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.” 

Surprisingly, it's not as easy as it seems. 

I'm going to walk you through why using American made shirts is important, who we see order American made shirts most frequently, and the five most popular shirts we use for wholesale orders.

So if you're looking to place an order for your business and use shirts that are proudly made in the USA, this guide is for you. (And if you want us to help with that order, you can get in touch with us here.)

Why American Made Clothing is Important

Utilizing American made manufacturers is quickly becoming more and more important. 

In fact, there is a major groundswell of support all over the country to use, promote, and prioritize American made products of all types. 

This can be anything from cars to appliances to electronics to food to consumer products and, of course, to clothing.

There are many reasons people want to source products made in the USA. 

It's no secret that Americans are proud of their country. Supporting domestic manufacturing is an opportunity to show that pride. 

For many people, it's a badge of honor when a product is proudly adorned with a 'Made in USA' label.

This pride stems from the fact that American manufacturers provide good paying, ethical jobs that build local communities. 

Made in the USA is a symbol of quality. 

As manufacturing left the US and moved overseas, low cost was prioritized over product quality and quality of life. 

So while you may need to pay a little bit more for an American made shirt, it is made to higher standards and there is extra value because it is creating American made jobs.

Who Wants American Made Shirts?

The demand for American made shirts has steadily increased in recent years. 

We see brands and businesses of all types ask for help choosing the best American made shirt option.

The requests for shirts made in the USA are made by companies that manufacture domestically, have union labor, and value quality, environmental sustainability, and ethical manufacturing. 

One example is a local Jesuit high school. They have an ethics policy that requires they source their products from Fair Trade or American made sources. As a result, many of the shirts we print for them are one of the brands listed below.

Another common example is local construction companies. We print a lot of safety apparel for local contractors and subcontractors.

Not only do we see a lot of American made shirts being used in this industry, but it's also common to print the American flag on their shirts. With the practice of putting Old Glory on the sleeve, we feel strongly that the shirt should definitely be made in the USA.

We love to promote American made shirts and can offer them to anyone for any reason. 

Without further ado, here are our favorite and, in our opinion, the best American made shirts on the market for brands and businesses.

The Best American Made T-Shirt Brands

Bayside - The True American Made Tee

Bayside is the largest apparel manufacturer in the USA. 

For many screen printers that got their start after NAFTA, they are considered the original American made shirt. 

Because for a while, there just weren't many out there and Bayside provided the best options. 

While Bayside is mostly known for making a heavyweight shirt, they make all varieties and types - 100% cotton, blends, ringspun cotton, long sleeve. 

In addition to making all clothing in the USA, they even have a line of Union Made shirts. It doesn't get any more appealing than a union made shirt for union contractors, subcontractors, and manufacturers. 

We use Bayside apparel for wholesale shirt orders for businesses that want to support American and ethical manufacturing.

Los Angeles Apparel

Los Angeles Apparel is the originator of the American and ethically made fashion shirt. Their first iteration however, was branded American Apparel. 

When business for American Apparel took a downturn and ownership changed hands, their founder picked up where he left off with LA Apparel.

Arguably, he still makes the finest and highest quality American made clothing.

While their original niche was in soft, fashion fit t-shirts (our faves are the TR01 and FF01), LA Apparel has evolved with recent trends and now is known just as much for their thicker, garment dyed shirts. 

If you're going for a look that emulates vintage garment dyed long sleeve and pocket tees from your favorite vacations, check out their ever expanding line of high quality garment dyed clothing.

As always, LA Apparel is proud to be made in America, ethical and sweatshop free manufacturing. 

Royal Apparel - Made In USA

Royal Apparel stands out as an American apparel manufacturer with a commitment to the environment. 

Known for soft shirts and fleece, Royal Apparel stands out with a full line of blank organic clothing. If you're not in the wholesale apparel industry, it might come as a surprise that this is very rare.

In addition to using organic cotton, they also have shirts made of other eco-friendly materials such as bamboo, hemp, and recycled plastic.

Environmentally sustainability goes hand in hand with American manufacturing. 

One of the greatest appeals to domestic manufacturing is its reduced carbon footprint. Once the product is made, it doesn't need to be transported as far. 

For Royal Apparel, their commitment to going green and manufacturing in the USA makes them stand out. 

We've always been a fan of their triblend tees. In fact, some of the very first shirts we used for our retail brand were the 20051.

Next Level Apparel (USA)

Next Level Apparel is our most commonly used shirt brand for bulk wholesale orders. 

They make great, consistent shirts that our customers love and we love to print on. They have a wide range of colors and deep inventory.

While most of their shirts are not made domestically, they are expanding their line of USA made clothing. This is great for our customers who have used Next Level in the past but want to make the change to support American made.

The key indicator to identify a Next Level shirt as made in America is if it has an 'A' at the end of it's product number. For example, the 6010A is their triblend American made shirt.

We're excited that Next Level now has American made shirts.

American Apparel (USA)

American Apparel, which was started by the founder of LA Apparel, was a major force in re-popularizing American made apparel.

Coincidentally, they no longer makes all of their shirts in America. That's what happens when the largest shirt manufacturer in the world buys you out of bankruptcy.

While American Apparel isn't the same as the originally were, they haven't completely abandoned their American roots and ethical manufacturing.

If you want a soft American made shirt, they're still a great option.

The important thing is that if you are placing a wholesale order for American Apparel shirts, only the shirts labeled with USA are made domestically. 

I can't predict if American Apparel will continue to make shirts in America in the future, but for now they still do and it's a great shirt.

Ready to Order Custom American Made Tees? Let's Get Started.

We put this list together of our favorite blank American made t-shirts to help our customers that want to support US manufacturing. 

There are a lot of options out there and it's tough to wade through all of the options. 

Sometimes finding American made options can be like finding a needle in a haystack. We hope this article helps you when making a decision on which shirt to use for your brand or business.

Of course, we can help design, source, and print your next order of shirts. Click the button below to get started!

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