Core value hoodies: buyer's guide

A hoodie order for a whole program often means one style, many sizes, and the same logo on every piece. The buyer might be a league, a school, an event crew, or a staff uniform run. From style to style, what changes is the fiber blend, the weight, the cut, and pullover versus zip. The blend matters most, because it decides which decoration methods will work.

Which hoodies are worth a look?

There are ten styles here, mostly pullovers, plus a few full-zips so a program can mix both. They cover different fits, fibers, and jobs.

• Gildan Heavy Blend 18500 (unisex): 8 oz, 50% cotton / 50% polyester, classic fit. Best for embroidery, and the 50/50 blend takes screen print and sublimation too.
• Gildan Heavy Blend 18500B (youth): the youth cut of the same 8 oz, 50/50 fabric, classic fit. Best for putting kids in the same hoodie as an adult 18500 order.
• Gildan Heavy Blend 18600 full-zip (unisex): 8 oz, 50/50, classic fit. Best for embroidered chest logos on staff and coaches.
• Gildan Heavy Blend 18600B full-zip (youth): 8 oz, 50/50, classic fit. Best for embroidery on youth zips.
• Hanes EcoSmart P170 (unisex): 7.8 oz, 50/50 fleece. Best for embroidery and screen print.
• Tultex 320 fleece hoodie (unisex): 7.5 oz, 80% cotton / 20% polyester, ringspun jersey. Best for DTG and screen print.
• Tultex 331 full-zip (unisex): 8 oz, 80/20, ringspun jersey. Best for embroidery up front and DTG on the back.
• C2 Sport 5500 (men's): 8 oz, 60% cotton / 40% polyester, ringspun. Best for DTG or screen print on a men's cut.
• Colortone 8300 Mineral Wash (unisex): 8.5 oz, 60/40, ringspun, classic fit. Best for embroidery or DTG when the program wants a washed look.
• Holloway Eco Revive Ventura 222798 (women's): 6.3 oz, 89% polyester / 11% spandex. Best for sublimation and heat-transfer vinyl.

Which blend fits my decoration method?

Embroidery and DTF work on every style here, so the blend only decides things if you're running DTG, sublimation, or discharge. Every style here holds embroidery stitches well, and DTF transfers work on all of them. Start with your method and work back to the blend.

DTG needs cotton-heavy fabric. Direct-to-garment ink bonds to cotton. The cotton-heavy styles take it well, with a little less fine detail than pure cotton: Tultex 320 and 331, C2 Sport 5500, and Colortone 8300. The 50/50 styles aren't recommended for DTG. That covers all four Gildan Heavy Blends and the Hanes P170, and the Holloway isn't recommended either.

Sublimation needs polyester. It runs the other way from DTG, because the dye bonds to polyester. The Holloway, at 89% polyester, is the one to use for bright sublimation. Vinyl sticks well to it too. The 50/50 styles work for it, with color a little less bright than on pure poly. On the 60/40 and 80/20 styles the result comes out faded, since there's less polyester for the dye to grab. As a general rule, sublimation is a light-garment method, so plan it on white and pale colors.

Discharge isn't an option on this list. It needs all-cotton fabric, and every style here has some polyester.

Will light ink bleed on dark hoodies?

It can, so plan a low-bleed ink or a blocker underbase when you print light ink on dark colors. Under heat, polyester dye can bleed up into a print. Every style here has at least 20% polyester, which is enough for some bleed. It's highest on the Gildan 18600B and Hanes P170 in dark colors.

The Holloway is the exception for screen print. At 89% polyester, it's a better match for sublimation or vinyl than for screen print.

Will a reorder match the first run?

Shades can drift between production lots, so buy enough up front to keep everyone in one lot where you can. That goes for every style on this list. On cotton/poly blends, the two fibers take dye differently. That matters most when a program reorders mid-season.

Does weight matter for a volume run?

Nine of the ten sit between 7.5 and 8.5 oz, so weight won't separate most of them. The Colortone 8300 is the heaviest at 8.5 oz. The Holloway is the light one at 6.3 oz. Its 11% spandex adds the give that spandex brings to any fabric, which the cotton blends don't have.

None of the ten is prone to stretching or sagging. So a chest logo holds its shape through wear.

Will these shrink?

Test before you commit: wash and dry one sample the way your customers will, then measure it against a fresh one. Do this before you lock sizes on a big run. Cotton fleece can tighten up in a hot dryer, and one test costs less than reprinting a size run.

Can one style cover youth sizes and zips?

If your program mixes kids, adults, and coaches, the Gildan Heavy Blend family covers all of them. The 18500 pullover, 18500B youth pullover, 18600 full-zip, and 18600B youth full-zip share the same 8 oz, 50/50 fabric and classic fit. So your thread colors and ink choices carry across the whole order.

Of the four, the 18600B is the one most prone to bleed. Use the same low-bleed setup on its dark colors.

Which one should you order?

For a high-volume program, the Gildan 18500 is our pick. It's built for embroidery, and its 50/50 blend also takes screen print, sublimation, vinyl, and DTF, all in one blank. It also has youth and full-zip matches on the same fabric, so one setup runs the whole program.

If your job is more specific, match it here:

• School or league program with kids and adults: Gildan 18500 with the 18500B. Add the 18600 and 18600B if coaches want zips.
• DTG-printed full-color art: Tultex 320, or C2 Sport 5500 for a men's cut.
• Washed, retail-style look: Colortone 8300.
• Sublimated or vinyl team names on a women's cut: Holloway 222798.
• Embroidered staff zips with back print: Tultex 331.