1. What is Fabric Weight (Grammage)?
Fabric weight is generally used to indicate the thickness of the fabric. The higher the weight, the thicker the clothing. T-shirt fabric weight usually ranges from 160 grams to 220 grams. If it's too thin, it might be transparent, while if it's too thick, it could feel stuffy. A weight between 180 to 280 grams is generally considered ideal. For short-sleeve T-shirts, the weight typically ranges from 180 to 220 grams, which provides a comfortable fit. Long-sleeve T-shirts usually opt for 260-gram fabric, which falls into the category of heavier-weight fabric.
2. What is Yarn Count?
Yarn count is defined as the length in yards of a yarn weighing one pound.
Coarse yarn: Cotton yarn with a count of 18 or less, mainly used for weaving thick fabrics or fabrics with raised or looped surfaces.
Medium yarn: Cotton yarn with a count between 19 and 29, mainly used for general knitted garments.
Fine yarn: Cotton yarn with a count between 30 and 60, mainly used for high-grade knitted cotton fabrics. A higher yarn count indicates softer fabric. T-shirts typically use 21 and 32-count yarns.
3. What is Combed Yarn?
T-shirt cotton yarn can be divided into carded and combed yarns.
Carded yarn: Yarn spun using carded spinning technology, also called uncombed yarn.
Combed yarn: Yarn produced by adding a combing process to cotton fibers of high quality during spinning compared to carded yarn. The surface of the fabric is neater, and the texture is softer.
4. What are the Printing Techniques for T-shirts?
T-shirt printing is generally divided into two main techniques: screen printing and transfer printing.
Screen printing: This technique involves several steps including design, film output, plate making, printing, and drying. Screen printing offers advantages such as high color fastness, durability, and wash resistance. However, the plate-making cost is high, making it suitable for mass production rather than small batches.
Transfer printing: Also known as heat transfer printing. It offers vibrant colors and simple techniques. However, the durability of the pattern is poor, and it's not very resistant to wear and washing.
5. What is singing?
Singeing is a process that removes fuzz from the surface of yarns caused by loose fibers or protruding fibers, resulting in a smoother and more uniform fabric surface. It allows for clear and fine patterns to be printed.
6. What are the Advantages of Pure Cotton Fabrics?
Pure cotton fabrics are known for their good texture, comfortable wear, and environmental friendliness but are prone to wrinkling. Adding a small amount of spandex significantly improves the physical properties of the fabric, greatly increasing its elasticity while maintaining the texture and comfort of cotton. Additionally, adding spandex to the collar can prevent it from becoming loose and deformed, maintaining its long-lasting elasticity.
Types of T-shirt Fabrics
Regular Cotton Fabrics: Casual T-shirts mostly use regular cotton fabrics, which offer comfort but have slightly poor stiffness. They are prone to wrinkling and deformation after washing.
Silk Cotton Fabrics: These fabrics use cotton as raw material, are spun into high-density yarns through fine spinning, and undergo special processes such as singeing and silk treatment to produce high-quality, shiny, soft, and anti-wrinkle silk cotton yarns. These fabrics retain the excellent natural characteristics of cotton while possessing a silk-like sheen, soft hand feel, moisture absorption, breathability, elasticity, and drape. Moreover, they come in various colors and offer comfortable and casual wear, fully embodying the wearer's temperament and taste.
Pure Cotton Double Mercerized Fabrics: These are cotton products of "double burnish and double silk." They use double-burnished and double-silk yarns as raw materials, quickly weave designed pattern fabrics using CAD computer-aided design systems and CAM computer-aided manufacturing systems, perform a series of finishing processes after re-burnishing and re-silk, and produce these high-grade knitted fabrics. The fabric surface is clear in texture, the pattern is novel, the luster is bright, and the hand feel is smooth and smooth, surpassing silk cotton, but the price is slightly higher due to the need for two silk finishing processes.
Ultra-fine Yarn Pure Cotton Fabrics: This fabric is rarely used by enterprises because of its high price. The price of 120-yarn pure cotton T-shirt fabric is as high as 170 yuan per kilogram, and the price of 200-yarn pure cotton T-shirt fabric is even higher, reaching more than 3,000 yuan per kilogram. The 250-yarn pure cotton T-shirt fabric requires 1,800 pounds. Moreover, China has not yet developed the technology for producing such fabrics.
Washing Common Sense for Various Types of T-shirts
Printed T-shirts:
Do not stretch, rub, or twist the printed area.
Avoid ironing the printed area to prevent the print from falling off.
The ribbed fabric has good elasticity. Excessive stretching may cause the print to peel off.
Elastic T-shirts:
Do not iron elastic fabrics at high temperatures to avoid damaging the fabric's elasticity.
Avoid bleaching, which can damage the elasticity of the fabric.
Some elastic fabrics use core-spun yarn weaving, with fluffy yarns and more fabric fluff. When washing, avoid excessive force to prevent excessive fluffing.
Avoid direct sunlight exposure to prevent damage to the fabric's elasticity.
Thin Cotton T-shirts:
When washing, do not overload. Avoid washing with other thick garments to prevent deformation, excessive fluffing, and scratches or abrasions. It's best to wash them separately.
Thin fabric structures have low elasticity. Pay attention to preventing yarn snagging during daily wear to avoid creating holes.
Thin fabrics are prone to deformation. When wearing, avoid excessive stretching.
Other Fabric T-shirts:
Jacquard fabrics have loose structures and long floating lines on the reverse side. Avoid washing them with other thick or zippered clothing to prevent scratches or abrasions to the fabric. As the floating lines are on the reverse side, do not wash these clothes inside out.
Glue-like knitted fabrics (such as Modal - more common in women's wear) have a soft hand feel and are relatively thin. These fabrics have low wet strength and are prone to fibrillation and fluffing in water, so they can only be gently machine-washed and should not be overloaded.
Different Fabric Hanging Techniques
The principle of hanging clothes is: that different fabrics and colors should be hung using different methods to prevent deformation and color fading. Silk Fabric Clothing: After washing, silk garments should be naturally air-dried in a shaded, well-ventilated area, preferably with the inside facing out. Silk garments have poor resistance to sunlight, so direct exposure to sunlight can cause color fading and decreased strength. This is particularly important for darker or brightly colored garments. Additionally, avoid using heat to dry silk garments. Cotton and Linen Fabric Clothing: These garments can typically be hung in direct sunlight as their fibers generally maintain strength or experience minimal decrease when exposed to sunlight. However, to prevent color fading, it's best to hang them with the inside facing out. Synthetic Fabric Clothing: After washing, synthetic fabric clothing should not be exposed to direct sunlight for drying. Polyester fibers, for example, can turn yellow after exposure to sunlight, while nylon, acrylic, and other synthetic fibers can age and degrade when exposed to sunlight, affecting the longevity of the fabric. Therefore, it's preferable to dry synthetic fabric clothing in a shaded, cool area. Wool Fabric Clothing: After washing, wool garments should be air-dried in a shaded, well-ventilated area, with the inside facing out. Wool fibers have scales on their surface, and the natural lipid film on the exterior provides a soft luster to the wool. Exposure to sunlight can cause this lipid film to deteriorate due to high temperatures, which can significantly affect the appearance and lifespan of the garment.
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