T-shirt printing

Screen printing is often associated with t-shirt printing or textile printing but it is not the only way to mark textiles, neither is it the only type of material that is marked by means of screen printing.

Printing on glass, metal, wood, plastics and ceramics or any kind of substrate is done using screen printing and the process is extremely versatile.

On the other hand, although the printing of textile is mainly done through the process of screen printing there are other techniques of attaching information to textile such as thermal transfers and embroidery. 

Choosing a shirt

Traditionally, clothing was made from natural fibre such as wool and cotton and although various synthetic fabrics were developed in recent times, natural fabric such as cotton is still popular as a promotional product for various reasons. 

Many companies use clothing to create brand awareness or to communicate messages as a promotional method and although it is often used only for a specific event, the garments are used long after the event has passed creating a long lasting method of advertising.

There are all kinds of shirts around with varying qualities but cotton or cotton rich shirts are by far the most popular garments to use for everyday wearing because of the properties resulting from its natural fibre.

Choosing a t-shirt is done based on a variety of factors including the weight of the fabric, but not only that.

Some of the factors that influence the fabric and therefore the quality of the shirt are as follows:

1)  The weight of the fabric. In South Africa you get shirts that are made from textile that is obtained from various sources all over the world.  Most of the time people consider the weight to be the most deciding factor of the quality of the shirt and many of the distributors only specify whether it is a 125g, 145g, 155g, 165g or 180g or 210g fabric.  This is however not the only factor.

2)  The processes that the cotton undergoes before it is weaved into yarn has an effect on the feel of the garment that is made from it.  Carded cotton is cotton which has been prepared for spinning into thread or yarn. Carding is an important step in the processing of many textiles, ensuring that debris is removed while aligning the fibers to make them easier to spin. Without carding, cotton thread would be coarse and extremely fragile.  Carding can either be done by hand or by industrial machines.  For extra-fine cotton, people may use a cotton comb to pull out additional short fibers after carding, ensuring that the cotton fibers are all the same length.  Combed cotton is extremely soft and silky to the touch, and it tends to be more expensive, because a higher volume of cotton is removed during processing.

3)  Then there is the way in which the textile is knitted that has an effect on the final fabric. The most common terms used with promotional t-shirts are Single Knit or Double knit weaving.   Flat knitting, which can be done on two straight needles or a circular needle, produces a length of cloth, while circular knitting, which is done on circular or double-pointed needles, produces a seamless tube. Different yarns and knitting needles may be used to achieve different end products by giving the final piece a different colour, texture, weight, or integrity.

The information about the origin of the textile and the processes that it has gone through is not always available, but the best way to choose a shirt is by looking at a sample of the fabric and then to decide whether it will be suitable.