.jpg)
How to Choose the Best T-Shirt for Printing: Fabric, Weight and Fit Guide
The blank you choose matters just as much as the design you put on it. Here's how to pick the right one.
When you're ordering custom printed t-shirts you spend a lot of time thinking about the design so it's important to think about the blank t-shirt underneath it too. The fabric, gsm weight and the fit of the t-shirt you choose will determine how the print looks, how it feels to wear and whether the person who receives it actually wants to wear it again and again.
We print and embroider thousands of garments every month at and the quality of the blank is one of the biggest variables in the finished product. A well chosen t-shirt makes the print look better, feel better and last longer. A poor one can undermine even the best design and this guide covers the key decisions you need to make and the specific garments in our range that fit each scenario.
What does GSM mean and why does it matter?
GSM stands for grams per square metre. It is the standard measurement for fabric weight and it tells you how heavy or light the material is. A higher GSM means a thicker, more substantial fabric and a lower GSM means a lighter and more breathable one.
For custom t-shirt printing GSM is one of the most useful numbers to know because it directly affects how the garment feels, how it's likely to drape on the body and how it takes ink. Here is a rough guide to what the numbers mean in practice.
120 to 150 GSM is considered lightweight. These tees are thin and breathable but can feel cheap if the cotton quality is low. They are best suited to warm climates, promotional giveaways or situations where cost per unit is the main priority. Lightweight fabrics can also be more transparent which is something to keep in mind when printing on lighter colours.
160 to 190 GSM is the mid-weight range and it is where the majority of premium custom printed t-shirts sit. This weight gives you a garment that feels substantial without being heavy. It holds its shape well through repeated washing and provides an excellent surface for screen printing, DTG and embroidery. For most use cases from branded merchandise to retail clothing lines this is going to be your sweet spot.
200 GSM and above is heavyweight territory. These are the thick, structured tees that sit more like a piece of outerwear than a standard shirt. They hold their shape extremely well and have a premium hand feel that is immediately noticeable. Heavyweight blanks are increasingly popular with streetwear brands and anyone who wants their merchandise to feel like a retail product rather than a promotional item.
Fabric composition: what the cotton is made of and how it's processed
Not all cotton is the same. Two t-shirts can both say 100% cotton on the label but feel completely different in the hand and the difference comes down to the type of cotton fibre and how the yarn is spun.
Carded cotton is the most basic processing method. The fibres are separated and loosely aligned before being spun into yarn. This produces a slightly rougher texture with a more natural or rustic feel. It is less expensive to produce but the surface is not as smooth. Carded cotton can work well for heavyweight garments where that textured character is part of the appeal and can give a more 'dry hand' feel to the t-shirt.
Combed cotton goes through an additional step where shorter fibres are removed and the remaining longer ones are straightened and aligned before spinning. This produces a smoother yarn with fewer imperfections and a softer hand feel. Combed cotton t-shirts are more durable, less prone to pilling and give a noticeably cleaner print surface.
Ring-spun cotton refers to how the yarn is twisted. Ring spinning continuously twists and thins the fibres to create a very fine, strong yarn. It produces a smoother and softer fabric compared to open-end spinning which is faster and cheaper but gives a rougher result. Most premium t-shirt blanks use ring-spun cotton.
When you see a garment described as combed ring-spun cotton that tells you it has gone through both processes. The short fibres have been removed and the remaining ones have been spun using the finer method. This combination gives the best possible surface for printing because the fabric is smooth, consistent and holds ink evenly.
The Stanley/Stella Creator 2.0 is made from 100% organic combed ring-spun cotton at 180 GSM. That combination of processing quality and mid-weight fabric is why it produces such clean print results and why it is the most popular blank in our range.
Organic cotton vs conventional cotton for printing
We have written about organic cotton in detail before so we will keep this focused on what actually matters for print quality. The short answer is that organic cotton takes ink just as well as conventional cotton and often better.
Organic cotton processed through GOTS-certified supply chains avoids the harsh chemical treatments used in conventional textile production. Those treatments can leave residues on the fabric surface that sometimes interfere with ink adhesion particularly with water-based and DTG inks. Clean fabric takes ink more predictably and holds it better through washing.
At Live Ink we print exclusively with GOTS-certified water-based inks onto organic and responsibly sourced garments. As well as being an environmental decision it also produces better results. The ink bonds into the fibres more rather than sitting on the surface which gives you prints that are softer to the touch and more durable over time.
