Ordering the Riverside t-shirts for your school or business can be a daunting responsibility! If this is your first time doing it, and often it is as PTA moms and volunteers are often in charge only a year at a time, ordering hundreds or thousands of shirts is a WOW job!
Here are four easy ways to keep your costs down!
1. The Artwork: The first thing to do when putting together your Custom Screen Printed Shirt order is to figure out what design you want on the t-shirt. You can visit online custom shirt sites to get some ideas or just come into the shop and check out the MANY books we have. During this process, keep in mind that the more colors of ink that will need to be used on your design, the more expensive the screen printed shirt will be.
2. The Shirt: Two things here: The quality, the color. The color of shirt will matter in keeping down costs. White shirts are by far the least expensive. Light-colored shirts are also affordable. Dark colored shirts (navy, red, black, maroon, etc) are the most expensive. Additionally, they require more ink to make your artwork pop and therefor and more time (labor cost). The quality of the shirt you need will depend on your purpose. If you just need a free shirt to hand out at a one time charity event, you might not need the kind of quality you would want if you are printing shirts for your employees or students to wear every day. Make sure you communicate the purpose well so that we can help you get the most for your money!
3. The Printing: You will need to figure out if you want to have your custom shirt printed on just one or both sides. A two-sided shirt can cost nearly double the amount of a one-sided shirt.
4. The Quantity: Get as many people as possible to agree to purchase a shirt. Another factor in price is quantity. The larger the number of screen printed shirts you order, the better price you will receive per shirt. The price breaks come in dozens.
If you are pricing shops, be sure to consider set up, artwork and shipping costs. Break that into your price per shirt to make sure you are comparing apples to apples.
Custom printed t-shirts are used as an inexpensive promotional tool for all types of businesses, large and small. Using t shirts in this manner is a great way to reach thousands of consumers and get your name and logo into places that could never be reached by other means of advertising. If you are interested in using t shirts as an advertising tool, then you should consider bulk printed t shirts. Buying in bulk is smart and economical for your business.
Bulk printed t shirts is definitely the way to go if you are planning on using the t shirts for some type of fund raising event or a sports league that you are sponsoring. This will allow you to buy enough t shirts for everyone at the best possible prices. You can buy in bulk when using the t shirts for your employees, for company events or even when you simply want to give them out to consumers to get their attention.
Once you have decided what you want printed on the t shirts, it’s always a good idea to shop around before choosing the company to use for your bulk printed t shirts. All companies are different and some can offer better services than others. It’s never a good idea to choose the first company you run across. There are a number of things that you need to consider when choosing a t shirt printing company.
First of all, don’t let price be the main factor in choosing a t shirt printing company. This is one of the biggest mistakes many new businesses make. When buying bulk printed t shirts you will be receiving a big discount anyway so most any company should be able to offer you a good price. However, if you choose a company strictly based on price, then you may not be happy with the results you receive. If the price is too low then the quality may be very poor as well. This would send a bad impression to consumers and not what you want. These t shirts will be representing your company and the quality of your products or services so they need to be of good quality.
Other qualities are more important when choosing the company that you want to print your bulk printed t shirts. For example, how much experience do they have? How long have they been in business? What type of reputation do they have? These are all important questions that you need answers to. Do your research and find out all you can before you make a decision. Ask for references or talk to other companies that you are acquainted with to see who they would recommend.
You can save lots of money with bulk printed t shirts instead of buying only a few at a time. Considering it’s such a great promotional tool you will certainly get your money’s worth when you buy in bulk. There is no better or inexpensive way to promote your company than with bulk printed t shirts. It’s certainly something that you need to seriously consider if you want a great way to advertise.
The economy has changed over the last couple of years and this will have an effect on how we conduct business in the future. We used to be selective as to the type of business we chose to do. Now we have to take on all comers and offer more to our customers.
Things like kicking in a extra color, free artwork, special effect inks, puff ink, foils are becoming common. Making our skills as a screen printing business stand out in the crowd of screen printers that only offer maybe a lower price.
