We came across this article on Tee Spotter today and wanted to share! We think the author does a great job discussing important parts that make up a good t-shirt, along with an informational breakdown on different brands.

He reviews material, fit, quality and price and offers his suggestion on each. The pros and cons of some of the more popular brands are given as well. If you've ever wondered the difference between American Apparel, Alternative Apparel, Tultex and Alstyle, this article is for you. It definitely acts as a guide to help pick on the perfect tee for your need!  

Make sure to check out the full article HERE before making your next big purchase! 

We recently printed this bear graphic, for Ruthless Ware, on American Apparel's (AA) 2001 in teal, raspberry and sunshine as well as on the AA pullover in heather grey. As a new clothing line from Fort Lauderdale, FL, Ruthless Ware's goal is to bring unique looking apparel at a low cost. They are currently offering great prices with an additional 10% off, so check out all they have to offer here! 

Wildly enough, this is a burnout print.  Burnout prints actually "burn out" (remove) the cotton from the shirt, leaving only the synthetic fibers, generally polyester (in this case also rayon).  

Most blanks used for burnout designs will leave a white, or very lighter color, image.  

We've found both American Apparel and Next Level Apparel's grey Tri-Blend's to leave a nearly black image, which we think is pretty rad!  

Why is that you may ask?  The answer would lie in the shirts synthetic fibers (the only remaining fibers after the "burnout").  The construction of these shirts is 50% polyester, 25% cotton and 25% rayon.  Since we've "burned out" (removed) the cotton in this image area, only the polyester and rayon remain.  Since the image area is now nearly black, that leads us to the conclusion what the cotton in this shirt was obviously very, very light colored cotton.  We can also assume that these shirts have very, very dark polyester strands rather than white polyester like most 50/50 blanks.

That is today's Science 101.

Sea & Shore is a new line out of South Florida.  We had a sit down with these guys and discussed shirt colors for their initial tee.  To help them out, we printed a dozen different colors so they could test the waters (pun intended).

This was one of our favorites.  This shirt is American Apparels Tri-Blend in athletic blue with a discharge white.  

Since the shirt has so little cotton to discharge, a lot of the shirt color shows through the print and gives the print a great heathered look.

Below is a stack of other colors we tested, mostly with a white discharge ink.

One quick note, American Apparel's royal blue is still not discharging well, just an FYI for other lines wanting to try it again.