At Press & Release Printing, we work with clients on a variety of garment projects. One element that surprises many of our clients in the design phase is fabric material options available for their project. You may assume that 100% cotton is the way to go, but if you need high-quality activewear, for instance, a moisture-wicking polyester interlock tee would be the better option.
To the untrained eye, the base fabric of a piece of clothing may look like any other. However, if you look closely and compare the feel of various fabrics, you will begin to notice differences among styles. Even if you are unable to see the difference, you will quickly notice that certain fabrics feel and hold their shape differently.
Press & Release Printing is proud to offer a variety of garment fabrics to choose from when designing and printing clothing. Knowing the differences between the various styles and manufacturing can help you make the best choice when you need to order personalized clothing.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the most popular garment fabrics currently used for production.
Today’s Top Garment Fabrics For Production 
100% Cotton
100% cotton is the bread and butter of screen printing and apparel customization. This is likely the fabric you are most familiar with, and your closet is probably full of it. Even the most common fabric can have some variation, though: depending on how it was manufactured, cotton can take on a variety of different textures and weights.
The most popular manufacturing style for 100% cotton is known as ring-spun. With a ring-spun method, the raw cotton has been carefully cleaned of all impurities and woven into yarn form to give a soft feel and smooth fabric surface for printing. For water-based/discharge printing, 100% cotton is ideal, and it is required for Direct To Garment options.
At Press & Release, one of our favorite 100% cotton styles to work with is Gildan’s G500, a classic heavyweight tee. For a more modern and retail-ready option, we also love to print on Bella + Canvas’ 3001C. A great compromise between the G500’s heavyweight and classic fit and the softness of the 3001C is Gildan’s Hammer™ tee.
100% Polyester
Polyester is a fabric made from synthetic plastic polymer (polyethylene terephthalate) fibers.
Synthetic fabrics like polyester have a lot of versatility and can be designed with some great benefits. For instance, polyester’s insulating properties make it a crucial component in warm-weather garments; this is why you’ll often see a high percentage of polyester in fleece items like sweatshirts and blankets.
Polyester is also moisture-resistant (and thus stain-resistant), and wrinkle-resistant, making it ideal for workwear and activewear. Just like cotton, polyester can be manufactured in a variety of styles, each with its own unique benefits. Polyester interlock feels soft and smooth and is ideal for athletic wear. Mesh is also a great option for activewear like shorts and jerseys since it contains small (or large, depending on the specific mesh) holes to allow for maximum breathability.
You’ll want to stay away from polyester (and other synthetic fabrics) when using water-based/discharge printing since the plastic fibers don’t “hold” color pigments as well as natural fibers like cotton. Low cure plastisol printing is best when using polyester, as this method sets ink on top of the fabric rather than dyeing the fibers.
One of our favorite styles of 100% polyester is the A4 Men’s Cooling Performance T-Shirt, which boasts moisture-wicking properties, as well as stain and odor resistance. Specialty brands like Under Armour often use 100% polyester in their athletic wear as well.
Cotton/Poly Blends
Customers who want to take advantage of the best of both worlds can opt for a cotton/poly blend. Various combinations of both cotton and polyester (80/20, 50/50, 52/48, etc.) can achieve a range of different fabrics with their own looks and feels.
Originally developed to help avoid high taxes on imports and exports of fabric, cotton/poly blends quickly became popular in the market due to their ability to combine the strength of cotton with the stain-resistance and smoothness of polyester. This is why you’ll often see cotton-poly blends labeled as “CVC” which stands for Chief Value Cotton. When used in t-shirts, cotton-poly blends are often lighter-weight than 100% cotton options and contain some of the same quick-drying benefits of pure polyester.
Water-based and discharge printing can be used with cotton/poly blends, resulting in a lower-opacity “vintage” look, like the example above (which we printed on Bella + Canvas’ 3001CVC for Land & She). This is because the cotton fibers in the fabric will hold the pigment as normal, while the polyester fibers maintain their original color. If vintage isn’t your thing and you’d prefer a bright print, opt for plastisol when using cotton/poly blends.
An excellent option for cotton/poly blend shirts is the Next Level Men’s CVC Crew. Another option that we love to use is Bella + Canvas Unisex Heather CVC T-Shirt.
Triblends
While cotton/poly blends bring the best of the cotton and polyester together, triblends take it a step further by adding in a bit of rayon fabric. Triblend fabrics offer the same strength and softness as a poly/cotton blend with the added luxuriously silky feel of rayon. This makes it super popular for fashion brands or anyone going for a premium feel.
As was the case with poly/cotton blends, printing with waterbased and discharge inks on triblend fabrics will give you a vintage look (see above example, which we printed for Hooligan Skateboards on Anvil’s 6750). For bright prints, you’ll want to stick to plastisol once again.
A popular triblend style is the Bella + Canvas Unisex Triblend T-Shirt, which offers a 50% polyester, 25% combed and ringspun cotton, and 25% rayon mix. Similarly, we really love the Next Level Men’s Triblend Crew, which offers the same mix and is pre-laundered to avoid shrinking in the wash.
Other Fabrics
There are hundreds of unique fabrics and blends out there! Many garment manufacturers have developed their own proprietary fabric blends. One instance of fabric innovation is the Flowy collection by Bella + Canvas. This fabric is a poly-viscose blend – a unique combination of 65% polyester and 35% viscose fabric. The result is a soft and silky feel that drapes over and away from the body, creating feminine and flowy silhouettes.
Another specialty fabric is spandex. Known popularly for its use in the leotards of Olympic gymnasts, spandex is massively popular for use in athleisure clothing. Spandex (a synthetic fabric made of polyurethane) adds elasticity to any fabric blend, making it perfect for leggings, shorts, and other activewear and shapewear.
Explore Your Fabric Options At Press & Release Printing
At Press & Release, we love pushing the envelope and trying new and exciting fabric styles for printing projects (we’ll always love a faithful cotton tee, though)! To see our full line of garments available for printing, as well as the many other creative services we offer, visit us online today.