We will have to be more proactive in finding our next customer, not sitting back on our laurels and waiting for them to just walk in. The economy has had different effects on the businesses in our area. We had a lot of customers in the construction industry, so when home building came to a stop these businesses disappeared. So we have to make the adjustments and adapt, find new markets, say schools, new green industries, and solar. Money is being pushed into these areas by government. We need to keep our ear to the ground and your shoulder to the wheel you finger on the pulse and your back to the wall and try to work in that position. If you can, you just might make it.
Gary Allred
Oasis Custom Imprinted Sportswear
9980 Indiana Avenue, Suite 15
Riverside, CA 92503
(951) 354-8337 ph
(951) 354-8342 fax
Adding some bling to your old t-shirt design is a very simple way of making your t-shirt and business stand out of the crowd.
The next time you put together a t-shirt design for your company or club and want it to really stand out with a unique look, consider foils! Design it with a little touch of gold or silver or a whole range of metallic colors. These can be applied in the screen printing process, and mixed with regular inks and they don’t cost an arm and a leg.
The process is simple. We screen print a thermal adhesive that acts like an ink when it goes through the design and on to the screen, leaving the design on the garment. Then it is placed on the industrial dryer to dry. We then place it on a heat press, lay a piece of mylar foil over the adhesive area, then apply heat and pressure. Next, we allow it to cool, then remover the mylar.
The color foil sticks to the garment and WAA-LAA BLING-BLING.
Gary Allred
Oasis Custom Imprinted Sportswear
9980 Indiana Avenue, Suite 15
Riverside, CA 92503
(951) 354-8337 ph
(951) 354-8342 fax
Printing with puff ink is a very popular type of special effect done on t-shirts and sweatshirts.
Puff ink, like it’s name implies, raises or “puffs up” when the ink is cured (dried) in the printing process. It adds a three dimensional look to your design and if done properly can be used as a low cost substitute for the look of embroidery.
Not all artwork and typefaces will produce good results with puff ink. Avoid using type that has thick lines or have characters that are very close together. Thin lines in a design and “light” fonts with thin lines produce the best results with puff ink.
Check out some other trends in t-shirt printing HERE.
Gary Allred
Oasis Custom Imprinted Sportswear
9980 Indiana Avenue, Suite 15
Riverside, CA 92503
(951) 354-8337 ph
(951) 354-8342 fax
TODAY Style editor Bobbie Thomas helps you pick the perfect T-shirt
The ultimate basic, the T-shirt, has evolved into a fashion statement of its own, thanks to girl-next-door celebrity style icons such as Jennifer Aniston and Cameron Diaz. Not only are fashion-forward women wearing their tees with jeans, they’re pairing them with party skirts, diamonds and other couture pieces, using the classic layer as a canvas to either tone down or display a statement. From an array of solid styles to the collectible screen prints coveted by trendsetters, hot T-shirt brands are fighting for “the perfect tee” bragging rights at a store near you.
Bobbie Thomas, Today Style editor and author of the Buzz column for In Touch weekly, highlights five fashionable T-shirt styles and 15 of the most covetable collections.
Get Your Shirts Printed
Take the plunge While a fitted crewneck was once the must-have for T-shirt-touting teens and fashion-forward adults, the V-neck has stepped up in recent years to replace this shape as the single most sought-after style. With a slightly loose silhouette that oozes a casual-chic ease and feminine appeal, brands such as Daftbird (revolveclothing.com), Splendid (splendid.com) and James Perse (jamesperse.com) have mastered modern versions of this neckline, making the “Vee” the new must-have tee. Even Hollywood’s leading men, from Brad Pitt to Orlando Bloom, are baring a little chest and some sexy collarbones!
