Tultex

Tultex is the value play in soft ring-spun tees: retail-weight fabric and a tear-away label A printed neck label attached with a perforated seam so the wearer can tear it out without scissors. Common on retail-grade and private-label blanks. at a price closer to open-end basics. For print shops quoting against Bella+Canvas or Next Level on budget jobs, it's usually the first substitution to check.

The styles that matter

The Tultex 202 Fine Jersey Tee is the workhorse: 4.5 oz How dense a knit fabric is, measured in oz/yd². Typical ranges: under 4.5 oz is lightweight fashion; 4.5–5.5 oz is the midweight band most everyday tees fall into; 5.5–6 oz is heavy everyday and fleece; 6 oz and up is the heavyweight tier, with 7 oz and up the streetwear max-weight class. Heavier fabric drapes more substantially, holds prints flatter, and costs more per blank. , 100% ring-spun cotton, 30 singles A yarn made from a single strand (not plied). Most tees use singles. The lower the count number, the thicker the yarn (30s is thicker than 40s). Higher counts produce finer, lighter fabric. , with a ribbed crewneck and double-needle hems. Heather Grey runs 90/10 ring-spun cotton/poly and the other heathers are 50/50, so confirm the blend before you promise a print method.

Two other numbers worth knowing: the 241 Poly-Rich (65/35 poly/ring-spun cotton, a soft heathered blank that prints with a lived-in look) and the 290 Heavyweight, a 5.5 oz How dense a knit fabric is, measured in oz/yd². Typical ranges: under 4.5 oz is lightweight fashion; 4.5–5.5 oz is the midweight band most everyday tees fall into; 5.5–6 oz is heavy everyday and fleece; 6 oz and up is the heavyweight tier, with 7 oz and up the streetwear max-weight class. Heavier fabric drapes more substantially, holds prints flatter, and costs more per blank. ring-spun tee for clients who want more substance than the 202.

Fabric & decoration behavior

The 202's solid colors are reactive-dyed and dischargeable, which makes it one of the cheapest blanks that takes discharge A printing technique that chemically removes the dye from a dyed fabric rather than laying ink on top. The result feels like the shirt itself, with no hand feel. and waterbase Screen-printing ink where the carrier is water rather than PVC. It soaks into the fabric fibers instead of sitting on top, so the print feels like the shirt itself. Less opaque on dark garments than plastisol. printing well. The 30-singles face is smooth enough for fine halftones A technique that simulates gradients and shading by printing tiny dots of solid color. The dots vary in size or spacing. Closer together they look darker; farther apart, lighter. and DTG without the texture problems of carded open-end cotton.

Tear-away labels A printed neck label attached with a perforated seam so the wearer can tear it out without scissors. Common on retail-grade and private-label blanks. across the line make private relabeling fast, a real advantage for merch and Amazon sellers. On the 50/50 heathers and the 241, treat the poly content seriously: use low-bleed inks and watch cure temperatures.

When to choose Tultex

Tultex is the pick when the customer wants a soft, retail-feeling tee but the budget says basic. It's a strong default for band merch, events, and resale lines where margin per piece matters more than brand-name cachet on the neck label.