Real Thread Blog

This is our latest shirt, the Emblem Tee.  This version is printed on a Tultex cotton/poly blend which gives it subpar discharge results but amazing burnout results.  

For those of you new to burnout, this printing process actually removes the cotton from the shirt, in defined areas of course.  In this shirt, the lightest color in the pictures are the burnout areas, the "Real Thread", the "RT" in the middle of the shirt and the bud at the bottom of the design.  In these areas, the shirt actually becomes a bit more sheer, a bit thinner since the cotton is burnt out leaving only the poly from the shirt.  

The results can be wild with burnout.  To a certain point, the look of the image is a bit unknown until you are able to test the specific shirt.  

Where as this shirt left the burnout nearly white (from white poly threads), an American Apparel BB401 in black aqua leaves an amazingly bright aqua blue color behind.  In that particular shirt color, the black aqua, the cotton is obviously the "black" and the poly the "aqua."  

On American Apparel's TR401 tri-blend in athletic grey, the burnout ends up being nearly black (which is WAY cool!).

It's pretty amazing the results you can get with burnout.  The specific shirt you decide to use is obviously a big determining factor in the look of the end result.