T-shirt producers use many phrases to explain their merchandise. The phrases should not all the time constant and it helps to have a reference information.
The next is the official Inexperienced Man T-Shirts Information to understanding t-shirt phrases:
20s, 20/1, 20s single: Unit of measurement that defines the fineness of cotton thread. A typical spool of single-ply cotton thread is comprised of 840 yards of cotton thread. If it takes 20 spools to weigh one pound, then the thread on these spools is known as 20s cotton, or 20/1. If 30 spools weigh one pound, then the thread on these spools is known as 30s cotton thread, or 30/1. If it takes 40 spools to weigh one pound, then the thread on these spools is known as 40s cotton, or 40/1. The upper quantity means a finer thread, and thus a finer, softer cloth is created. T-shirts product of 30s and 40s are softer, finer, and have higher drape than t-shirts product of 20s. The phrases are used some ways, nevertheless it’s the quantity that counts; “20s,” “20/1,” and “20 singles” are the identical. Threads might be twisted collectively into thicker strands. If two 20/1 cotton threads had been twisted collectively, it could be known as 20/2.
Bamboo Cloth: Rayon produced from bamboo cellulose. Though rayon is a man-made artificial materials, most specialists agree it’s readily biodegradable. Bamboo cloth is extraordinarily comfortable and has glorious drape.
Bamboo: Quick rising plant, categorised as a grass, which might be readily processed into rayon to make bamboo rayon clothes.
Bleach Wash: A course of that makes use of bleach to melt and misery the look of the material being washed.
Boat Neck: A really extensive neckline that runs throughout the collarbone space to the shoulder factors. Derives from early sailors’ shirts, the place the extensive neck enabled fast elimination if the sailor fell overboard.
Boy Beater: Girls’s vogue reply to the spouse beater. A ladies’s tank high, though it may be any coloration.
Brushed Cotton: A technique to take away extra lint and fibers from cotton cloth. Brushed cotton often has a really comfortable, clean end.
Burn-Out: A course of that makes use of sulfuric acid or different robust acid to “burn-out” components of a cloth knit, often a polyester/cotton mix. The method offers a see-through, very sheer impact.
Cap Sleeves: Normally refers to shorter sleeves on ladies’s clothes.
Carbon Dioxide: CO2. A chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms and one carbon atom. Referred to as a “greenhouse” gasoline due to its relationship with world warming. Just a few t-shirt producers at the moment are measuring and recording the CO2 emissions concerned in manufacturing their shirts.
Carbon Belief: Impartial group based in 2001 in Nice Britain that screens carbon emissions. The Carbon Belief works with firms to assist cut back their carbon footprint, and now certifies firms and merchandise as having a “low carbon” or “no carbon” footprint. Just a few t-shirt firms now manufacture “low carbon footprint” t-shirts.
Carding: A fiber cleansing course of that eliminates quick fibers and removes grime and overseas matter. Carding might be finished by hand or by giant machines utilizing drum rollers. Carded-only cotton shouldn’t be as fascinating as combed cotton.
Cellulase Wash: One other identify for enzyme wash. This provides cloth a comfortable really feel and a classic look, relying on how the wash is completed.
Cellulose: Derived from the cell partitions of sure crops. Helpful in making sure kinds of materials, together with acetate, triacetate, and rayon. Bamboo cloth is definitely rayon produced from bamboo cellulose.
Low-cost Cotton T-Shirt: T-shirts made with carded cotton, utilizing 18/1 thread, often knitted on 20 gauge machines. These t-shirts are coarse, tough, and have poor drapability. Used usually as low cost promotional give-aways.
Local weather Impartial: A time period used to explain an organization, course of, or product that has zero influence on the Earth’s local weather. Just a few t-shirt producers promote their firm as local weather impartial.
CO2: Carbon dioxide. A chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms and one carbon atom. Referred to as a “greenhouse” gasoline due to its relationship with world warming.
Colorfastness: The flexibility of a garment to resist a number of washings with out shedding its coloration.
Combed Cotton: A technique to take away quick fibers and to rearrange longer fibers parallel to create a clean, wonderful cotton yarn. Combed cotton has excessive power, glorious uniformity, and higher hand. Combed cotton prices extra and is utilized in finer t-shirts.
Compacting: A course of that compacts the area between cotton fiber pockets. Helps to scale back shrinking.
Contrasting Stitching: Stitching with a special coloration than the garment. Offers a pleasant design element in t-shirts.
Management Union: A global group that provides certification companies for quite a lot of programs–including many natural certification applications. Certifies USDA Natural, in addition to GOTS (International Natural Textile Customary).
Cotton Jersey: Knitted, very barely stretchy cloth with a clean flat face and a extra textured however uniform again. Common weight per yard is about 5.5 to six ounces. Fundamental t-shirts are product of cotton jersey. High-quality cotton jersey is often smoother and has a lighter weight per yard.
