Selling T-shirts can be a great way to make money and promote an existing business, but you have to do it right to succeed. One of the most common mistakes made by would-be entrepreneurs is choosing a poor-quality shirt or low-grade printing in the hope of saving money. While you might pay less for printing costs, the result is a shirt that no one wants or that will not hold up well to normal wear and tear. If you want to keep your customers happy and buying shirts, you can’t cut corners.
Types of T-shirt Printing
To the uninitiated, all shirt printing looks alike. However, there are significant differences between the methods. Some techniques wear better than others. Some are also capable of effects that other methods of T-shirt printing can’t perform. For instance, the classic printed T-shirt is made by using a screen printing technique. In screen printing, individual ink colors are forced through a fine mesh screen onto the shirt. This produces a durable print that does best with line art and flat colors. However, screen printing can reduce a shirt’s stretchability and does not produce soft gradations or designs with many colors well. Shirts that require these factors also require a different printing method.
Iron-on transfers, often used by hobbyists to make just one or two shirts with a lot of colors, are certainly cheap. They are also a poor choice for commercial shirts because they give the product a “plastic-y” feel and wear out quickly. Most companies choose digital printing if they want the wider range of colors and effects offered by transfers, but don’t want to sacrifice quality. This technologically-advanced T-shirt printing technique provides a large print area and can handle subtle gradations and multiple colors without stiffening the shirt. It tends to be more costly than screen printing, but it can handle small orders easily. Digital printing works best on light-colored shirts.
Garment Quality
Choosing high-quality garments is part of ensuring that you offer products that your audience wants to buy. Thin shirts with little stretch and a higher percentage of synthetic materials may be cheap, but they don’t sell or wear well. Neither do the once-popular heavyweight shirts, which provide an unflattering fit on many people. Take some time to research your market and find out what kind of clothing and price point appeals to your potential audience. They may not understand the nuances of T-shirt pricing, but they will complain if your products don’t hold up.
Choosing a Printer
After you’ve narrowed down your shirt choice and the printing style that’s most appropriate for your artwork, you have to choose a printer. Not all T-shirt businesses are created equal, though. The cheapest ones may offer poor or inconsistent quality or unapproachable customer service representatives. Contact several printing companies and ask them about the printing methods they use, the quality of their equipment, and their policies. It takes a little longer than choosing the cheapest supplier, but you’ll get a product that’s worth selling. Also, you can check reviews and recommendations of t-shirt printers online. Tshirt Professional has an informative detailed review and buying guide on their website.
Remember that your sales will only be as good as your product. For this reason, it is worth your time and effort to learn about the printing process, the quality of textiles, and the printer you will be contracting with before you leap into action.
Jessica Osborn fuels her love for style as a freelance blogger writing about fashion. As a t-shirt collector, she recommends this website for all your custom t-shirt printing needs.
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Have you ever worn a shirt that feels like they literally just attached a piece of paper to the shirt? I have, it’s awful. I used to be in a band and at one point in our history we needed to make t-shirts, we were sure to have them made well and that they looked awesome. We ended up using a “cheaper” place, but we were actually given high quality products, so be sure to always ask about a business’s services.
Great post to know how to make best quality printable t-shirts and which points are to be taken in mind at the time of printing. I also have a printing business I understand the important points in printing business. But still this guidelines are very helpful who are new in this printing business.
Really your post is very helpful to know which main points use to make good quality printed t-shirts, many people cant decide very clearfull whats printing on t-shirts as looking so trendy but this article so helpful for choosing printing shirts. Reinfall Design is my own business there are best screen printing shirts and more at very affordable cost.
Have you at any point worn a shirt that feels like they actually simply connected a bit of paper to the shirt? I have, it’s horrendous. I used to be in a band and at one point in our history we expected to make shirts, we were certain to have them made well and that they looked wonderful. We wound up utilizing a “less expensive” place, however we were really given top notch items, so make certain to dependably get some information about a business’ administrations.
Hey, there
Thanks for you posting in this so great and helpful post. I’m absolutely agree with you. I’m a designer. I create design t-shirt . I known that in this post if i will design a good quality t-shirt than i sale it so good. I will design a t-shirt. This design was created for my latest client. How was it? If u want to have, then contact me by this link…
I like the fact that you mentioned print quality, because it makes a big difference, and depending on what you choose, it can affect how many wash cycles you can get out of the printed shirt before it starts fading or cracking. I find myself making more vinyl and digital ink jet shirts over my laser printed shirts. My laser printer toner seems to fade quicker on my shirts.
I thought this post is related to printers but its about printed T shirts
ali tahir recently posted…Riyadh Saudi Arabia terrible fireworks 10 people burnt alive
I have used some drop ship companies for my business. They use DTG printing. I would discourage against this due to the quality. Screen printing is the way to go
From my perspective, I really advise to print your T-shirts yourself to ensure total control over the quality of the products.
Thanks for sharing relevant information about t-shirt printing. there are different type of t-shirt printing such as sublimation printing . but champu is one of the important place for t-shirt printing
I was finding the information on Google for a while regarding T-shirt printing. You have given valuable information but wanted to know more about rubber and vinyl printing with multiple colors.
I will be waiting!
Having worked for both print and web over the years, I know the vast difference between design on screen and a printed piece. Don’t be afraid to mock up your T-shirt design on a photo of a model. Print it out if necessary and place it on an actual tee. Make sure you see your artwork at actual size.
It is good to know that you need to consider the types of T-shirt printing. Also, I liked that you explained that depending on the types of printing methods the graphics will change. It seems like you would want to check how the graphics will handle being washed.
I liked that you suggested the quality of cloth for screen printing. My brother and I used to do these back in the day. Nowadays, there are industrial printing machines that make the job easier, which makes me more curious about starting out again.
Knowing the types of printed t-shirt, we can expand our styles of t-shirt list.
Very reliable and Good post!!
Printed shirts are always my favorite wear 😉
Nice post !!
Most of us chooses quality over quantity so regardless of it cheap price people still find satisfaction on quality printing and its always been the top priority of most companies to meet their clients expectation.
I want to get a fun T-shirt made for my sister who is pregnant. Thanks for explaining that there is more than one type of way to print a T-shirt. Also, it does seem like I will want to ask a experts opinion on what type of method will give me the best result.
Screen printing and Tshirt printing have a great potential in business. I’m also learning the printing design. This article is really helpful me. Thank you for sharing it.
Thanks for pointing out that it would be smart to choose a printer that will do good work with T-shirts. Personally, I would want to make sure that the graphics turn out well. Also, it would be nice if the graphics were soft. I hate wearing T-shirts that feel like I am wearing plastic.
Hi Praveen, thank you for this informative and detailed post. It is super helpful
Cheers,
Team Rock Hooper
Hey Praveen,
T-shirt printing is a very good concept for the corporate world.
Informative article here.
Love you your blog
Cheers
I believe T-shirt is the great marketing source in the corporate world. This article is very informative and interesting as well. thank you for sharing. You can get t shirt promotional products from Graphic Impact. Their quality will satisfy you.
Actually your post is extremely useful to know which central matters use to make great quality printed shirts, many individuals cannot choose very clearfull whats imprinting on shirts as looking so popular yet this article so supportive for picking printing shirts. Reinfall Design is my own business there are best screen printing shirts and more at entirely reasonable expense.
Gratitude for sharing applicable data about shirt printing. there are different sort of shirt printing, for example, sublimation printing . however, champu is one of the significant spot for shirt printing