Where can I order 100+ small, medium, and large plain white cotton shirts?

Name: Marissa

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Country or region: USA, Washington

Message: I love the site! I'm going to make up 100+ tye dye shirts and sell them at the fair. Where can I order 100+ small, medium, and large plain white cotton shirts?

If you want to order less than one case (72 shirts) of each size, then your best bet is the mail-order retailer Dharma Trading Company. They sell a huge variety of dyeable blank clothing, including a wide range of 100% cotton t-shirts. They provide quantity discounts for 12 and up, better discounts for 36 and up, and even better discounts for 72 and up. Better still, they will give you these discounts for assorted sizes, instead of requiring you to buy an entire 72-shirt case of each size in order to get any quantity discount.

You'll need to decide whether to buy organic or regular cotton; of course, organically-grown cotton is far more expensive than conventionally-grown cotton.

You must also decide whether you want to buy only shirts that have been sewn with cotton thread. Unless the retailer claims that a shirt has been sewn with cotton thread, all of the thread used to sew the shirts together turns out to be made of polyester, which will not dye at all with any dye that works to dye cotton. If you dye standard ordinary shirts sewn with polyester thread, then you will see bright white thread against the dyed fabric of your shirts. Cotton shirts sewn with cotton thread give a much more professional look. Look for "sewn with cotton thread" or "PFD" ("Prepared For Dyeing") or PFP ("Prepared For Printing").

Be careful to avoid shirts that contain any polyester, since it will not take the tie-dyeing dyes. Surprisingly often, the shirts sold by crafts stores next to the tie-dye kits are 50% cotton/50% polyester, which will not produce the brilliant results that a 100% cotton shirt can.

Some of the most popular t-shirt brands for tie-dyeing are Hanes, Gilden, Jerzees, Anvil, and Fruit of the Loom. My personal favorite is the Gilden Ultra Cotton shirt, just because it is sewn with cotton thread. Try ordering one shirt of each type from Dharma as a sample, to see which you prefer.

There are sources where you can find t-shirts of similar quality for lower prices than Dharma Trading Company, but the quantity discount does not kick in, in most cases, unless you order by the case, 72 shirts per size. Do a web search for "wholesale blank t-shirt". Check to see what the minimum order requirement is. You may need to get a wholesaler number from your state in order to get any discount, depending on the dealer.

Look carefully to make sure whether the shirts you are considering buying are 100% cotton and whether they are sewn with cotton thread. Also check to be sure that they are not lighter weight (in ounces of fabric per yard) than more expensive shirts, because flimsier thinner t-shirts should cost less and are not necessarily a good deal, depending on their price.

Do not buy any shirt that is promoted as being stain-resistant, wrinkle-resistant, or permanent-press, because the surface finish applied to the fabric to give these properties prevents the dye from reaching the fiber well enough. Stain-resistance and water-resistance are particularly bad for dyeing, since any treatment that resists water or stains will also resist dye quite effectively.

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Where can I order 100+ small, medium, and large plain white cotton shirts?

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