If sustainability credentials matter to your brand or your customers as much as they do to us then the combination of certified organic blanks and certified inks is the only way to go. You cannot print a GOTS-certified organic cotton garment with plastisol ink and still claim the finished product is organic. We have written more about why ink choice matters here.
How fit and cut affect the finished product
The cut of a t-shirt changes how your print sits on the body and this is something that catches a lot of people out. A design that looks perfectly balanced on a flat mockup can look very different when it is worn on an actual person in a garment with a different fit and it's especialy worht considering how much of the garment will drape to the side of the person wearing it.
A regular or medium fit is the safest starting point for most custom printing projects. The garment sits close to the body without being tight and front chest prints will sit in a predictable position across a range of body types. The Stanley/Stella Creator 2.0 and the AS Colour Staple Organic Tee both offer regular fits with consistent sizing. They work for everything from staff uniforms and event tees to bands and retail merchandise.
A relaxed or oversized fit gives you more fabric to work with and prints tend to sit flatter on the chest because the fabric is not pulling across the body. This works particularly well for larger graphic prints and for streetwear or fashion-led projects. The Stanley/Stella Sparker 2.0 at 215 GSM is a relaxed fit heavyweight tee that looks and feels like a premium retail product straight out of the box.
Women's fitted tees have a different cut through the shoulders and torso. If you are ordering for a mixed group of people it is worth offering both a unisex and a women's option rather than expecting a single cut to work for everyone. The Stanley/Stella Expresser and Stanley/Stella Muser are designed as women's fits and are available in many of the same colours as the Creator 2.0 which makes it easy to run a consistent colourway across your range. It's worth noting that most women's tees will have a lighter gsm than a unisex tee in the same range.
Choosing the right blank for your print method
The decoration method you are using should also influence your choice of garment. Different fabrics perform differently under different processes.
For screen printing you want a stable, smooth, closely knit fabric that will not shift under the squeegee. Mid-weight combed ring-spun cotton between 160 and 200 GSM is ideal. Screen printing works on essentially any cotton garment in our range but the cleaner the fabric surface the sharper your lines and solid fills will be.
For DTG printing the fabric needs to absorb and hold water-based inks effectively. 100% cotton gives the best results because the fibres absorb ink readily. Blended fabrics with polyester content can cause issues with vibrancy because the polyester fibres do not absorb the ink in the same way. Heather colourways in some blank garments can contain a small percentage of recycled polyester or viscose to create the heathered effect so it is worth checking the composition if you are going the DTG route and want maximum colour vibrancy.
For embroidery you have more flexibility with fabric composition but weight matters. Heavier fabrics handle the tension of stitching better without puckering. This is why embroidery works particularly well on sweatshirts, hoodies and heavyweight tees. You can absolutely embroider on a 180 GSM tee but a 215 GSM blank like the Sparker 2.0 will give a flatter, cleaner result around the embroidered area because the fabric does not pull as easily.
What we recommend for common use cases
If you are printing merchandise for a band, podcast, small business or event and want the best combination of quality, print performance and price the Stanley/Stella Creator 2.0 at 180 GSM is the best starting point. Available in over 50 colours with GOTS certification and a clean combed ring-spun surface it is the workhorse of our range for good reason.
If you are building a retail clothing line or streetwear brand and want something that feels like a premium product before you even put a print on it the Sparker 2.0 at 215 GSM is the one to look at. The heavier weight, relaxed fit and carded cotton texture give it a distinctly retail feel.
If you want a solid organic cotton tee at a slightly lower price point the AS Colour Staple Organic Tee is also 180 GSM combed organic cotton with GOTS certification and a regular fit. It has a slightly different cut and colour range to the Creator 2.0 and comes from a more streetwear range of blanks so it is worth ordering samples of both to see which suits your project.
If you want to run a print-on-demand store through your own website we offer all of these blanks through our eco-friendly print-on-demand fulfilment service with Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce and Squarespace integrations. The same quality and the same garments just printed and shipped one at a time directly to your customers.
Order samples first
This is the single most useful piece of advice we can give. No amount of reading about fabric weights and cotton processing will replace holding the actual garment in your hands. Feel the weight. Check the fit. Look at the fabric surface. Wash it and see what happens so you know exactly what you will be selling or handing out once it's printed with your design.
We have no minimum order quantity on any product so you can order one or two blanks to test before committing to a larger run. Browse our full t-shirt range here or get in touch and we will help you work out which garment is right for your project.
Live Ink is a Bristol-based sustainable garment decoration studio. We offer GOTS-certified organic garments, water-based inks and print-on-demand alongside bulk custom orders. Minimum order for screen printing: 20 garments.