The Best Blank T-Shirt to Print On
The blank is the single biggest thing you control, and it moves your price by more than the printing does.
We stock three tees on purpose. One built to a price, one that feels like retail, and one that feels expensive. Here is how to tell which one you actually want.
Which One Are You?
5.3 oz of 100% cotton. The industry workhorse. Buy this when the shirt is a giveaway and the count is high.
Airlume combed and ring-spun cotton in a modern cut. Feels like something bought at retail. Most orders should be this.
6.1 oz garment-dyed cotton that arrives already broken in. Buy this when somebody is paying money for the shirt itself.
The Full Comparison
Same print, same quantity, three different blanks. The spread between cheapest and dearest is roughly double, and it stays roughly double at every quantity.
| Gildan 5000 | Bella+Canvas 3001 | Comfort Colors 1717 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weight | 5.3 oz | Lightweight | 6.1 oz |
| Cotton | 100% cotton | Airlume combed ring-spun | Ring-spun, garment dyed |
| Fit | Boxy, classic | Modern, closer | Relaxed, roomy |
| Feel | Sturdy | Soft, retail | Broken in from day one |
| 24 pieces | $11.65 | $15.05 | $19.81 |
| 144 pieces | $6.76 | $9.48 | $13.29 |
| Best for | Giveaways, volume | Staff, merch, most things | Merch you sell, retail |
| Shrinkage | Some | Minimal | Expect a little |
Prices are a full-colour front print on a dark colorway, quoted by the studio today. Open the studio for the live number on your artwork.
If you are ordering shirts people will pay for, the blank is not the place to save money. The difference between a Gildan and a Comfort Colors at a merch table is the difference between a twenty dollar shirt and a forty dollar shirt, and it costs you about seven dollars to move between them.
Ring-Spun, Combed, and Why Any of It Matters
Cotton starts as fibres of varying length. How you turn those into yarn decides how the finished shirt feels, and it is the whole reason two shirts made of the same material can feel completely different.
Open-end spinning is fast and cheap and leaves a coarser, fuzzier thread. Ring-spinning twists and thins the fibres continuously, producing a finer, smoother, stronger yarn. That is most of what people mean when they say a shirt is soft.
Combing goes a step further and removes the short fibres before spinning. Fewer short fibres means less pilling, less fuzz and a smoother printing surface. Bella+Canvas markets their combed ring-spun cotton as Airlume.
Garment dyeing is a different lever entirely. The shirt is sewn first and dyed afterwards, which softens it and gives the slightly uneven, faded look Comfort Colors is bought for.
Which One By Situation
| You are printing | Pick | Because |
|---|---|---|
| Two hundred giveaway shirts for a race | Gildan 5000 | Nobody remembers what a free shirt weighed, and the saving is real at that count. |
| Twenty-four staff shirts | Bella+Canvas 3001 | Staff wear these constantly. Comfort matters more than the fifteen dollars you would save. |
| Merch you are selling at a show | Comfort Colors 1717 | The feel is part of what they are paying for. It supports a much higher price. |
| Uniform shirts that get washed daily | Gildan 5000 | Durability and replaceability beat softness in a rotation. |
| A brand launch | Bella+Canvas 3001 | Retail feel without the premium price. The safe default for a reason. |
| Something people keep for years | Comfort Colors 1717 | Garment dyed shirts age well instead of just wearing out. |
How to Think About the Blank
The blank moves the price more than the print does
Between our cheapest and dearest tee there is about seven dollars a shirt at two dozen. The printing barely changes across the three. The garment is the decision.
Softness is spinning, not weight
A light combed ring-spun tee feels far better than a heavy open-end one. If somebody tells you heavier means better, they are selling you a heavy shirt.
Free shirts and sold shirts are different jobs
Nobody inspects a giveaway. Somebody handing you thirty-five dollars at a merch table absolutely inspects it. Buy accordingly.
Nobody has ever regretted the nicer blank
We have had people wish they had gone up a tier. We have never had anybody wish they had gone down one.
The Same Three Tiers in Other Garments
The good, better, best pattern holds across everything the studio stocks, so once you know which tier you are, picking in another category is easy.
| Category | Price leads | The safe default | Feel is the pitch |
|---|---|---|---|
| T-shirt | Gildan 5000 | Bella+Canvas 3001 | Comfort Colors 1717 |
| Long sleeve | Gildan 5400 | Bella+Canvas 3501 | Comfort Colors 6014 |
| Hoodie | Gildan 18500 | Independent Trading SS4500 | Gildan 18600 full zip |
| Tank | Next Level 1533 | Bella+Canvas 3480 | Comfort Colors 9360 |
| Polo | Core365 88181 | Harriton M265 | Devon & Jones DG20 |
| Hat | YP Classics 6006 | Richardson 112 | Flexfit 6277 |
All eighteen are in the studio. Pick a category and the three options appear with the trade-offs written out.
Feel the Difference in the Price
Switch between the three tees in the studio and watch the number move. It is the fastest way to work out whether the nicer blank is worth it for what you are doing.
Loaded with the middle option to start.
Blank T-Shirt Questions
What is the difference between Gildan and Bella+Canvas?
Weight, cut and yarn. Gildan is a heavier, boxier, open-end cotton tee built to a price. Bella+Canvas uses combed and ring-spun cotton in a closer modern cut, so it is lighter, softer and drapes better. The Bella costs a few dollars more per shirt and most people can tell the difference wearing it.
What does ring-spun actually mean?
How the cotton fibres are twisted into yarn. Ring-spinning twists and thins them continuously, which produces a finer, smoother, stronger thread. Open-end spinning is faster and cheaper and leaves a coarser yarn. Ring-spun is why one shirt feels soft and another feels like a tea towel.
What is combed cotton?
An extra step where the short fibres and impurities are combed out before spinning. Fewer short fibres means less fuzz, less pilling and a smoother surface. Bella+Canvas calls their version Airlume.
Why is Comfort Colors so much more expensive?
It is garment dyed, which means the shirt is sewn first and dyed afterwards. That gives the soft, slightly uneven, already-broken-in look people buy it for, and it is a slower and more expensive way to make a shirt.
Which blank is best for selling merch?
Comfort Colors if you are charging thirty-five dollars or more and the feel is part of the pitch. Bella+Canvas if you want a retail-quality shirt at a sensible margin. Gildan only if your buyer genuinely does not care.
Do heavier shirts print better?
Not really. Print quality is about surface smoothness more than weight. A smooth ring-spun surface holds fine detail better than a coarse heavy one. Weight affects how the shirt feels and hangs, not how the ink sits.
Olive Branch Apparel
Custom screen printing, embroidery, DTF and DTG. We source blanks from suppliers across the country and ship nationwide.
Start an order
Build it yourself in the studio and check out when it looks right.
Open the design studioPick a Blank and See the Price
Switch between all three in the studio and watch what changes.