FAQ
The Shirt
What’s the difference between organic and conventional cotton?
Why buy local?
What shirt styles can you supply?
Why are your shirts white when American Apparel’s shirts are natural?
How do I choose a shirt style?
Can I supply my own shirts or other apparel for my order?
Do you screenprint only shirts?
The Print
What is the difference between water-based and plastisol inks?
What about soy/vegetable-based inks?
What is REHANCE?
When is REHANCE used?
What is your maximum print size?
Can you print neck labels?
The Dye
What is garment dyeing?
How is garment-dyeing different?
What type of dyes do you use?
Are your dyes natural?
The Process
What is your turn time?
Quoting
How do I get a quote?
Why can’t you just give me a set price?
What are your pricing variables?
What is the best digital format for my artwork?
I have artwork ready. How can I get it to you?
What services do you offer?
What are your minimum order quantities?
Why is there a minimum order quantity?
My quote price is outside my range; what can I do to lower it?
Ordering Samples / Production
I’m satisfied with my quote, now what?
What do I do if I want to skip the sample process and move straight to production?
I ordered a sample and need to make adjustments.
I ordered a sample and it looks great; what do I do now?
What are your credit terms?
Do I have to pay tax?
What needs to be finalized before the order can be processed?
What are my responsibilities during the ordering process?
The Shirt
What’s the difference between organic and conventional cotton?
| Conventional cotton uses harsh chemicals during its growth and cultivation. Certified organic cotton does not use these chemicals. To learn more, see what the OTA and Organic Exchange have to say. |
Why buy local?
| We believe that if you go outside of your local markets to find a product that those markets can supply, that is not sustainable. Using domestically-made products supports jobs in the United States, and helps lower carbon emissions from overseas shipping. |
What shirt styles can you supply?
| Through our two main suppliers, our offerings of t-shirts styles run the gamut. A list of organic styles that we stock can be seen here. |
Why are your shirts white when American Apparel’s shirts are natural?
| Our Clothing Facts shirts are bleached flat white using hydrogen peroxide (rather than chlorine) bleach. This method of bleaching is free of optical brighteners and meets the Global Organic Textile Standards. We do this to offer an alternative to the typical light beige natural color most often seen in organic blanks. |
How do I choose a shirt style?
| When choosing a shirt style for us to supply, keep in mind that Clothing Facts brand shirts have a more conventional t-shirt fit and are a heavier weight (20-singles ringspun), while American Apparel shirts are generally cut a size small, are slimmer fitting, and are lighter weight (30-singles ringspun). |
Can I supply my own shirts or other apparel for my order?
| Yes! We can put you in touch with our suppliers, or you may supply shirts from any company you wish. If you choose to use a supplier other than the ones we typically deal with, however, extensive testing may be required on your supplied goods to ensure that our process will work with the fabric finish of those goods. Make sure to discuss the source of your goods with your salesperson before placing a large order!
We ship, check in, track, and store every shirt that we purchase for our inventory. As such, we mark up the price of shirts that we supply to cover those costs. Supplying your own shirts will always result in a lower price per shirt, but you will be responsible for managing that inventory and having it delivered on time. we do not pre-inspect or check in customer supplied goods unless you specifically request that service, at which point we will charge a per-shirt amount based upon the services required. Minimums for customer supplied shirts are the same as minimums for T.S. supplied shirts. |
Do you screenprint only shirts?
| We can screenprint many types of textiles as long as the print is going on a flat surface. Contact a salesperson to discuss the printability of a given type of textile product. |
The Print
What is the difference between water-based and plastisol inks?
| Plastisol inks are the ink of choice for most conventional screenprinters. Plastisol contains PVC and pthalates, which are both harmful to the environment, and results in a plastic print that is not breathable.
Our water-based inks soak into and become part of the cloth itself, similar to the way water-color paint soaks into paper. The result is a breathable, durable print that will not crack or wash away. Our water-based inks also have excellent color-fastness and washability, keeping their color wash after wash. Water-based inks do not contain PVC or pthalates, which makes them superior in terms of environmental footprint. Water-based ink is transparent which means that a light water-based ink does not cover well on a dark shirt. This is why we created the REHANCE technology. |
What about soy/vegetable-based inks?
| Soy and other vegetable-based inks are most often used on paper for documents, business cards, etc. While these are a good alternative to man-made inks from an environmental standpoint, unfortunately they do not meet our quality standards for washability and color-fastness on cotton.
