100% Cotton or 50/50 Blend: Which Is Best?
December 21, 2010
You’ve created the perfect design. You settled on the perfect slogan. You’re finally ready to place your order when you’re suddenly rattled with a question you may have not been expecting…
100% cotton or a 50/50 blend?
Don’t panic! This post is going to teach you everything you need to know to make a wise and knowledgeable choice.
For the most part, it will simply come down to your own personal preference. But there are some important factors and considerations that you should be aware of before making your final decision.
Each choice offers its own set of pros and cons, so let’s look at each of them separately.
100% Cotton T-Shirts
The first thing you’ll notice about the cotton t-shirts is how soft they are to the touch. Not only are they much softer than their half-polyester counterparts, they “breathe” a lot better as well. What this means is that the cotton fabric allows air to circulate through the shirt. When we sweat, the shirt allows air to flow through and assist in evaporation, thus helping us stay cooler in hot and humid conditions. Plus, the cotton shirts just have a nicer, heavier feel to them that most people seem to like.
If your event is going to be outside, or in an area of high heat and humidity, then the 100% cotton shirt is definitely the way to go.
Cotton shirts are notorious for being heavy-duty shrinkers. But these days, 100% cotton fabric is manufactured to reduce the amount of shrinkage that occurs in the laundering process. Also, manufacturers are beginning to produce their cotton shirts a little bit bigger, to account for the shrinkage that will occur, not to mention that they are put through the manufacturer’s “preshrink” process.
So remember that 100% cotton shirts may not last as long as 50/50 blends, but they are softer and much more breathable, allowing for proper perspiration evaporation. They also do not shrink as much as they used to. For instance, our preferred shirt, the Gildan 100% cotton T, will only shrink up to 3-5%, on average.
50/50 Cotton and Polyester Blend T-Shirts
If its durability and long-lasting shirts you’re looking for, then a 50/50 cotton and polyester blend may be right for you. The Polyester adds resiliency to the cotton fibers, allowing them to “spring back” into shape and endure many more laundry cycles.
Unfortunately, the Polyester does not allow for evaporation, and can become uncomfortable when worn in hot and humid areas. 50/50 blends are ideal for indoor situations which may call for extra durability, longevity or unusually high amounts of laundering.
The 50/50 blend is also less likely to shrink/wrinkle than 100% cotton and feels lighter on the wearer.
Many T-shirt and clothing manufacturers such as Anvil Knitwear are beginning to use recycled polyester in their manufacturing processes. The FTC recognizes items containing recycled polyester fibers as being eco-friendly and, of course, ClassB supports that as well.
Making the Final Decision
Now that you know the advantages of each type of shirt, it’s time to take a quick look at exactly where and how the shirts are going to be worn.
Are they going to be worn indoors where it is cool, or outdoors in the heat and humidity? Will the shirts be worn over and over again, or is it a one-time event? Just give it a little thought and you should have no problem deciding which is best for you.
You should have enough information now to be able to make your decision, but if you still need help, feel free to give us a call at 1-800-851-4020. One of our helpful customer service representatives will be glad to talk to you about which shirt to choose. We’re here Monday through Friday, 9am-5pm EST, and we’re always ready to help!
Now it’s your turn – let us know your thoughts on the differences between 100% cotton and 50/50 blend. Leave a comment below!
Check Out ClassB’s Online T-Shirt Design Tool
July 27, 2010
If you haven’t seen it yet, you’ve got to check out our online T-shirt design tool. Now you can create your very own designs for your shirts right here on our website.
What makes this tool so much better than the others is the incredible amount of clipart that we have available for you to choose from – allowing you to let your creative mind run wild and create tons of different designs.
These are quality images that can save you an incredible amount of time and money since you don’t have to pay for them to be created and wait for the artist to complete the work. They’re all right there for you to use freely. And there are thousands of them.
Not the most creative person in the world? No problem! You can browse through hundreds of designs that have already been created until you find one you like. Then (with one click of the mouse) you can load it up into the online T-shirt design tool and tweak it to your liking.
We also have hundreds of different font styles you can choose from, re-size, colorize and preview in real-time.
Here are 4 random examples of clipart from our gallery:
Family Reunion Phrases and Clip Art
July 26, 2010
Family reunions can come in many different shapes and sizes. Depending on your theme, it can be interesting, exciting, educational, sentimental or just plain fun.
No matter what theme you choose, ClassB has the phrase and the artwork you’re looking for.
Choose from over 90 shirt styles – even infant, baby and toddler shirts – and over 200 pre-made designs. Or you can use our online design tool to create your own.
Below is a list of some of our favorite Family Reunion phrases:
- Why be normal? When you can be a [last name]
- I’m a member of the [last name] family. That’s why I’m so ______. (Attendees filled in the blank prior to the event)
- My Big Fat Greek Reunion
- [last name] Family – Creating Dysfunction
- Family First – Hot Dogs and Beer Later
- The love of a family is one of life’s greatest blessings.
- [last name] Family Reunion – Living, Laughing, Loving.
- Family is one of nature’s masterpieces.
- [last name] Family – Celebrating Our Faith
- Come and enjoy the family.
6 Tips For Unpacking and Distributing Your T-Shirts
July 16, 2010
This weekend, ClassB is having its first ever Family Fun Day at Busch Gardens in Tampa.
Being a T-shirt company, we obviously wanted to design and create custom T-shirts for our employees and their families to wear while attending the event. The actual design we used can be seen in the picture to the right. Another great job by our artists!
But what we wanted to talk about here, is exactly how we handled the shirts once we received the final product from our production staff.
Even though we are right here in the same building, we received the shirts just like you would receive them if we shipped them to you.
With so many shirts to keep track of and distribute, we needed to keep things as organized as possible. So we decided to do just what we suggest our customers do. And it worked great.
Unpacking Tips
When you open the box, you will see an invoice and another slip of paper that says “NOTICE” at the top. Make sure to read the notice and follow the instructions closely.
Here is what you will need to do to assure everyone gets the correct shirt:
- Carefully count all shirts, by size, to make sure that your entire order is complete and accurate.
- Using your sign-up sheet, place each shirt in a bag and write the name of the recipient on the bag. One bag per recipient. If there is more than one garment per recipient, place them all in the same bag.
- If you wish to add anything else for each recipient (tickets, candy, etc…), do it now.
- At the time of distribution to each recipient, only allow one person to hand out the bags.
- Have everyone double-check their bags as soon as they receive them.
- Finally, do not give away any extra shirts, exchange for different sizes or modify the shirts in any way until every shirt has been distributed and has been accounted for.
Distributing the custom shirts for your event can be exciting, and people are going to want their shirts right away. But if you’re not careful, you can really cause a big mess.
Following these simple 6 tips will have each shirt in the hands of the right person and will save you the time of trying to sort out discrepancies later.
Good luck with your event!