Article Written By: Sheldon Parks
Fabric is a significant factor in determining many elements of a t-shirt. Aside from determining the quality of results of t-shirt printing, fabrics play an essential role, too, in showing how well a t-shirt will be able to hold its shape after numerous washings and wearing.Is there a certain kind of fabric that will suit your specific printing needs? This discussion will help you discover them.There are t-shirts found in the market that are made from polyester, 100% cotton, or cotton/polyester blends. These fabrics are the most popular varieties available. In addition to the 3 common types of shirt fabrics, there are manufacturers who make fabrics from organically grown cotton and natural dyes; they do this for the purpose of environmental conservation.Stretch t-shirts are commonly created from knit fabrics (jerseys and rib/interlock rib knits). Considering that jersey is extremely verstile, flexible, and relatively affordable, it is one of the most popular kinds of fabric for silk screen printing or heat transfer printing.If you wish for fabrics that do not shrink in the dryer or fade under the sun, then cotton-polyester blends will suit the purpose. Considering that most t-shirts available in the market are made from cotton or cotton-polyester blends, we will discuss about 2 types of cotton fabrics and compare their features in relation to their use in t-shirt printing.There are a couple of varieties of cotton fabric: combed cotton and carded cotton. By touch, one can see that combed cotton fabrics are softer in texture than carded ones.The method that produces combed cotton permits the separation of cotton fibers, and it generates longer, thinner, and more even fibers. These thinner fibers are twisted together to create a smoother, finer thread. This technique supplies the smoothness felt in combed cotton fabric.Meanwhile, carded cotton is produced through a mixture of short, thick and ragged cotton fibers. These ragged fibers are blown together, which results in a rough, thick thread. The rough grain of carded cotton makes the fabric's quality inferior to that of combed cotton.Many t-shirt printing firms would opt for combed cotton over the carded one for the fabric of choice because of its smoothness and tight-knit weave. Combed cotton lends itself readily for design transfers that utilizes silk screen t-shirt printing and embroidery.
This Article Has Been Published on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 and Read 405 Times