His or hers? Let’s be honest, ladies, your man’s tees were always more appealing than yours. Something about the oversize style was surprisingly sexy and chic. Savvy designers felt the same way, and now unisex and boyfriend-style shirts are available to women. One of the latest companies to develop a cult following, LnA was actually started by two girls who were tired of stealing their boyfriend’s tees, and wanted ones of their own that were just as cool (singer22.com). Other brands, like American Apparel (americanapparel.com) and Saint Grace (saintgrace.com), have also interpreted the look and feel of a guy’s go-to shirt. Paired with a soft scarf and sleek, fitted jeans, this loose, lazy-day look will feel polished in seconds.
Beat up and burned out Destroyed, “burnout” styles are popping up all over the place, leaving no need to search through bottom drawers or endless thrift stores for the perfectly worn-in T-shirt. New techniques and fabrications are producing everything from edgy to subtly sheer. Alternative Apparel (alternativeapparel.com), Bop Basics (shopbop.com) and Lexi Charms (luvcharlie.com) all offer up buttery-soft basics to satisfy your need for comfort and that old-faithful feel.
More to love Ultra-long tees may have some women stumped, but these lengthy layers are actually amazing. Whether you want a lightweight option to wear over leggings (and cover your booty), or are just looking for a piece to peek out from under a shorter sweater, the movement toward long tees is a lucky one for us ladies. Belly-baring shirts are a thing of the past, and brands like Nation LTD (tobi.com), Ella Moss (ellamoss.com) and C&C California (candccalifornia.com) are leading the way in this quest for more coverage.
Eco-friendly tees Environmentally friendly activists are turning toward soft staples that will help save the earth as their T-shirts of choice. Labels like Skin & Threads (skinandthreads.com) and Inhabit (inhabitny.com) have developed delicious tees-with-a-twist, made out of organic cotton. And Sweet Virgins even uses recycled Coca-Cola bottles fused with hemp fiber to make their fabulous basics (shopintuition.com). Nature lovers have never had so many stellar options!
Come get your Riverside t-shirts printed on the M&R Automatic. In addition to our experience and creative talents, one of the benefits of working with Oasis Screen Printing is our equipment.
Most small shops are operated with one guy pushing a squeegee in the back. We do have a guy with the squeegee in the back, but we also have a coveted piece of screen printing equipment…the M&R Automatic Diamondback.
M&R automatics are the way to go and the Diamondback is the most well built production oriented auto on the market.
We print up to 45 dozen shirts per hour (that’s 540!).
If you need your contract printing DONE, call Oasis!
Riverside T-shirts on the M&R Automatic
Automatic Printer in Our Shop
Oasis Custom Printing
Gary Allred
9980 Indiana Ave, Suite 15
Riverside, California 92503
(951) 354-8337
91FWY/Tyler
The Riverside TShirt scene is just like the rest of California…everchanging.
Often when customers come into a decorator’s shop to order decorated apparel, they want advice or suggestions from you, the expert. A great way to track trends is to watch the local high schools let out each day, walk around the mall, or watch MTV or reality shows to see what the kids are wearing.
Riverside tshirts - What's Hot
Here are five hot trends I’m seeing as a supplier of blank fashion apparel and a high-volume screen printer.
1. Soft Hand
The most prevalent trend in apparel today, whether it’s the garment itself or the decorating process, is the demand for the softest possible hand. Garments made out of fine jersey, bamboo or sheer fabrics are highly prized for their buttery soft feel against the skin. Ring-spun and Pima cottons are increasing in popularity because of their softness, and these fabrics are made even softer with the use of special treatments and finer gauge threads such as 30/1 and 40/1 singles.
On the decorating side, water-based inks and discharge are being used to create the softest prints. New techniques using water-based inks as well as ink additives have been developed to make the feel of a screen print almost indistinguishable. Discharge inks, which literally remove the dye from the garment, which is then overprinted with a water-base ink, also creates an incredibly smooth, soft hand.
2. Burnout
Burnout is a chemical process used on garments made of cotton/polyester blends. The chemical essentially “eats” the cotton, leaving a web-like pattern through the shirt to give it the popular distressed or vintage look. It is done all over shirts to create a worn look, or done via the screen printing process so that just a portion of the shirt features the burnout. It’s hot with younger demographics, for urban apparel and for concert shirts.
