Screen printing comes in many forms and is applied to various types of materials within the promotional items industry. When it comes to textile printing, it’s hard to choose a garment that works well with the process. T-shirts are the number one choice when supplying promotional apparel for events, so selecting the fabrication can be difficult. There are many manufacturers around the world supplying cotton t-shirts for screen printing in the UK Gildan, Steadman, Starworld are the main contenders but Fruit of the Loom It is the number one choice worldwide.
Fruit of the Loom has been making garments since 1851 and has gone mainstream since 1985, with $2.5 billion in turnover. They specialize in manufacturing consumer products ranging from children to senior citizens and supply not only screen printers but also major players within supermarkets and department stores and with their very familiar logo that has become become a widely recognized trademark.
T-shirts have become their go-to product, and with a wide range to choose from, you’re spoiled for choice. Their garments come in different weights of cotton from 160gms to 280gms and this is what really determines the quality and costs. Fruit of The Loom Valueweight is the flagship product selling thousands of items a day. Being within the screen printing industry, I have found this to be the most cost effective and technically easiest garment to print. Because cotton is the lightest gms available, this allows for a very flat serve for screen printing, which means you get less pile and can achieve a sharper print. When you start to choose the higher gms products, the pile can become too heavy and more pressure needs to be applied to cover, meaning you don’t get a sharper finish. Over the years I have found that applying light pressure to the screens gives the best print, the ink becomes part of the garment and not just an ink smear applied to the shirt.
The cost of cotton has gone up and down over the years, but with some web searching I found that you can get a white 1 color printed fruit of the loom t-shirt for as little as £1.05, and with the current crisis across the globe I think this is acceptable.
I can say that the other types of shirts within the range can also offer advantages as they have higher gms but this just means more pressure is needed but printing colored garments with a base overcomes this problem and you can achieve something high quality. , full color simulated prints. The higher the gms also means more durability when wearing and washing the products, plus sometimes the quality feels better as it is heavier.
I would always recommend fruit of the loom to anyone thinking of starting a screen printing business, there are plenty of other vendors to approach but fruit of the loom tops excellent customer service when supplying garments and always willing to help with any issues that you may have with your products.
If you want to find out more about screen printing or are looking for a t-shirt printing company, visit Screenworks Ltd.
