Comfort Colors wholesale: a buyer's guide to garment-dyed blanks

Buying Comfort Colors wholesale to print or stitch? Here's how the tees, crews and hoodies differ in fabric, fit and decoration.

Comfort Colors blanks show up on retail drops, Greek and campus merch, camp shirts and school stores. Every top in this guide is garment-dyed, and most are 100% ring-spun cotton at 6.1 oz. So the choice comes down to the shape of the shirt, who's wearing it, and whether the job needs heavy 80/20 fleece for winter. Cotton or fleece also decides which decoration methods are open to you.

Which Comfort Colors styles are in this guide?

Twelve styles, from the core tee to the fleece:

• Comfort Colors 1717 Garment-Dyed Heavyweight T-Shirt: 6.1 oz, 100% cotton, relaxed fit, sizes S to 4XL. The tee most of the line is built around.
• Comfort Colors 6030 Pocket T-Shirt: the 1717's fabric and cut, plus a left chest pocket.
• Comfort Colors 1745 Colorblast Heavyweight T-Shirt: the same heavyweight tee in its own color set, with names like Fiji Blue, Seaglass and Clay.
• Comfort Colors 6014 Long Sleeve T-Shirt: the core tee with long sleeves and rib cuffs.
• Comfort Colors 9360 Heavyweight Tank Top: 6.1 oz cotton with a bound neck and armholes, sizes XS to 3XL.
• Comfort Colors 9018 Youth T-Shirt: the youth tee, in a classic fit, sizes XS to XL.
• Comfort Colors 3023CL Women's Boxy T-Shirt: a boxy, mid-length women's tee.
• Comfort Colors 1466 Lightweight Crewneck: 6.4 oz, 100% cotton jersey, relaxed.
• Comfort Colors 1467 Lightweight Hooded Sweatshirt: the 1466's jersey with a jersey-lined hood.
• Comfort Colors 1566 Crewneck Sweatshirt: 9.5 oz, 80% cotton / 20% polyester with a 100% cotton face, relaxed.
• Comfort Colors 1566L Women's Mid-Length Crewneck: the 1566's fleece in a relaxed, mid-length women's cut.
• Comfort Colors 1580L Women's Mid-Length Quarter-Zip: the same women's fleece with a stand-up rib collar and a quarter-zip.

What does garment dyeing change?

Most blanks are cut from fabric that was dyed on the roll. Comfort Colors sews the shirt first and dyes it after. Per the manufacturer, that gives a lived-in feel with minimal shrinkage. It affects your order in three places.

Color. Each style carries its own palette, and the color names repeat across the line. Pepper and Ivory, for example, come in the tees, the tank, the youth tee, the crews and the hoodie. That makes a matching set easy to plan. The 1745 is the exception. Its Colorblast colors are a separate set from the 1717's.

Sizing. Sizes can still move a little on the first wash, so before you lock sizes on a run, wash and dry one sample of each style and measure it. For a team or school program you'll reorder over several years, keep one shirt from the first run so later orders can be checked against it. If sizes have to hold exactly, the premium blank t-shirts guide names pre-shrunk tees.

Decoration. The all-cotton styles behave like any cotton blank on press. Screen print, DTG, DTF and discharge all work, and embroidery and vinyl do too. Sublimation is the one method to leave off, because it needs polyester to bond.

Which tee should I start with?

Start with the 1717. It's 6.1 oz cotton, it runs to 4XL, and it carries the widest color range of any Comfort Colors style here. At 6.1 oz it has the body to hold a stitched logo.

From there, pick by the job. The 6030 adds a chest pocket, so you can put a small logo on or above it and a bigger print on the back. The 1745 is the tee for a client who wants the Colorblast colors. For fall drops, the 6014 is the long-sleeve version. And the 9360 tank works for summer camps, gyms and beach events. It's the only adult style here that starts at XS.

All five share one fabric, so they print alike and one ink plan covers the whole tee order. For long sleeves from other brands, the long-sleeve tees guide compares weights and fibers.

How do I decorate the crews and hoodies?

Split the sweatshirts in two. The 1466 crew and 1467 hoodie are 6.4 oz cotton jersey, not fleece. They decorate exactly like the tees, discharge included, and they're the lighter layer for spring, fall or indoor wear.

The 1566, 1566L and 1580L are 9.5 oz, 80% cotton and 20% polyester. Embroidery is the strongest method on them, since the heavy fleece holds a dense stitch count. Screen print, DTG, DTF and vinyl work too. The face is 100% ring-spun cotton, which the manufacturer adds for better printability. That cotton face also makes discharge possible, but the polyester inside can change the result, so run a test print first.

All three heavy styles have a back neck patch. It's a handy spot for a small brand mark or a tag print. To see the 1566 and 1466 next to crews from other brands, the crewneck sweatshirt guide lines them up.

Which cuts fit women and kids?

Comfort Colors makes three women's cuts and one youth tee among these styles. The 3023CL is a boxy, mid-length tee in the 1717's 6.1 oz cotton. It takes the same methods, so it slots into a unisex order without a second ink plan.

The 1566L and 1580L are relaxed and mid-length, per the manufacturer. The 1580L's stand-up collar and zip make it the dressier piece, and a left-chest logo suits it. Both have a drop shoulder, plus rib cuffs and waistband with spandex. Sizes run S to 2XL. The women's sweatshirts guide puts them beside cropped and side-zip styles.

For kids, the 9018 is the youth version of the core tee, with a CPSIA tracking label. That label matters to schools and youth leagues that need children's products tracked.

Can I build a matching set across styles?

Yes, and the shared color names make it simple. A campus store could run the 1717, the 9018 and the 1566 in Pepper, with Ivory as the light option. A sorority bundle could pair the 3023CL with the 1566L.

Check one thing first. The same color name can look a little different on the 80/20 fleece than on a cotton tee, because cotton and polyester take dye differently. Order one of each in your color and look at them side by side before you commit the run.

Which style for which job?

• Retail line or merch drop: 1717
• Pocket tee with a back print: 6030
• Colorblast colors: 1745
• Fall retail or a cool-weather event: 6014
• Summer camp, gym or beach event: 9360 tank
• School or youth league: 9018
• Women's boxy tee: 3023CL
• Light cotton layer you can discharge: 1466 crew or 1467 hoodie
• Embroidered winter crew: 1566
• Women's retail crew: 1566L
• Dressier women's piece with a chest logo: 1580L quarter-zip

Which one would we order first?

The 1717. It's all cotton, so it takes screen print, DTG, DTF, discharge and embroidery, and it comes in more colors than any other style here. The tank, the youth tee and the crews share its color names, so they can follow once a design works on the 1717. Order a few in your top colors, wash one, and size the run from there.