Gone are the days when eco-friendly shirts were scratchy and stiff, had limited sizes or colors, or were cost prohibitive. 

Every day, we print shirts that are better for the environment. If you're looking for shirts for your brand that are soft, fit well, and earth friendly, we can help.

Not only do we use eco-friendly shirts made of recycled plastic for our retail line, but we print these same shirts for custom screen printed orders, as well.

Our Favorite Eco-Friendly Shirts

We've been printing custom shirts for over ten years now. In that time, sustainability has become a priority for more people and as a result, there has been an increase in requests for eco-friendly shirts. 

Fortunately, the options for eco-friendly shirts have increased as well. You have more made-in-the-USA shirt options, shirts made of recycled material or organic cotton, and more environmentally friendly production practices. 

Here is a short list of our favorite eco-friendly and sustainable shirts to use when we print custom shirts for our customers:

1. Allmade 
2. Alternative Apparel
3. Econscious
4. Royal Apparel

1. Allmade Apparel

We like Allmade Apparel so much that is the primary blank that we use for our retail brand. It's soft, available in a lot of colors, prints well, and is reasonably priced. For these reasons, Allmade shirts have become a fast favorite among our customers. 

Allmade's success seemingly happened overnight. And it's not a surprise either. It was founded by a group of screen printers who wanted to make a better shirt. So it's only natural that they are so great to print on.

Allmade has made a better shirt by using 50% recycled polyester, 25% Tencel model sourced from sustainable beech trees, and 25% organic cotton. They did all of this while maintaining a comfy fit and feel. 

The AL2004 is their tri-blend tee that you will find on our retail shirts. We can't recommend it anymore. 

Check out the details about the Allmade AL2004:

• A 50/25/25 tri-blend shirt: 50% polyester from recycled plastic bottles, 25% organic cotton, 25% Tencel™ Modal
• Saves an average of 145 gallons of water, reduces 4 kg of CO2 emissions, uses an average of 6 water bottles
• Available in 15 colors and available in sizes XS-4X
• Calculate your positive impact on the environment by switching to this shirt with Allmade Apparel's impact calculator

2. Alternative Apparel

Alternative Apparel has been committed to making sustainable clothing since its inception. When we first started screen printing, they were one of the only options available in this space. They have consistently made comfortable clothing with eco fabrics and organic materials. 

Alternative Apparel is one of the few brands our customers request by name. It's popular in the yoga crowd for its flowy styles, comfy fabrics, and casual style.

As a leader in using sustainable fabrics and manufacturing processes, Alternative Apparel is a great choice to meet your sustainability goals. 

In addition to their t-shirts, we're a big fan of their eco-fleece. They make the softest hoodies, crews, and sweatpants. 

3. Econscious

Econscious is a clothing brand built on sustainability. 

With a name like Econscious, it's no surprise that they made the list. 

Econscious is widely available through wholesale clothing distributor, AlphaBroder. This fact is important because it's a sign of their success. 

While other sustainable t-shirt brands have come and gone, Econscious has produced a consistent and quality product for years. 

These shirts are great for both decorators and their customers because they are comfortable and well-fitting. Their most popular shirt is the EC1000 which is a 100% organic cotton tee.

In addition to organic cotton, Econscious uses hemp and recycled polyester fabrics in their clothing.  

Econscious also manufactures eco-friendly headwear, sweatshirts, and tote bags. 

4. Royal Apparel

Back before I started screen printing my own shirts, fancysweetstx was just a little retail brand that made shirts for the Ohio State University. Those first graphic t-shirts I made were printed on Royal Apparel. 

In those days, there weren't many brands making soft, fashion-forward shirts. Royal Apparel checks those boxes as well as being made in America and having a long line of organic apparel. 

Their commitment to sustainable fashion is just as strong today. Royal Apparel has a full line of organic clothing that is made, at least in part, with organic cotton.    

Here are more details about Royal Apparel:

• Organic cotton uses 90% less water and greenhouse gases to produce
• Use of RPET cotton, a fabric made from recycled plastic bottles, saves 2 million single-use plastic bottles from being thrown out each year.
• Full line of clothing is manufactured in the USA

What Do You Do With Old Shirts?

One of the toughest parts about making the apparel industry more environmentally friendly is figuring out what to do with old clothing.

A complaint in the promotional industry is that t-shirts are considered one-time use. They are made, printed, worn once, and then discarded. 

One way we try to make a difference at fancysweetstx is with our trade-in program, Reuse.

We offer customers of our retail brand the opportunity to return old, well-worn fancysweetstx shirts and receive a $5 credit on their next order. Sorry, this is not available for our custom screen printed shirts.

Order Custom Printed Eco-Friendly Shirts 

At fancysweetstx, we have a lot of experience screen printing custom shirts. 

We love that so many of our customers are choosing eco-friendly and sustainable shirts for their custom projects. 

The long-term impact of this trend will be significant. As more people adopt sustainable shirts and clothing, the more common, practical, and cost-effective they will be. 

