Blank bottoms: buyer's guide

Bottoms orders come from very different jobs. A facilities crew needs work pants that carry a logo through a shift. A rec league needs shorts that take a number. A school store wants sweatpants to sell next to its hoodies. Each job calls for a different fabric, and the fabric decides how you can decorate.

This guide sorts the styles into three groups: work pants, athletic shorts, and lounge pants. It then covers fit for a group order and ends with picks by job.

The styles at a glance

• Red Kap PT20 Dura-Kap Industrial Pants: men's work pant, 7.5 oz combed twill. Best for embroidered crew logos.
• Red Kap PX62 Mimix Pro Pants: men's work pant, 7.5 oz, 65% polyester / 35% cotton. Best for embroidery. It also takes sublimation and vinyl well.
• Badger 4107 B-Core 7" Shorts: men's, 3.5 oz, 100% polyester. Best for sublimated or vinyl team numbers.
• Team 365 TT11SH Zone Performance Shorts: men's, 3.5 oz polyester interlock, UPF 40+. Best for sublimation and vinyl on outdoor teams.
• Badger 7207 Pro Mesh 7" Shorts: men's, 3 oz polyester mesh. Best for sublimation and vinyl.
• Gildan 18200 Heavy Blend Sweatpants: unisex, 8 oz, 50/50 cotton/poly, classic fit. Best for embroidery. Screen print, vinyl, and DTF work on it too.
• Gildan 18100 Heavy Blend Pocket Sweatpants: the same 8 oz 50/50 classic fit, with pockets. Best for embroidery and screen print.
• Independent Trading Co. PRM50PTPD Pigment-Dyed Fleece Sweatpants: unisex, 9 oz, 80% cotton / 20% polyester ringspun, relaxed fit. Best for embroidery, and at 80% cotton it takes screen print and DTG too.
• Independent Trading Co. PRM20PNT Women's California Wave Wash Sweatpants: women's, 7 oz ringspun fleece, classic fit. Best for embroidery.
• Lane Seven LST006 Premium Joggers: unisex, 8.3 oz fleece. Best for embroidery.
• Boxercraft BM6624 Harley Flannel Pants: men's, 4.3 oz, 100% cotton. Best for screen print, discharge, and DTF.
• Boxercraft BY6624 Youth Flannel Pants: youth, 4.3 oz, 100% polyester. Best for sublimation and vinyl.

Which kind of bottom does the job need?

Pick the group by where the garment gets worn. Work pants are for a shift. Athletic shorts are for a field or a court. Lounge pants (sweatpants, joggers, and flannel) are for spirit wear, retail, and lounging.

Weight changes a lot between those groups. The Pro Mesh short is 3 oz, while the Dura-Kap pant is 7.5 oz, more than twice as heavy. That gap is most of why the decoration advice below changes from group to group.

How should I decorate work pants?

Embroider them. Both Red Kap pants are 7.5 oz, heavy enough to hold a stitch, and the fabric resists sag. So a small stitched logo at the hip or back pocket is the safe default. If you need a name or a number, vinyl and DTF both work on either pant.

Screen printing the Mimix Pro takes more care. It's 65% polyester, so the fabric's dye can bleed into a light ink on dark colors. As a general rule for poly-heavy fabric, a low-cure ink or a blocker base keeps the print clean there.

Plenty of crews also order work pants blank and decorate only the shirts. That's a normal way to run a uniform program.

What's the best way to decorate athletic shorts?

Use sublimation or heat transfer vinyl. All three shorts are 100% polyester, so sublimation dye bonds to the fiber and vinyl sticks well. Embroidery is harder, because a dense stitch count can pucker on 3 to 3.5 oz fabric. If a logo has to be stitched, keep it small and light.

The Team 365 Zone adds UPF 40+, which helps for summer camps and outdoor leagues. On dark shorts, the same migration rule from the work pants applies to any screen-printed ink.

Which lounge pants take a print?

At 7 to 9 oz, every sweatpant and jogger here is heavy enough to hold embroidery well. Printing is where they split:

• Gildan 18200 and 18100: take screen print well. DTG isn't a match, because half the fiber is polyester.
• Independent Trading Co. PRM50PTPD: cotton-led at 80%, so screen print and DTG both go down well.
• Boxercraft BM6624 Harley Flannel: all cotton, and the only style here that takes discharge.

For more leg styles and fleece weights, see the joggers and sweatpants guide. The rest of the Boxercraft line, flannel shirts and sweatshirts included, is in the Boxercraft guide.

If you're matching the Gildans to a top, compare pullover hoodies, core value hoodies, or crewneck sweatshirts so the set decorates the same way.

Which fit does my group need?

Match the cut to the roster. Most styles here are men's or unisex. The PRM20PNT is cut for women, and the BY6624 is the youth flannel.

For a mixed group, the unisex classic-fit Gildans keep the order to one style. The PRM50PTPD has a relaxed fit that runs roomier by design, so it suits a comfort-first order more than a tailored look.

Will bottoms shrink in the wash?

Test before you commit. On a big run, wash and dry one sample and measure the waist and inseam before you lock sizes. Cotton-heavy fabric moves more in the wash than polyester does, whatever the brand.

Which style fits my job?

• Crew uniform with an embroidered logo: Red Kap PT20
• Work pants that also need a sublimated or vinyl mark: Red Kap PX62
• Team shorts with numbers: Badger 4107 or Badger 7207
• Outdoor camp or league: Team 365 TT11SH
• Spirit wear matched to hoodies: Gildan 18200
• Women's lounge line: Independent Trading Co. PRM20PNT
• Youth pajama or event pants: Boxercraft BY6624

Our pick for a printed retail sweatpant is the Independent Trading Co. PRM50PTPD. It's the heaviest pant here at 9 oz. It's also the only sweatpant on this list that takes both screen print and DTG, and the heavy fleece holds embroidery well too. So one blank covers screen print, DTG and embroidery.