Cotton: A pure fiber that’s the most well-liked on the earth for materials. Cotton fibers are often ½ to 2 inches lengthy. Longer fibers produce finer cotton cloth. Varieties comparable to Pima and Egyptian, which function fibers exceeding 1.5 inches, are extra extremely valued than peculiar varieties.
Crew Neck: A spherical close-fitting neckline. Commonest neck on t-shirts.
Crop Prime: A shirt with a brief physique to it; made to show the midriff space.
Double-Needle Stitched: Used totally on sleeve/backside hems and refers to a parallel row of sewing. One of these stitching offers sturdiness and a cleaner, extra completed look.
Drape, Drapability: Refers to how a cloth hangs. A material like bamboo rayon has glorious drape, whereas a rough cloth like burlap has little or no. T-shirts which have good drape qualities really feel nicer to put on.
Drop Tail: A garment that encompasses a longer again than entrance.
Eco-Pleasant: Extraordinarily free time period that refers to a product’s “greenness.” Nearly ineffective in realistically assessing a product. Favourite time period utilized by inexperienced washers.
Egyptian Cotton: Cotton produced in Egypt and valued for its lengthy size of fiber. Attire made with true Egyptian cotton is prized for its softness and fineness.
Environmental Justice Basis: A registered charity established in 2000 to assist individuals who undergo most from environmental abuses comparable to pesticide poisoning, water depletion, and soil destruction. Particularly energetic in curbing abuses in cotton farming.
Enzyme Washed: A wash course of utilizing particular enzymes to provide a comfortable end and clean look to a cloth. Ages dyes to create a particular look to dyed materials. Enzyme washing is bodily much less harsh on the material in comparison with stone washing.
European Minimize: A method of t-shirt that’s narrower than what one usually finds. For instance, a full reduce males’s t-shirt, measurement giant, often runs 22 inches throughout the chest (measured one inch beneath the sleeve). A males’s giant European reduce will run about half an inch to 1 inch narrower, generally extra.
Cloth Dyed: Cloth dyed earlier than being reduce and sewn right into a completed piece of clothes.
Truthful Labor Affiliation: A nonprofit group devoted to ending sweatshop circumstances in factories worldwide. Works to develop Code of Labor Practices, particularly essential within the attire enterprise the place working circumstances have traditionally been so poor.
Truthful Put on Basis: A global group devoted to enhancing garment employees’ lives all around the world. Works with firms that produce clothes and different sewn merchandise and that take accountability for his or her provide chain.
High-quality Cotton Jersey: Knitted, very barely stretchy cloth with a clean flat face and a extra textured however uniform again. High-quality cotton jersey is often smoother and has a lighter weight per yard than common cotton jersey. T-shirts made with wonderful cotton jersey have a greater drape and really feel than common t-shirts. Normally made with 30s and better cotton thread, and weighs about 4.3 ounces per sq. yard.
Fitted Minimize: Definitions differ, however usually a fitted reduce refers to a reduce that flatters the physique. Used usually in ladies’s t-shirts, the center part of the shirt will probably be tighter than the highest or backside. General, the shirts run narrower than a primary full reduce.
Full Minimize: A beneficiant, roomy reduce. In t-shirts, tubular types are usually thought of full-cut, however there are exceptions. Full Minimize differs from the slimmer European Cuts, Slim Cuts, and Fitted Cuts.
Garment Dyed: Clothes dyed after it has been reduce and sewn right into a completed article of clothes.
Garment Washed: A course of the place completed articles of clothes are washed, often with added softeners to enhance the appear and feel of the material.
GMO Free: GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organisms. First used within the Nineteen Nineties when customers grew to become fearful about genetically modified meals. Many firms now apply the GMO free label on every little thing from meals to pure materials, like cotton.
GOTS: Stands for International Natural Textile Customary. A venture of the Worldwide Working Group. They’ve developed requirements to make sure natural standing of textiles, from the harvesting, manufacturing, and labeling, as a way to present a reputable assurance to the top shopper. An natural t-shirt that meets the requirements might be GOTS licensed.
Inexperienced: Generic time period utilized by advertising and marketing gurus to advertise merchandise. One other favourite time period of “green-washers,” who’re hopping on the environmental bandwagon with none actual dedication.
Inexperienced-Washing: Take off on the time period “white-washing,” however in an environmental context. Corporations that green-wash are paying lip-service to environmental issues to draw extra enterprise, however have not taken any actual steps to be environmentally accountable.
Hand: The way in which a cloth feels to the contact. A material that feels comfortable and clean is taken into account to have an excellent hand.