The sustainable shirts mentioned above are going to match all of the important aspects of a shirt that you want in your standard shirts. They are: 

• Soft and comfortable material
• Quality construction
• Well fitting

If you’re on the team that is working on a new shirt project for your brand and you're looking for a screen printer who has the experience to print on eco-friendly shirts, get in touch with fancysweetstx today.

Here’s what Michael had to say after ordering custom screen printed shirts:

“Very impressed by the speed and quality of my company's shirt orders. They got our order done in less than a week (70+ shirts) and they came out perfectly fabulous. Thank you for your customer service.” 

That might have to do with the fact that red is such a strong, bright color which is commonly among the top favorite colors in the world. More likely, however, is our inherent and sometimes even congenital loyalty towards the scarlet and gray. 

That's right, we're saying that we love the color red because we are in the Buckeye State and are Ohio State Buckeye fans. It's part of who we are and ingrained in everything we do. 

We know, that's a bold and somewhat unusual claim. But hey, if you grew up wearing red OSU crew sweatshirts and t-shirts your entire childhood, you would feel the same way.

If you're not from Ohio and skeptical of this, our hunch is we're not alone. Look at the rest of the Midwest. In addition to Ohio State, you have Indiana, Wisconsin, and Nebraska who all boast red as an official school color. It's hard not to recognize the impact this has on clothing preferences. 

Our inclination towards red crew necks is obvious in our retail line. That, mixed with our experience printing and embroidering custom crew necks for other people makes us something of an expert in the field of crew sweatshirts. 

Without further ado, here our our five favorite red crew neck sweatshirts.

Independent Trading Pigment Dyed Crew Neck

We just can't get enough of this pigment dyed crew neck from Independent Trading. It's our most popular sweatshirt by far. It's part of our line as our Ohioan embroidered crew and we receive requests to custom print and embroider it on a regular basis.

And what's not to love? You can wear it oversized or true to size, the dyeing process makes the sweatshirt feel soft from day one, and it's versatile enough to be worn on summer nights at the beach and during a Midwestern winter.

Although this color is technically pigment maroon, don't let that official title confuse you, this crew is red through and through. That's why we use it on so many Ohio designs and for schools whose official color is red. 

If you're looking for a red crew that is comfortable, cute, and well loved, look no further than the Independent PRM3500.

But don't just take it from us, here's a review from one of our customers about the Ohioan embroidered crew:

"I am obsessed with this sweatshirt. I recently moved to the west coast and I wanted something to wear to channel my Midwest roots! It is the cutest, softest sweatshirt, and I get compliments on it all the time. Granted, no one here knows where Ohio is, but still, a compliment is a compliment. It fits TTS (I'm 5'2", 110 lbs. and I got an XS), and it's kind of like an already worn-in Comfort Colors material. It's awesome, you won't regret."- Katie

Here are a few more details about this red crew neck: 

• Pigment-dyed, and the process embellishes each shirt with its own unique character
• An 80-to-20 cotton-polyester blend provides a soft, comfy fabric feel, but expect some color variance after washing
• This sweatshirt should be washed in cold water to stop the dye pigment from staining during the wash cycle

Alternative Apparel Champ Eco-Fleece Crew

Our history with this red fleece crew neck goes way back. In fact, it was the first crew neck we used for our brand. You can see it above with our 16153 Genova Zoo Panda print on it. 

There are so many great features to this crew sweatshirt. The thing that stands out the most is just how soft it is. We don't think you're going to find a sweatshirt that feels better to wear than this one. It's the single compliment we hear most about the Alternative Apparel eco-fleece.

This crew sweatshirt is a bright red with a slight heathering due to the blended material that makes it up. This look gives it a vintage look to go with it's comfy, well worn feel. 

The sad news to report about this garment is that the eco-fleece material has been in limited supply over the last year. But you can bet that when it's back in stock, we'll be printing a lot of these. 

Here are a few more details about this red eco-fleece crew neck: 

• Eco-fleece material contains organic and recycled material
• A 50/46/4 polyester/cotton/rayon provides a super soft, comfy fleece fabric feel, but expect some color variance after washing
• This sweatshirt should be washed in cold water to retain the color and prevent the fleece material from shrinking 

Gildan Heavy Blend Crew Sweatshirt

If there's a more popular red crew neck sweatshirt on the planet, we don't know what it is. Gildan is the largest manufacturer of clothing for custom decoration industry in the world. 

So it shouldn't be a surprise that we see them so often. 

The Gildan Heavy Blend sweatshirt is a 50/50 cotton/poly blend that fits true to size. It's your standard, tried and true crew sweatshirt and the solid red color really pops. While Gildan is a very economical choice when it comes to crew necks, it's a very well constructed, quality fabric.

This crew neck is very popular among major clothing and apparel brands. We'd be willing to bet you've seen a Gildan tag inside the neck on your favorite streetwear brands. 

