Blanks
Trade — one of 3 in the glossary
Undecorated garments bought to be printed, embroidered or otherwise customised — the raw stock of the decorating trade. A blank carries no graphics and no outward branding, and many now ship with tear-away or printed labels so the decorator can present the garment as their own. Buying blanks well is most of a decorator's margin: fibre content and yarn type decide which inks will work, weight and construction decide how the finished piece is perceived, and colour availability decides whether an order can be filled at all. Price per piece is the last thing to compare, not the first.
The raw stock of the trade
A blank is an undecorated garment bought to be printed, embroidered or otherwise customised. It carries no graphics and no outward branding of its own.
Many now ship with tear-away or printed labels rather than sewn-in ones, so a decorator can present the finished piece as their own product rather than as a rebranded someone else's.
The word covers everything from a two-dollar promotional tee to a retail-quality garment-dyed heavyweight. It says nothing about quality on its own.
How to actually choose one
Start with the decoration method, because it rules things out. Water-based and discharge inks need cotton. Sublimation needs polyester. DTG needs cotton fibre to bond to. A blank that fights your process is the wrong blank at any price.
Then weight and construction, which decide how the finished piece is perceived. A 4.2 oz retail-fit tee and a 6 oz workwear tee are different products, and the customer reads the difference immediately.
Then colour availability, which is what actually kills orders. A style that does not come in the colour the job needs is not a candidate however good it is.
Price per piece last. It is the easiest number to compare and the least informative.
What experienced buyers check that beginners do not
Whether the neck is taped, which decides whether the garment survives being laundered.
Whether sizes are graded consistently across the range, because a run that fits at M and not at 2XL produces the same complaint as one that never fit.
Whether the colour is available in one dye lot for the whole quantity. On garment-dyed styles this is not optional.
Whether the style is likely to still exist for a reorder in six months.
Common questions
- What are blank t-shirts?
- Undecorated garments bought to be printed or embroidered — the raw stock of the decorating trade. They carry no graphics and often ship with tear-away labels so a decorator can brand them.
- How do you choose a blank?
- Decoration method first, since it rules fabrics out; then weight and construction, which decide how the finished piece reads; then colour availability, which is what actually kills orders. Price per piece last.
- What is the difference between a blank and a wholesale t-shirt?
- Usually nothing — the terms are used interchangeably. "Blank" emphasises that the garment is undecorated; "wholesale" emphasises that it is sold in quantity at trade prices.
- Do blanks come with labels?
- Most do, and many are tear-away or printed directly on the fabric so a decorator can remove or keep them. A few premium styles ship label-free by design.
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