Discharge printing blanks: which shirts discharge cleanly

Discharge ink pulls the dye out of a dark cotton shirt and leaves new color in its place, so the print feels like part of the fabric. It needs a cotton surface colored with a dye that discharge can release, which makes the blank your first decision. Here's which fibers and colors discharge, and which blanks to start with.

The shortlist

Seven cotton tees and three hoodies with a cotton face.

• Tultex 202 Fine Jersey T-Shirt: 4.5 oz, pre-shrunk 100% ringspun cotton, reactive-dyed, sizes XS to 5XL. Best for volume discharge runs.
• Gildan 64000 Softstyle T-Shirt: 4.5 oz, 100% ringspun cotton, modern classic fit, sizes XS to 5XL. Best for event and retail tees.
• Gildan 5000 Heavy Cotton T-Shirt: 5.3 oz, 100% U.S. cotton, classic fit, sizes S to 5XL. Best for team runs.
• Next Level 3600 Unisex Cotton Tee: 4.3 oz, 100% combed ringspun cotton, regular fit, side seams, sizes XS to 6XL. Best for retail tees with fine detail.
• Next Level 7200 Unisex Heavyweight Tee: 6.8 oz, 100% combed ringspun cotton, oversized fit, dropped shoulder. Best for boxy streetwear.
• Hanes 5180R Beefy-T Retro Street T-Shirt: 7 oz, 100% ringspun cotton jersey, oversized relaxed fit. Best for a heavyweight retro tee.
• Comfort Colors 1717 Garment-Dyed Heavyweight T-Shirt: 6.1 oz, 100% ringspun cotton, relaxed fit, garment-dyed. Best for a lived-in retail tee.
• Gildan 19500 Hammer Maxweight Hooded Sweatshirt: 10.5 oz, 75/25 cotton/polyester with a 100% cotton face, classic fit. Best for a heavy hoodie with a discharge front print.
• Independent Trading Co. IND4000 Heavyweight Hooded Sweatshirt: 10 oz, 70/30 ringspun cotton/polyester with a 100% cotton face in solid colors. Best for a heavyweight hoodie in solid colors.
• Hanes F170 Ultimate Cotton Hooded Sweatshirt: 9.7 oz, 90/10 cotton/polyester with a 100% cotton face. Best for a mostly-cotton hoodie.

How does discharge printing work?

Discharge ink carries an activator that releases the shirt's dye when the print cures. You can leave the cleared area as bare cotton for a bleached look, or add pigment so it lands in a new color. Nothing thick sits on top, so the print has almost no hand. Discharge is a screen print process, so screens, mesh and squeegee follow the screen printing guide.

Why does the shirt need to be cotton?

The activator releases dye from cotton. Polyester is colored with a different dye that stays put. On a blend, the cotton clears and the polyester doesn't, so you get a faded, two-tone result. That can pass as a vintage effect, not a clean knockout.

Check every color before you order. Many heathers and some solids are blends:

• Gildan 64000: Dark Heather and the Heather colors are 65/35 polyester/cotton, Graphite Heather is 50/50, Sport Grey and the Antique colors are 90/10, and Heather Oatmeal is 99/1.
• Gildan 5000: the Heather colors, Dark Heather, Graphite Heather, Blackberry, Lilac, Midnight, Sunset, Tweed, the neons and the safety colors are 50/50. Sport Grey and the Antique colors are 90/10, and Ash is 99/1.
• Tultex 202: Heather Grey is 90/10 and the other heathers are 50/50.
• Next Level 3600: Heather Grey is 90/10 and Oatmeal is 99/1.

Keep discharge to the colors that are 100% cotton, and switch to a white underbase on the heathers.

Which dark colors discharge cleanly?

It depends on the dye. Tultex says the 202 is reactive-dyed, and reactive dyes are the type discharge is made to release. Other dyes resist and lift to a dull tan or not at all. The color name won't tell you, so pull one shirt per color from the actual order and print a test. It's standard practice, and it costs less than a reprint.

Garment-dyed shirts are their own case. The Comfort Colors 1717 is dyed after it's sewn, so test each color you plan to run and plan the art around what the test shows.

Can you discharge a hoodie?

Yes, when the face is cotton. The print sits on the outer face, so the face fiber is what the discharge sees, even when the overall blend has polyester in it.

• The Gildan 19500 is 75/25 overall, and Gildan says its face is 100% cotton. Sport Grey and Safety Orange are heavier blends, so skip discharge on those.
• The Independent Trading Co. IND4000 has a 100% cotton face in its solid colors and Houndstooth. Its heathers are 52/48, its camos are blends, and its safety colors have a 65/35 polyester/cotton face, so run another method on those.
• The Hanes F170 is 90/10 with a 100% cotton face. Charcoal Heather and Light Steel carry more polyester.

Test the exact color first on all three. Heavy fleece heats through slower, so check the cure too.

Does weight change the print?

Not much. A 4.3 oz Next Level 3600 and a 7 oz Hanes 5180R both take discharge, so pick the heft your customer wants. Surface matters more for detail. The 3600 is 32 singles combed ringspun cotton, a fine yarn that holds small type.

Will it shrink?

Cotton that isn't pre-shrunk can move in the first wash. Comfort Colors says its garment dyeing gives minimal shrinkage. On any style, wash and dry one sample and measure before you lock sizes. The Tultex 202 is pre-shrunk, so it's the pick when reorders need to fit the same as the first box.

Which blank should I start with?

Start with the Tultex 202. It's 100% ringspun cotton, reactive-dyed and pre-shrunk, so its solid colors are built for discharge and its sizes stay put across reorders. Test each color in the order before the run. For other jobs:

• Event tee: Gildan 64000
• Team order: Gildan 5000
• Fine-detail retail: Next Level 3600
• Heavyweight or oversized: Next Level 7200 or Hanes 5180R
• Vintage look: Comfort Colors 1717
• Hoodie: Gildan 19500, for its cotton face and 10.5 oz weight

For underbase, DTG and DTF on darks, see printing on dark garments.