry

I am also interested to hear what options become available for organic tees.


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## janeth

alohamom said:


> Sonya, I'm curious how you've done with sourcing the organic apparel? Are you also trying for eco-friendly printing inks? It seems like eco-inks or non-vinyl prints are pretty rare even on organic clothing.


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## BeeCharmer

Chiming in to follow the thread. I'm set up to do a rudimentary DIY eco-friendly print process. But I'm leaning heavily towards finding an eco-friendly pro printer. My entire brand is centered on environmentally conscious practices. "Clean environment, dirty mind."

I'm going to get a quote from Ashevillescreenprinting.com.

Also, has anyone checked out Recover brand shirts? They're based out of Charlotte, NC and have extremely affordable wholesale prices, and low minimum order. 100% recycled materials make up the fabric. I have one, and it's seriously my favorite tshirt! I'd like to use their products, but nobody seems to list them as stock. recoverbrands.com


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## j.c.

Hi., Everyone. I'm j.c. from Miami, FL., USA. I've been researching to find a solid sustainable products POD in the US. I looked throughout this forum, plus elsewhere and have been having trouble finding one that carries a wide variety of eco-friendly/organic products in a bunch of colors, ships quality POD fast and is competitively priced. I viewed this forum( joined) and was wondering since its now 2019 and no one has followed up much, has anyone found a great eco-friendly, POD source in the United States?


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## Genie100

alohamom said:


> Hello all, just a quick update on my search for print on demand with organic/sustainable blanks.
> 
> So far, I have found that Heritage Screen Printing in PA does DTG/POD fulfillment using some sustainable blanks (econscious, Alternative, American Apparel). I had a helpful conversation with Steve, who seemed very customer friendly and understanding. I like that they also do screen printing and embroidery and have a full service art department. This may be perfect for any of you looking to print on sustainable garments. However, their catalog of sustainable blanks DOES NOT contain any infant/toddler apparel which is problematic for my business. Royal Apparel has a good line of sustainable infant wear and we talked about how we could work it out. Because Royal Apparel doesn't have many free freight options, it would require me to more or less keep an inventory of RA stock with them -- which defeats much of the beauty of POD.
> 
> Similarly, I also spoke to a lovely gal from ANA Custom Products in Georgia and they could do DTG POD fulfillment using Royal Apparel, but again, it would require a sort of limited RA inventory with them. ANA seems to have better cost margins for me, so I may end up doing my baby things with them and maybe working through Heritage for the adult POD, sustainable apparel.
> 
> Great Apparel for You in Chicago also said they could work out an inventory arrangement on Royal Apparel blanks. Again, this is not the POD model I was looking for.
> 
> E. Kleinbard which actually shows Royal Apparel on their blank catalog never returned my email/phone call.
> 
> The Printful does have 2 adult American Apparel tshirts in its DTG/POD catalog. Not the nicest styles, not great range or the quality of, say, the Royal Apparel line. But they exist. And the nice thing about the Printful is that it is already fully integrated with Shopify and you can upload designs straight through the Shopify app. Fulfillment seems pretty seamless; the other companies would require that I fill out an external form to send them and upload print files through Drop Box or the like. The Printful is just really easy an simple. Trade offs. Heritage is working on some sort of ecommerce integration, perhaps through Ship Station.
> 
> I am still trying to figure this out and will need to send sample designs to each organization I'm considering to see if I can depend on the quality. Printful made it easy to get their RGB templates on both black and white shirts so I can color correct my png files. ANA Custom Products and Heritage said they could do something similar but it takes more than just a couple clicks of the mouse to get those things handled so I'm behind on that work.
> 
> Hope that helps!


would you be willing to share what you've done eventually?
Thanks!


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## SharnayG

We use Scalable Press for our On Demand Stuff. However, we don't usually print Organic. But a quick search of their website shows organic products, but no Royal Apparel products. We used to print for someone who used a lot of Royal Blanks, they have some great product. Seems like there are a quite a few people interested in doing the same thing, perhaps you should form a buying co-op of some sort.. Good luck.


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