The Best Blank T-Shirts for Custom Printing

A customer came in last month set on the cheapest shirt we could find. The order was retail merch for a coffee shop, the kind of thing people pay actual money for at the register. We talked him out of it. A dollar saved per shirt doesn't mean much when the tee feels like a paper towel and nobody buys a second one. The blank is half the product. It's the part your customer touches before they ever notice the print.

So here's how we think about the four blanks we reach for most, and who each one is really for. No brand is "the best." They're tools, and you match the tool to the job.

What's the best blank t-shirt for custom printing?

It depends on whether you're chasing feel, price, or a specific look. For a soft retail tee, the Bella+Canvas 3001 wins. For cheap and tough, it's the Gildan 5000. For a heavyweight vintage vibe, Comfort Colors. Here's the quick version before we get into the why.

Bella+Canvas 3001: the one people actually want to wear

If you're printing merch someone has to choose to put on, start here. The 3001 is made from combed and ring-spun cotton, which is a fancy way of saying the fibers are cleaned up and twisted tight, so the surface is smooth and the shirt feels good out of the bag. It runs fitted and a touch shorter than a boxy classic tee, which is exactly why bands, breweries, and small brands love it.

For us on the press, that smooth surface is a gift. Ink lays down crisp and the detail holds. The catch is price; it's the most expensive of the four, and it runs slim, so size up if your crowd wants a relaxed fit. For a retail-quality print, the 3001 is the safe money. If you're weighing print methods on top of the blank, our breakdown of screen printing vs. DTF vs. embroidery pairs well with this one.

Is Gildan or Bella+Canvas better for big orders?

For big, budget-driven orders, Gildan wins; for retail merch, Bella+Canvas does. The Gildan 5000 is a heavy 5.3 oz cotton shirt that has quietly stopped being the "cheap" option and become a genuine workhorse. That dense weave gives ink a firm, flat platform, so prints come out clean and bold, and the shirt survives a beating in the wash.

This is the shirt for a 5K, a church picnic, a warehouse crew, or a school fundraiser, anywhere the goal is "good shirt, everybody gets one, keep the cost down." It's boxier and heavier than the 3001, which some people love and some don't. When the budget is the headline, this is the answer. Running a fundraiser? The free screens on orders of 100+ pieces stack nicely with a Gildan order.

Comfort Colors 1717: the heavyweight vintage tee

Comfort Colors is the move when you want a shirt that already looks like it's been worn for three summers. The 1717 is a heavyweight, garment-dyed tee, which means the whole shirt is dyed after it's sewn. That's where the soft, faded, lived-in color and the slightly relaxed drape come from.

Boutiques, beach towns, bands, and college merch lean on these for a reason. A couple of honest trade-offs: garment-dyed shirts can vary a little shade to shade across a run, and the earthy color palette is the whole point, so don't expect neon. On the press they take a print beautifully, especially soft, vintage-style and water-based looks. Premium shirt, premium price, worth it when the vibe calls for it.

Next Level 3600: soft without the top-shelf price

The 3600 is for when you want most of the Bella feel but need to protect the budget. It's combed ring-spun cotton with a modern, fitted cut, soft and light, and it usually lands a bit cheaper than the 3001. Think fitted team merch, event shirts, or a brand drop where you're counting every dollar but won't print on something stiff.

It's not quite as buttery as the 3001 and the color range isn't as deep, but for the price, it punches well above its weight. When someone wants "soft, but not Bella money," this is what we pull off the shelf.

How to pick in 10 seconds

• Selling it at a register? Bella+Canvas 3001.
• Giving away a lot of them cheap? Gildan 5000.
• Want a vintage, heavyweight look? Comfort Colors 1717.
• Want soft on a tighter budget? Next Level 3600.
• Still not sure? Tell us the use and the budget. We'll put the right blank in your hands.

One thing worth knowing: you can mix shirt colors, styles, and sizes in a single run as long as the ink colors stay the same, so a youth small and an adult 3XL can ride the same order. And because we have no order minimums, you're never stuck buying a hundred shirts just to hit a price break. Want to see the blanks for yourself? Browse our blank catalog, or read up on how the screen printing and Premium Film Print processes change what each shirt can do.