Additionally, some vegetable-based inks that are made specifically for apparel printing contain heavy metals, which allow the ink to bond to the cotton fibers. Heavy metals are a chief environmental concern in the apparel industry. |
What is REHANCE?
| REHANCE is a water-based printing technology that alters the chemistry of a shirt so that it will not absorb garment-dye. Its purpose is to allow the printing of water-based inks on a dyed shirt while maintaining color contrast and vibrancy.
Most apparel printers print a design on a dyed shirt. The REHANCE process requires that the shirts be printed, then dyed at high temperatures, meaning the shirts will always be preshrunk. |
When is REHANCE used?
| The REHANCE process is used anytime an order calls for dyed printed t-shirts. |
What is your maximum print size?
| Our maximum print size is 15″x17″ (WxH). However, the print size you choose will be limited to the printable area on smallest garment in your order (e.g. a sleeve-to-sleeve print on an adult XXL will not fit on an infant S). |
Can you print neck labels?
| Yes! We print neck labels with a special plastisol PVC/pthalate-free ink. While this ink is not water-based, it still meets our environmental standards. We use this ink in order to prevent any bleed-through onto the back of the shirts, which can be a problem with water-based neck label printing.
At this time, we offer white, black, or gray printed neck label colors. |
The Dye
What is garment dyeing?
| Garment dyeing involves dyeing a finished garment after it is cut and sewn. In our case, we typically print the shirt before it is dyed as well, as is required by the REHANCE process. |
How is garment-dyeing different?
| Most shirts are dyed before the fabric is even cut or sewn into apparel. This is generally less expensive than garment-dyeing, because it allows producers to dye much more fabric at once, returning economies of scale. One advantage of garment-dyeing is that it pre-shrinks shirts in the process. |
What type of dyes do you use?
| We use Ciba bi-functional, low impact reactive dyes. These dyes meet the European Oeko-tex standard and the GOTS (global organic textile standards). Our dyes require less salt in the dye process, lower water temperatures (meaning less energy usage), and do not contain any heavy metals, a chief environmental concern of most textile dyes. |
Are your dyes natural?
| Our dyes are not natural, but they are the best garment dyes that technology has to offer that can meet our quality requirements while maintaining the smallest environmental footprint. We have experimented with natural dyes in the past, but found that they did not stand up to our quality standards for durability and color fastness. |
The Process
What is your turn time?
| For un-dyed t-shirts, we can sample within two weeks, and turn a production order within 2 weeks of sample approval. For dyed shirts, the sample will take about two weeks, and the production run will take 2-3 weeks from the sample approval. These estimates can vary in either direction depending upon how much demand we have at the time, and how long our supplier’s turnover time is when we order your shirts. |
Quoting
How do I get a quote?
| To get a custom wholesale quote, click here and fill out the appropriate form as completely as possible. A salesperson will contact you with a quote as soon as possible. |
Why can’t you just give me a set price?
| Unfortunately, because of the number of variables involved in our costing formulas, we cannot give standard prices. We must consider all of the variables before quoting a price. |
What are your pricing variables?
| There are five basic factors that affect price. They are:
Cost of Goods: Each shirt style we supply will be charged based upon the amount we pay for the blanks. Obviously, this amount will not be charged if you supply your own goods. Total Volume: Total volume for a quote is defined as all the shirts being printed with the exact same design(s). Price breaks occur as quantity increases due to the spread of setup costs among your total quantity. The higher your total volume, the lower your cost per shirt. We use formulas that calculate price based upon your exact number of shirts. That total quantity can be distributed among whatever shirt style/size breakdown you wish, and can be dyed any number of garment colors, as long as each garment color has 200 pieces or more. Number of print locations: Every print location requires a new press setup for that location. Changing a shirt from having one print location to two print locations essentially doubles the amount of printing we need to do, since we’ll have two separate press setups and two runs for each piece. Number of total print colors: Each color of a design requires a separate screen on the printing press that is filled with the ink that represents that color. That ink is then printed onto the shirt to create the design. Each screen takes time to attach to the press, fill with ink, and set up. Adding a color to an existing location does not result in as dramatic a price increase as adding a completely new print location. Garment Color and Weight: This cost only applies to orders that are garment-dyed. Our cost to dye is based upon pounds of goods dyed. The heavier the piece, the higher the price will be (so infant shirts would cost less to dye than adult shirts). Each individual color also costs a certain amount per pound, so the color you choose will also impact price. |
I have artwork ready; how can get it to you? | What is the best digital format?
