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A blank that looks fine on a hanger can still ruin a print run. It shrinks in the first wash and the artwork warps. The neck twists. The sizes come in three different shapes. We know, because ENVY started as a print shop on Rye Lane, printing other people's artwork on other people's blanks.
This is the list we used to check a supplier. Run any blank through it, ours included.
The checklist
- Shrinkage. Ask for a number, not a promise. Ours are enzyme washed and pre-shrunk to under 3 percent before they leave.
- A clean surface. Combed cotton has the short fibers taken out, so fewer of them poke up through the ink. Every ENVY tee and layer is 100% combed organic cotton, apart from the Fitted Tee, which has 5% elastane.
- Print areas. Know where you can print before you design. Eleven of our garments take front, back and left chest. The Zip Hoodie takes back, left chest and sleeve, because the zip splits the front.
- Consistent sizing. If a medium in one garment is a large in another, your size run is a guess. All twelve of ours come off one pattern block.
- Collar and hem. A self-fabric neck tape and a twin-needle hem on the tees, ribbed cuffs and hem on the fleece. These are what still look right after a year.
- Care that suits the print. Read the label before you pick an ink. The tees take a warm iron on the reverse; the fleece dries flat, and the print is never ironed.
- Sample price. If the sample costs more than the run, you are paying to find out. Every ENVY garment is $32, one piece or a thousand, so the sample costs exactly what the run will.
Test it before you commit
Order one of the garment you plan to use. Print it, or have it printed, then wash it three times, cold and inside out, as the label says. Lay it next to an unprinted one. If the print has cracked or the body has twisted, you have learned that for $32 rather than for a whole run.
If you would rather we did the printing, our press in Peckham does screen print, embroidery and heat press from one piece up. Send the artwork through the contact page and we will come back with a quote.
A good blank is the one you stop thinking about once the ink is on.
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Color is the easiest thing to change. The fit decides how a garment hangs, where the print lands and whether you wear it at all, so start there.