Hemp Cloth: Hemp, or Hashish sativa, has been used for cloth for 1000’s of years, largely as an industrial cloth. Newer processing strategies have made it appropriate for finer clothes, and now it’s utilized in many clothes articles, together with t-shirts. Hemp is valued for its power and sturdiness.
Henley T-Shirt: Just like a collarless polo shirt, a Henley is a pullover t-shirt that includes 2 or 3 buttons (generally as much as 5 buttons are used, however that is unusual). A Henley might be both quick or lengthy sleeved.
Ice Wash: A technique of stone washing the place the stones are first soaked in an answer of potassium permanganate. This technique produces a frosted look to cloth.
Interlock Knit: A sort of knit that may be very comfortable and has an excellent drape. Interlock knit stitches are tighter, extra stretchy than Jersey knit, however much less stretchy than rib knit. Utilized in very wonderful clothes.
Jersey Knit: Generally present in t-shirts and is essentially the most sturdy of knits. It’s gentle weight, and has wonderful vertical ribs. The Jersey knit was named after the British Island within the English Channel. High-quality cotton Jersey refers to Jersey Knit made with wonderful cotton threads comparable to 30s and 40s.
Knit: Defines how the interlocking loops of yarn that make up cloth had been made. There are a lot of kinds of knits. Jersey Knit is usually present in t-shirts and is essentially the most sturdy of knits. It’s gentle weight, and has wonderful vertical ribs. Then again, rib knits have heavy ribs working down the material, whereas interlock knits are utilized in very wonderful materials. T-shirt collars are often rib knit.
Muscle Shirt: Sleeveless fashion t-shirt, however not precisely a tank high. Fundamental t-shirt, simply with out the sleeves. The shoulder strap portion is way wider than an peculiar tank high.
Neck Tape: A skinny strip of material sewn over the seam working throughout the shoulders and neck space. It covers the seam and appears higher than an uncovered sew. Sometimes called “shoulder to shoulder taped.”
OekoTek 100: Certification from the Worldwide Oeko-Tex® Affiliation, which assures customers that the attire they purchase is chemical free and poses no threat to their well being. Beneath the Oeko-Tex customary, clothes have to be freed from formaldehyde, arsenic, lead, cadmium, and different poisonous chemical compounds.
Natural Attire: A time period very loosely utilized within the garment business. It may well imply something from 100% natural to as little as 6% natural. Typically mixed with phrases like Eco-Pleasant, Inexperienced, and so forth. Customers should verify the labels and confirm the supplies used to see if one thing is really natural or not.
Natural Cotton: Cotton grown with out the usage of pesticides. Licensed natural cotton has been inspected to insure it actually is natural.
Natural Soil Affiliation: Based in 1946 by a bunch of farmers, scientists and nutritionists involved in regards to the relationship between farming practices and plant, animal, human, and environmental well being. The Natural Soil Affiliation pioneered the primary natural requirements in 1967, and certifies farms and companies that meet these requirements.
Overdyed: A course of the place beforehand dyed clothes or materials are dyed with a further coloration to create a novel look.
Efficiency T: Title for t-shirts manufactured for athletes and outside fans. Efficiency Ts are characterised by their breathability, moisture wicking, quick drying, and odor management capabilities. Many efficiency Ts are polyester/cotton blends, or will also be 100% polyester. Bamboo t-shirts, attributable to their absorbency and wicking properties, have grow to be referred to as efficiency t-shirts, though they don’t dry as quick as efficiency t-shirts product of 100% polyester.
PFD: Stands for Ready For Dyeing. Bought this option to t-shirt customizers who need to create their very own look with dyes.
Pigment Dyed: A sort of dye that creates a washed out, distressed look.
Pima Cotton: A cotton developed within the U.S. within the early 1900s to compete with Egyptian cotton. It options longer fibers and is used usually in wonderful males’s and girls’s shirts. The identify Pima comes from the Pima Indians, who helped with the primary crops of the brand new cotton because it was first grown within the U.S.
Pique: A technique of knitting that creates a waffle-type, wonderful textured floor. Used usually in polo shirts.
Polyester: Man-made fiber manufactured from artificial polymers. Used extensively in attire, particularly mixed with cotton in 50/50 blends.
Pre-Shrunk: Refers back to the strategy of pre-shrinking cloth earlier than it’s reduce and sewn. Often it refers to an precise completed garment that has been preshrunk. Clothes that has been preshrunk shrinks much less as soon as the customer washes it. Preshrunk cotton t-shirts will nonetheless shrink a bit, nevertheless, particularly if dried utilizing a garments dryer.
Raglan T-Shirt: Fashion of t-shirt that includes sleeves that run on to the collar. Normally the sleeves are a contrasting coloration from the physique. Raglan sleeves are wider underneath the arms, and are most well-liked by wearers who need most freedom of motion. Baseball t-shirts often function a raglan sleeve fashion.
