T-shirts are the bread and butter of any apparel brand. Because of this, there’s been a lot of variety in t-shirt printing and design over the years–but nothing comes close to the importance of fabric in the final product. Modern apparel businesses grapple with synthetic vs natural fabrics, sustainability fashion, and the costs of cheap fabric quality. Ultimately, though, all brands need to find the best fabric for t-shirts to suit their purposes. 

Which fabrics are most comfortable to wear? Which are more efficient and affordable to make in bulk? Let’s look at the best fabric for t-shirts you should know about, along with their most common blends.

1. Popular Fabrics

Most fabrics are a blend of different materials and their base qualities. They can be split into two categories: natural and synthetic. Generally speaking, natural fabrics tend to be softer to the touch and more breathable, whereas synthetics are more affordable and last longer.

These are some of the fabrics that you’ll likely encounter in your apparel brand journey: 

1. Cotton

Cotton is the most popular natural fabric material out there. They’re widely available, easy to dye and decorate, and smooth and soft on the skin. This versatile material constitutes over half of the West’s textile printing market products.

Despite its many virtues, cotton has the disadvantage of wearing down and creating holes in the weaves over time. They often require synthetic blends to stay durable for longer periods.

2. Linen

While more expensive and less often used than cotton, linen is also a great natural fabric material, especially in warmer countries. It’s made by tightly weaving flax plants together to create a soft and breathable material, perfect for formal wear.

Knowing this, linen also has its drawbacks–not only is it more expensive, it creases easily and shrinks over time the more it’s washed and worn.

3. Polyester

Polyester is almost just as popular as cotton, being the most used synthetic fiber in the world. As such, it has gotten a bad rep for having inconsistent textures, being unsustainable, and even inducing allergic reactions in some wearers due to its chemical content.

However, its popularity is still well-earned. Polyester gives many modern fabrics a stretchy durability that keeps them stronger for much longer, while still being considerably lightweight. It also bounces back from most creases and dries swiftly, making it perfect for athletic wear.

4. Rayon/Viscose

Rayon is a partially synthetic material made from tree cellulose, with Viscose being its most popular form in apparel. It has a similar soft texture to cotton with a shinier, smoother surface. It’s commonly used in premium or luxury apparel, where the combination of soft texture and silky finish combine perfectly in any product.

That being said, rayon fabrics tend to shrink or contort after being washed in hot water for long periods of time. They’re also more prone to creasing over time than even cotton. It feels opulent and luxurious, and thus often needs to be cared for similarly. 

2. Most Common Blends

• Cotton and Polyester

Considering how widely available they are and their pros and cons, cotton and polyester go together like peanut butter and jelly in many apparel situations. When you’re deciding the best fabric for t-shirts, a cotton-polyester blend is never a bad choice to make. 

Keep in mind, however, that the percentage of cotton and polyester greatly affects your final product. If you aim for a more actively used material (like in muscle or jogging shirts), you want more durability and dryness while still retaining comfort, which a higher polyester blend will give (around 90% or 65% polyester blend will work). Shirts designed for more comfort will usually use a 48% polyester and 52% cotton blend, or a higher cotton percentage.

If you’re making regular t-shirts for any occasion, the 65% polyester and 35% cotton or 50/50% polyester and cotton combo are your best bets. 

• Cotton and Spandex

Spandex is a less commonly used synthetic material similar to polyester, but much, much stretchier. When blended with cotton, it produces an elastic but smooth material that’s perfect for gymnastics and other high-voltage activities.

That being said, spandex can’t provide the same moisture-absorbing benefits polyester can, so it’s often less breathable and traps sweat in the garment. Cotton’s soft surface alleviates this discomfort a lot, but it’s still only fit for athletic occasions. 

• Rayon/Viscose and Polyester

Since Viscose rayon has a similar texture but better appearance than cotton, it makes sense to combine it with polyester as well. Since both are made synthetically, a good rayon-polyester blend can be an inexpensive but fashionable alternative to many cotton blends.

Bearing that in mind, rayon-only blends are rare considering the material’s lower durability compared to other fabrics. Instead, rayon’s shimmering appearance is often mixed with two other fabrics in what we call–

• Tri-blends

A tri-blend is a mix of three different fabric materials, which are usually cotton, rayon, and polyester. This mix combines all of the advantages of each fiber type while filling out each other’s disadvantages.

As a result, tri-blends have a lovely texture to the touch, feel comfortable to wear, and are rather durable even after a few washes. The combination of the materials, however, means that tri-blends tend to be more expensive than the sum of their parts. They also pile on faster than other blends due to their unique combination. 

Whatever fabric or fabric blend you choose for your apparel business depends on your core audience and branding strategies. Finding a right balance between comfort, function and sustainability is the general approach, but all of these fabrics can be used to their own distinct advantages.

Here’s a final tip from a manufacturing angle–before deciding on which blend you’ll go with, ask for a few samples from your supplier or find ones from the source. While the material might vary, you can often tell great fabric from touch alone by checking the surface, texture and stretchability. Our guide on how to recognize great fabric will give you a better sense of how relevant all these fabric blends are to your final product, and how to find the perfect one for you.