Fabric & weight guide
CVC & Blends
Soft meets durable
Last updated September 14, 2026
CVC stands for chief value cotton, a cotton/poly blend where cotton is the majority fiber, as opposed to a 50/50. The polyester adds shrink and wrinkle resistance and makes heathers possible, while the cotton keeps a natural How a fabric feels against the skin. Printers also use it to describe the tactile thickness of an ink deposit (a thick plastisol print has "high hand"). .
Quick take
- Best for
- Heathered merch palettes and hard-washed garments (uniforms, restaurant merch, spiritwear) at a price between open-end and tri-blend.
- Watch out
- Poly content brings On polyester, fabric dye can bleed up into an ink layer after heat is applied, especially with light inks on dark poly. Results in a washed-out or discolored print over time. risk past roughly 260°F; use low-cure inks and low-bleed white. DTG underperforms.
- Anchor styles
- Bella+Canvas 3001CVC, which carries the heather palette the all-cotton 3001 can't.
What it actually is
Blends pair cotton's softness and breathability with polyester's dimensional stability: less shrinking, less wrinkling, faster drying, and better shape retention through repeated washing. The poly fiber is also what usually carries a CVC heather, since it takes dye differently than the cotton around it.
The anchor is the Bella+Canvas 3001CVC: 52% Bella+Canvas's branded name for their highest-grade cotton yarn. Combed removes short fibers; ring-spun twists them tighter. The result is a very smooth, pill-resistant fabric. A step after carding where short fibers are combed out. Combed yarn is smoother, stronger, and pills less than straight-carded yarn. ring-spun cotton / 48% polyester on its core colors, though the exact split varies by color, at 32 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. and 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 range, with 7 oz and up the streetwear max-weight class. Heavier fabric drapes more substantially, holds prints flatter, and costs more per blank. . It carries the heather palette the all-cotton 3001 can't, at a lower price than tri-blend because there's no rayon in it.
How it prints
The polyester content introduces On polyester, fabric dye can bleed up into an ink layer after heat is applied, especially with light inks on dark poly. Results in a washed-out or discolored print over time. risk: the dyes on the poly fibers can gas off and bleed into your ink, tinting white prints pink on a red shirt days after curing. Plastisol has to cure hot enough to set, which is into that range, so the job is managing the heat, not avoiding it: run low-cure inks (270–280°F), pair them with a low-bleed white, and don't park blends under a hot A quick burst of heat applied between ink layers during screen printing. It gels the first color so the next color can print over it without mixing. .
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. only reacts with the cotton fibers, so on a blend it produces a faded, vintage result rather than a clean color change. DTG underperforms on poly content; DTF and vinyl don't care and handle blends cleanly.
When to choose it
Choose CVC when the customer wants heathers (that's most modern merch palettes) or when garments will be washed hard and often: staff uniforms, restaurant merch, spiritwear. The blend keeps its fit and color long after 100% cotton fades and shrinks.
Price sits between open-end cotton and tri-blend, which makes CVC the easy upsell: a retail look and more durability than 100% cotton.
Browse CVC & Blends by category
CVC and 50/50 blends land heaviest in fleece and tees, where the heathered colorways live. Each row previews a category's best; the count and Shop all link open the full set.
Sweatshirt 112
Shop all 112 Sweatshirt →
63 colors
Bella + Canvas style number 3719
Unisex Sponge Fleece Hoodie Sweatshirt
$27.18
Retail $36.23
7 colors
Bella + Canvas style number 3719Y
Youth Sponge Fleece Hoodie Sweatshirt
$23.66
Retail $31.54
6 colors
Bella + Canvas style number 7505
Women's Crop Raglan Crewneck Sweatshirt
$29.37
Retail $39.16
7 colors
Bella + Canvas style number 3719T
Toddler Sponge Fleece Pullover Hoodie Sweatshirt
$21.57
Retail $28.75
6 colors
Comfort Colors style number 1566L
Women's Garment-Dyed Mid-Length Crewneck Sweatshirt
$25.88
Retail $34.50
29 colors
Gildan style number SF000
Unisex Softstyle® Midweight Crewneck Sweatshirt
$14.37
Retail $20.04
15 colors
Gildan style number SF500B
Youth Softstyle® Midweight Hooded Sweatshirt
$16.71
Retail $22.29
41 colors
Bella + Canvas style number 3901
Unisex Sponge Fleece Raglan Crewneck Sweatshirt
$25.64
Retail $34.17
3 colors
Bella + Canvas style number 3901Y
Youth Sponge Fleece Crewneck Sweatshirt
$18.68
Retail $24.90
T-Shirt 80
Shop all 80 T-Shirt →
2 colors
Bella + Canvas style number 3200T
Toddler Three-Quarter Sleeve Baseball Tee
$7.76
Retail $10.34
Pants 13
4 colors
Bella + Canvas style number 3725
Unisex Sponge Fleece Straight Leg Sweatpants
$29.70
Retail $39.61
10 colors
Bella + Canvas style number 4737
Unisex 10 oz. Heavyweight Sweatpants
$33.23
Retail $44.31
8 colors
Gildan style number SF100
Unisex Softstyle® Midweight Pocket Sweatpants
$23.16
Retail $30.88
14 colors
Independent Trading style number IND20PNT
Men's Midweight Fleece Sweatpants
$26.03
Retail $34.71
9 colors
Independent Trading style number PRM20PNT
Women's California Wave Wash Sweatpants
$31.40
Retail $41.86
10 colors
Independent Trading style number PRM50PTPD
Unisex Pigment-Dyed Fleece Sweatpants
$30.72
Retail $40.97
Tank Top 8
12 colors
Bella + Canvas style number 1012
Women's Micro Rib Spaghetti Strap Tank
$10.50
Retail $14.01
Polo Shirt 4
Accessories 3
Shorts 3
9 colors
Independent Trading style number IND20SRT
Men's Midweight Fleece Shorts
$19.92
Retail $26.55
9 colors
Independent Trading style number PRM20SRT
Women’s Lightweight California Wave Wash Fleece Shorts
$18.12
Retail $24.16
Hat 3
Dress Shirt 1
Other 1