Rayon: Man-made fiber that makes use of plant cellulose as its fundamental ingredient. Rayon may be very comfortable, has glorious drape, and may be very absorbent. Initially developed as a silk substitute.
Rib Knit: Characterised by heavy vertical ribs working down the material. Rib knits are often categorised as 1×1, 2×1 or 2×2. This allows you to know the width of the rib in comparison with the area between. For instance, a 1×1 rib knit or a 2×2 rib knit means the area between every rib is similar width because the ribs. However a 2×1 rib knit means the ribs are twice as extensive because the areas in between. Rib knit may be very stretchy and is usually used for t-shirt collars, cuffs, and tank tops.
Ring Spun: Refers to yarn made by twisting and thinning a rope of cotton fibers. The continual spinning leads to a softer really feel and stronger yarn. Ring-spun t-shirts are noticeably softer to the contact.
Ringer T: A t-shirt with coloured sleeve bands and matching crew neck. Most ringers are white, with the armband sleeves and crew necks in numerous colours.
Sand Wash: Refers to utilizing sand whereas washing a garment or cloth to melt and misery it.
Satin Washed: One other time period for silicone washed, which produces a really clean and comfortable end to cloth, and in addition offers the material good draping properties.
Scoop Neck: Huge, gently curved neckline that varies in depth. Favored in ladies’s shirts.
Sheer Jersey: Very gentle weight jersey knit, weighing about 3.9 ounces per yard. Slightly stretchier than wonderful jersey.
Shoulder to Shoulder Tape: A skinny strip of material sewn over the seam working throughout the shoulders and neck space. It covers the seam and appears higher than an uncovered sew.
Shrinkage: Normally refers to cotton attire and the quantity it may be anticipated to shrink. Most cotton t-shirts are pre-shrunk, however 4-5% shrinkage can nonetheless be anticipated.
Facet Seamed: Refers to shirts with a seam working down at either side underneath the arm sleeves to the underside hem. Facet seamed t-shirts are costlier to fabricate.
Silicone Washed: Refers to utilizing inert silicone in a washing course of. Produces a really clean and comfortable end to cloth, and in addition offers the material good draping properties.
Singlet: one other time period for a males’s tank high.
Slim Minimize: A method of t-shirt that’s narrower than what one usually finds. For instance, a full reduce males’s t-shirt, measurement giant, often runs 22 inches throughout the chest (measured one inch beneath the sleeve). A slim reduce will run about half an inch to 1 inch narrower, generally extra.
Stonewashed: A washing course of that makes use of lava rocks or generally silicon and rubber balls. This technique makes cloth softer and offers it an aged or distressed look. Typically bleach is used on this course of.
Tank Prime: T-Shirt characterised by skinny shoulder straps and no sleeves. The identify got here from the early time period for swimming swimming pools: swimming tanks.
Taped Seam: Not precise “tape,” however a skinny strip of material sewn over the seam working throughout the shoulders and neck space of t-shirts. It covers the seam and appears higher than an uncovered sew.
Tubular Fashion:A method that has no facet seams; the physique of the t-shirt is spherical and straight. Tubular t-shirts are inexpensive to fabricate, and make up the majority of the cheaper t-shirts.
Unisex T-Shirt: No customary definition exists for a unisex t-shirt, however usually talking a unisex t-shirt is product of lighter weight, wonderful cotton jersey, facet seamed, and never reduce as full as an everyday males’s t-shirt. The sleeves should not additional quick, like cap sleeves, however should not full elbow lengths both. The physique size is often medium/lengthy. Nonetheless, there are extensive variations in unisex t-shirts, relying on the producer.
Uzbekistan: Former U.S.S.R. satellite tv for pc that grew to become impartial in 1991 and is infamous for its cotton manufacturing strategies, which embrace compelled little one labor and environmentally harmful practices. Moral attire firms boycott Uzbekistan cotton; nevertheless, many firms do not care and have refused to hitch within the boycott as a result of Uzbekistan cotton is reasonable.
V -Neck: Inverted triangle fashion of neckline. Will be deep or shallow, relying on the fashion. Normally favored by ladies, however a shallow fashion v-neck is well-liked amongst males.
Viscose: Sometimes one other identify for rayon, as in viscose rayon.
Weight: Normally expressed ounces per sq. yard. A 5.5 ounce weight cotton cloth implies that one sq. yard will weigh 5.5 ounces. High-quality jersey cotton materials often have lighter weights, whereas coarser cotton materials have heavier weights.
Spouse Beater: Derogatory time period for a males’s tank high t-shirt. Normally refers to a primary white tank high.
Yarn Dyed: Yarn that’s dyed earlier than it’s woven into a cloth.