How To Check Quality Of T-Shirt Sample?

Last month, Christ, one of my old customers, asked me to offer a better price for his new launch.

Because he found a new supplier who can offer him a much lower price than ours. I am shocked by the price offered by my competitor.

How comes they can make a profit at our cost price? I am getting a brainstorm: quality of fabric & workmanship, their labor cost & their operating costs.

But later Chris told me that the supplier is located in Dongguan, same as us. Thus, I can sure their labor cost & operating costs are almost the same as ours. And the quality must be the only reason that affects the price.

To verify my speculation, I asked Chris to order 2 samples from my competitor, one ship to him and the other to me. Finally, I received the sample t-shirt a week later. I was quite happy with their quality. Why? Because I am sure that their quality is 100% not match with Chris request.

Do you know how to judge the quality of a t-shirt when you receive the sample from your supplier? Here I will share some of my tips with you. This is a cheat sheet for you to check the quality of customized clothing:

Material of the neckline

There are 3 common materials for the neckline: 1*1 ribbed fabric, 1*1 lycra, and use the same fabric to make the neckline.

1*1 ribbing is my favorite material for t shirt’s neckline as it brings a neat and exclusive look. And it holds the shape of the neckline well even after washing 20-30 times.

1*1 lycra is another good choice. It is better stretchy and softer than 1*1 ribbing. Because it is with some spandex which brings very good stretchy. So that you won’t feel difficult to put your head through the collar. Without ribbed texture on its surface, makes 1*1 lycra fabric is softer than 1*1 ribbing.

And the last one is to use the same fabric as the main body for the neckline. I won’t recommend doing so unless the fabric is very good stretchy.

It will be a disaster if we use fabric without any stretchy for the neckline. No need to wash it 5 times, you will see wave on the collar. We all love to see wave on the beach but you won’t want to see wave on the neckline when you wear it, right? So don’t use material without any stretchy for the collar.

Tape on the back neck

That is a “must-have” for the nice quality t-shirt. The small tape has a big impact on holding the shape of the neckline well.

Plastic tape on the shoulder seam

I guess 90% of you don’t even notice that there are tiny plastic tapes on the shoulder seam of your t-shirts.

Find one of your t-shirt and check if you can find the small things right now. It helps the body shape stay well, the same function as the tape on the neckline.

If you don’t find the plastic tape on the shoulder. Don’t draw a conclusion so quickly that you were cheated and bought a cheap thing at an expensive price. The fabric tape does the same thing as plastic tape does. If you can not find one of them on your t-shirt, you need to consider buying somewhere else.

Check stitching details

An exclusive t-shirt should have clean and neat stitching. Not much redundant thread even when you turn over the t-shirt and check inside.

Another important thing is the needle pitch should be dense enough to make sure the thread will not be loose or break after the wash a few times. 5 or 6 needle loops within a 1cm stitching line is a standard of the high-quality t-shirt. 

Density of the fabric

A nice t-shirt must be soft and won’t see through too much.

26S or 32S is standard for a nice t-shirt, or 40S, 50S that’s even better. ( “S” means British counts, which is the standard for yarn thickness. “S” The higher the value, the finer yarns; otherwise rough. In another word, the higher the “S” value, the softer fabric)

And don’t forget to put your hand under the fabric to feel if it is soft and not see-through.

Quick test of printing

Stretch the printing a little bit (just slightly, don’t be too rude to your lovely design) and see if the printing is stretchy and no cracks appear.

If so, congratulations! The printing quality is not bad. Of course, put it into the washing machine is the best way to test printing quality if you have enough time.

Quick test of fabric’s colorfastness and pilling problem

Wipe with a piece of tissue back and forth several times on the t-shirt to see if the tissue is stained with some color.

After that, wipe with a piece of white fabric (ps: use fabric not tissue) on the surface of the t-shirt back and forth several times. See if some pilings appear.

Once again, if you have enough time, wash the t-shirt sample a few times is the best way to judge the quality.

Wear and feel

Finally, wear the t-shirt sample and feel with your body. Your supplier might cheat you but your body won’t. Feel the fabric with your skin and check the body shape of the t-shirt.

Wash it 3 times

As a sales who grown up in a clothing factory and work in a clothing factory for more than 6years. I believe that if your t-shirt sample gets a good score on the above 8 steps. You got a very nice quality t-shirt sample already.

Let’s do the last test to confirm whether it is t-shirt sample of perfect quality.

Wash it and hang dry 3 times. After that, take a look at its neckline; see if it is with wave on it now. Check the stitching line and see if the stitching is loose now. Check logos. And of course, don’t forget to wear on and check the body shape of the t-shirt sample.

I hope this article helps you know more about custom clothing sample judging. If you have any more questions about custom clothing or need any help from my side. Welcome to leave your comment or contact me directly.