T-shirt Material

[kenneth91619]

I have a question...I want to use high quality shirts like designers use but can't find a place where I can buy some without a Tax ID. I was looking for 100% Combed Ringspun Cotton, 90/10, 60/40 and 50/50. Also in addition to that what ink would I use for these combinations of cotton and poly? Also do I have the right type of cotton shirt that I mentioned that has a high quality feel and is woven tight to reduce that fluffy look after you do your first wash. Side question can you explain the different squeegee's and what each one is used for and in what type of scenarios would you use a certain type over a different one. Thanks

[Shamax]

Well, firstly without a Tax ID, you're not going to be able to buy from a true wholesaler. There are some places that still have good prices and selection and can offer not-quite-wholesale-but-still-darn-good pricing (especially with coupon codes and free shipping on large orders). The only such place I have personal experience with (since I'm now official and go through a wholesaler) is shirtspace.com - they offer free shipping on anything over $200 and a flat rate option for smaller orders, and you can usually find coupon codes on retailmenot.com

Jonathan would have more seasoned input on you're other queries, but here's what i've managed to gather as a novice:

For the ink types vs materials, if you're going to print on 100% polyester I believe plastisol inks would be better suited just because I think I remember hearing that water-based inks don't always play well with 100% polyester. For 100% cotton and cotton/poly blends, plastisol and water-based would both do fine; it would depend more on which would be a better fit for the setup you have.

Squeegee durometer differences: In general, the lower the durometer of the squeegee, the more ink you'll be laying down. For most fabric applications, I think a 70 durometer squeegee would be fine. For things like posters, signs, and other paper-printing applications, you might want to use an 80. A lot more of it depends on your particular flood and stroke style and what you're comfortable with though.

[Catspit Productions]

Andy is correct. You need at least two tax ID numbers to start a business. You’ll need a City License and a State Transaction Privilege Tax number. Then an EIN is not always necessary but I have found it helps a lot.

Andy pretty much answered your questions but I’ll add that what you are talking about with the “fluffy” look is called fibrillation. That really is dependent on the garment itself. It’s true lower quality inks may have problems with this but most often it will be the garment that is the culprit.

So buying tight knit high quality finishes will be less likely to give you a problem with that.

One thing I’ll mention about the poly cotton blends is you’ll have to watch out for dye migration. I’ll list some resources here but if you want to ask more about these topics please create new topics for each query and try your best to place it in the appropriate category.

That will help us help you and help others as well.

Dye Migration:

http://www.catspitproductionsllc.com/dyemigration.html

Squeegees:



Thanks for posting on the forum!