| You can submit your artwork to us via our easy-to-use ftp upload form here. The linked page also contains information about digital format and other required variables. |
What services do you offer?
| We have a variety of services available to customers who are looking for more packaging options or other improvements on top of their printing/dyeing:
*Cigar Wrap Packaging |
What are you minimum order quantities?
| Our minimum order quantity for an un-dyed order is 72 pieces, and for a dyed order is 200 pieces per dye color. |
Why is there a minimum order quantity?
| The minimum order quantities are in place because of the large setup costs of running these orders. Because there is a lengthy setup required for the press, we must enforce these minimums to ensure that the setup is being paid for. |
My quote price is outside my range; what can I do to lower it?
| Consider the pricing variables located here. Generally, to lower your price, you want to:
*minimize number of print locations The two variables that will impact price the most are number of print locations, and choosing to change an order from dyed to un-dyed or visa versa. |
Ordering
I’m satisfied with my quote, now what?
| Once you are satisfied with your quote, you must decide if you want to proceed directly to full production, or to have us create a pre-production sample. We encourage sample ordering before production in order to ensure you are happy with your design as it will look on the apparel. A sample will be added to your quote by default, unless you specifically request to skip the sample process.
Once you have decided, simply contact your salesperson with the production or sample go-ahead via email or phone (contact information for your salesperson is located at the top of your quote), and they will send your order to scheduling. Submitting an order indicates that you have carefully read and confirm all the information contained in that quote, including contact, shipping, pricing, and billing information. |
What do I do if I want to skip the sample process and move straight to production?
| If your decide to skip the sample process, notify your salesperson that you are ready to move directly into your production phase. If you have any final order adjustments, such as style or quantities ordered, this is your last opportunity to submit them. He/She will send you a revised quote, if necessary, and will inform you of your production timeline.
We reserve the right to require a pre-production sample be made if we determine there is a need for one based upon your artwork. |
I ordered a sample and need to make adjustments.
| If your review of your samples leaves you feeling that your artwork needs adjustments, contact your salesperson with the requested changes and, if you have it, upload the adjusted digital artwork here. You should then discuss whether or not a re-sample is necessary with your salesperson |
I ordered a sample and it looks great; what do I do now?
| Once you are satisfied with your sample, contact your salesperson and give them the go-ahead for the production order. If you have any final order adjustments, such as style or quantities ordered, this is your last opportunity to submit them. Your salesperson will then send you a revised quote, if necessary, and will inform you of your production timeline. |
What are your credit terms? | Do I have to pay tax?
| Our typical credit terms are: 50% deposit, 50% upon delivery. If you would like to request different credit terms, please complete this form and email or fax it to accounting@tsdesigns.com or 801.858.6772
If you are a customer inside North Carolina, we are required to charge sales tax. If you are tax exempt, please email or fax a copy of your tax exemption or reseller certificate to accounting@tsdesigns.com or 801.858.6772 |
What needs to be finalized before the order can be processed?
| Before an order can be processed, we require:
*Art finalization and sample/layout approval |
What are my responsibilities during and after the ordering process? As our customer, you are responsible for:
*Sending us your finalized art in the appropriate format (it can be FTP’d to us here)
*Carefully reading your entire quote to ensure accuracy and understanding
*Making sure we are kept up-to-date on your inventory shipments and making sure your inventory is here according to the timeline we create for your order to meet your deadline (if you supply your own inventory)
*Making sure to keep your order moving by approving samples and approving your order with your salesperson (we will not run your production until we receive explicit order confirmation from you)
*Paying your invoice within the credit terms established