3. Organic
There is no way to measure the explosion being seen in environmentally friendly products in recent months and organic cotton is leading the way. While it once was sought after mostly by health food stores, recycling centers and other environmentally conscious groups, mainstream America is getting on the bandwagon and most suppliers can’t keep organic cotton apparel in stock.
The biggest trend in organic cotton, which originally was only available in natural, is colors. New colors are being added on a regular basis and as well as a broader range of styles. Look for this category to grow significantly in 2008. Also look for more environmentally friendly ways of dyeing garments, including the use of vegetable dyes to create colors.
4. Heathers
Based on continuing popularity of retro, heather shirts, made of a cotton/polyester blend, are making a strong comeback. Whether in a basic T-shirt, a ringer style that has contrasting trim on the neck and sleeves, or the classic three-quarter sleeve baseball jersey, heather fabric is guaranteed to be a strong seller in 2008.
5. Color Shifts
Brights are back. Having just come back from MAGIC in Las Vegas, it was obvious that colors such as lime, orange, neon yellow and fuchsia are going to be the dominant color palette for 2008. Expect to see these flashy shades in T-shirts, tank tops and girls’ fashion tops that will be glitzed up with metallic and glitter inks, rhinestones and studs.
While bright colors are leading the way in the fashion arena, earth tones are still holding ground in other markets — especially urban, hip-hop, environmental and military. Chocolate, sand, asphalt, moss, military green and black have increased in popularity in the past year, and suppliers are adding a wider range for customers to choose from. Tone- on-tone printing and embroidery also are popular in this category.
Organic cotton imprintable sportswear is a welcome trend. The fabrics are soft and wearable and the colors are urban current.
American Apparel try’s to do everything possible to minimize the ecological footprint. By creating organic products, the business minimizes its impact on the environment, while maintaining the same comfort and style American Apparel is known for. The Organic Collection is a selection of our most popular styles made from 100% USDA Certified Organic and pesticide-free cotton.
Dye Process for Our Organic Apparel
Their low-impact dyeing process eliminates chemical waste, providing innumerable environmental and health benefits. They use a low impact fiber reactive process to dye our organic cotton. This process uses the least amount of water when compared with all other dye processes available and the cotton absorbs over 70% of the dyestuff. The dye forms a direct linkage to the cotton fiber resulting in superior colorfastness and minimal run-off.
Dyeing Standards
American Apparel’s Organic Collection color T-shirts are dyed with low impact dye which meet industry standards for organic. It is not a requirement to label organic fibers, unlike organic foods. However, legitimacy is extremely important within the organic community. Subcommittees have formed out of already established certifying groups, mostly associated with agriculture communities. These subcommittees work together to maintain a credible level of checks and balances for companies interested in meeting a set standard and offer a guarantee the consumer can trust. Our color organics are created within the Global Organic Textile Standards (GOTS).
Organic Colors Offered
You can feel good about wearing our organic styles. Below are some of the colors we offer:
Ultraviolet Galaxy Dijon Red Emmy Cinder Pomegranate Black White Natural
American Apparel is constantly expanding and hiring all over the world. We're searching for people with unique and creative styles to help in our stores. Mixing American Apparel basics and fashion pieces is a creative process that is constantly improved by contributions from our employees. If you or someone you know can make a special contribution to th […]
New York visual merchandising employees B and Caoilfhionn look relaxed and coordinated in their tans. Caoilfhionn layered a Floral Lace Bodysuit under our Long Sleeve Crop Top and creme Four Way Stretch Zipper Jeans for a sassy yet classy ensemble. B paired our Italian Long Sleeve Button-Up and Corduroy Slim Slacks with his favorite California Select denim j […]
Norwegian pointed-shoe-gazers Serena Maneesh drop a kraut-heavy guest playlist on Viva for Naked Fridays part 37! These friendly rockers came by before embarking on a weekend's worth of soundblasting a sonically starved NYC scene. Between the ambitious and inventive selections picked by Emil, the SM mainman, there was lots of insightful conversation to […]