Here are a few more details about this red cotton and polyester crew neck: 

• Heavy Blend material fits true to size
• A 50/50 cotton/polyester blend comes in at 8 oz/yd and provides a classic fit and feel 
• This sweatshirt should be washed in cold water to retain the color and prevent the material from shrinking 

Champion Powerblend Crew Sweatshirt 

Is there a more popular brand right now than Champion? We think not. 

It's no surprise that we've seen a resurgence in requests to print custom designs on Champion brand crew sweatshirt. Quality never goes out of style. And that's exactly what Champion offers and everyone knows it.

This red crew neck is officially described as scarlet. While that might simply be semantics to most people, Ohio State fans know that it's the best shade of red. 

Your search for a well built, long lasting crew sweatshirt ends with this Champion crew neck. It's a little heavier, fits true to size, and keeps you warm in any weather. 

Here are a few more details about this red cotton and polyester crew neck: 

• Powerblend material fits true to size
• A 50/50 cotton/polyester blend comes in at 9 oz/yd and provides a little extra warmth with a classic fit and feel
• This sweatshirt should be washed in cold water to retain the color and prevent the material from shrinking 

Bayside USA Made Crew Sweatshirt

This list of best red crew neck sweatshirts wouldn't be complete without this USA made crew from Bayside. When we talked about the best American made shirts, Bayside was at the top of this list. 

That quality and consistency translates to their sweatshirts as well. 

They are perfect for custom designs. They fit well, are made of thick, heavyweight material, and, this is especially important for screen printers like us, they print really well. 

Supporting American manufacturers is important to us. It's easy to do that when a company provides the ethical standards and quality that Bayside does. 

You won't be disappointed with this red crew. 

Here are a few more details about this red cotton and polyester crew neck: 

• Heavyweight material is preshrunk and fits true to size
• An 80/20 cotton/polyester blend comes in at 9.5 oz/yd with a classic fit and feel and is entirely made in the USA
• This sweatshirt should be washed in cold water to retain the color and prevent the material from shrinking 

Design Your Custom Red Crew Neck

This is a short list of what we think are the best red crew necks on the market. We use some of them in our retail brand and print all of them for our clients who want to put their brand on clothing for their employees and customers to wear. 

No matter what your need is, you'll find a great sweatshirt option from the choices above. 

Our primary business is helping people bring their apparel ideas to life and making the process as easy as possible. From design to print to delivery, we help you every step of the way. 

If you’d like to have your very own embroidered or screen printed custom crew neck sweatshirt (it doesn't have to be red!) to promote your brand, business, or event, don’t wait to reach out to fancysweetstx. 

When I refer to high quality t-shirts, I am referring to the fit and feel. These t-shirts are usually a fine jersey cotton or 50/50 blend. They are more form fitting. Two styles that are especially popular with the kids right now are your vintage triblend shirts and burn out tees.

Finding these higher quality t-shirts takes a little more work than your standard shirts. In my experience, many t-shirt distributors do not sell these brands and most screen printers have very little experience with them. When I first decided I want to print on a nicer shirt, I had to contact the companies directly. And that was the first problem: I didn’t know any companies that sold higher quality shirts at wholesale prices.

So I did what anyone would do, I started searching online for help. My search led me to t-shirtforums.com which had a few threads on higher quality shirt manufacturers. American Apparel, Royal Apparel, Pima Apparel, Alternative Apparel, Next Level, and Tultex were the most popular.

American Apparel is the popular choice right now. They provide high quality, consistent American made t-shirts. Their shirts are very soft and they have the largest range of colors and styles of any of these companies. Royal Apparel provides a similar catalog and comparable quality of American made shirts. Pima Apparel is most well known for ladies tees. Their shirts are made in China and, consequently, are less expensive than American made shirts. Most of my shirts are printed on these three brands.

Next Level also manufactures overseas. I really like their shirts but have concerns about their size scale. I wear a large in every other brand, but an XL in Next Level. I’m hoping they work it out soon as I hope to print some of my new shirts on Next Level. Alternative Apparel specializes in organic and eco-friendly garments. Their shirts are the most expensive as a result.

For companies that want the “American Apparel” look or feel but don’t want to pay the higher price, Tultex and Anvil provide a lower cost option for a high quality form fitting shirt.

As mentioned, these brands are more expensive than most people are accustomed to ($4.00 – $7.00 for the shirt alone). However, the difference in price is worth it for most. The fit and feel outweighs the price. You can set up a wholesale account directly with each company or find a distributor that will sell them to you. Once again, I believe establishing a direct relationship with the manufacturer leads to better results in the long run. Prices fluctuate based on the size of the order. After establishing a long term relationship with these companies, I get case pricing on my orders.

Another thing to keep in mind is the location of each manufacturer. Most manufacturers are located in California or Florida (a 3-5 day ship point to Ohio). A shirt distributor may be able to get you shirts faster is they are located in the same state. However, sometimes if the distributor doesn’t have your full order in stock at one location, they may ship from two different points and your shirts will not arrive on the same day.

Have any experience with these companies? Recommend any others? Let me know.

American Apparel // Royal Apparel // Pima Apparel // Next Level // Alternative Apparel // Tultex// Anvil