Most people spend a good amount of time selecting the perfect shirt for their sports team, promotional, or personal events. Finding a shirt that matches your design exactly right is important, but you'll also want to consider the best material for your needs. Many clubs and groups find they will prefer a cotton polyester blend of fabric for their uniforms rather than alternatives exclusive to one material.
When it comes to fabric, people often gravitate toward 100% cotton — a sturdy, breathable, lightweight crafting resource that is especially suited for warmer climates. While 100% cotton is oftentimes the better choice, it’s worth considering all of the benefits of a 50% cotton 50% polyester blend before making your decision.
A 50/50 blend offers many of the same advantages of 100% cotton, but also avoids some of the pitfalls of the pure blend.
Advantages of a 50/50 Blend Over 100% Cotton
There are many instances when you'll want to use a 50/50 polyester and cotton blend over 100% cotton. While it is typically a slightly more expensive fabric than 100% cotton, it makes up for the cost by offering you a more durable, versatile, and comfortable material. Here are some of the reasons this blended fabric may be a better choice for your event.
A Cotton + Polyester Blend is Versatile
A 100% cotton t-shirt has some limitations as to what it is best used for, but this is not the case with a polyester/cotton blend. It takes the benefits of both fabrics and combines them into one, making the fabric ideal for almost any purpose.
Whether ordering shirts for a sports team or your business or a community event, this material will get the job done.
A Blend of Fabrics Will Not Fade As Quickly
While 100% cotton is a sturdy, beautiful fabric, it is still much more likely to fade than a 50/50 blend. The synthetic fibers in polyester help the material hold its color better over time. In short, it will suit your needs really well if you intend to wash the shirts frequently.
When it comes to children, unless you're dealing with allergies (as mentioned above), the polyester/cotton blend will have a distinct advantage. Children’s clothing
often requires multiple washes, and this blend maintains its color much longer as you treat and remove stains again and again.
Fabric Blends are More Durable
If you want a material that’s long lasting, polyester/cotton blends are known for their durability. Just as it won’t fade as quickly, it also won’t lose its shape or come apart as quickly. It’s also less likely to pill over time, meaning it stays looking new longer.
We all want clothes that will last, and a polyester/cotton blend offers just that. If you plan to wear and wash your shirt a lot, the blended fabric will be better suited to your needs.
A 50/50 Cotton Polyester Blend is Less Prone To Wrinkling
Perhaps one of the most frustrating things about 100% cotton is that it is extremely prone to wrinkling. Obviously, wrinkles can be taken care of with an iron and a spray bottle, but most people prefer clothes that come out of the dryer ready to wear.
50/50 polyester and cotton is far less likely to wrinkle than 100% cotton, especially if you remove it from the dryer promptly. If you want to avoid the extra step of ironing, this blend is a much better choice.
Cotton Polyester Blends are Easy To Care For
Not only does 50/50 polyester and cotton come out of the wash ready to wear, it’s much easier to wash and care for to begin with. It’s a far less temperamental fabric than 100% cotton, and washes and dries with little fuss.
This fabric responds best to being washed in warm water and dried on low to medium heat. 100% cotton must be washed in cold water, dried on very low heat, and will not respond well to being overheated. Stick with the 50/50 blend if easier maintenance is your goal.
A 50/50 Fabric is Great For Activity
While 100% cotton is definitely breathable, it doesn’t respond as well to regular sweating and activity. And, as we mentioned, it’s harder to care for, meaning stains are a little trickier to deal with than they are in a polyester/cotton blend.
The 50/50 blend is not quite as breathable as 100% cotton, but it makes up for it by holding up well in regular activity
, making it an ideal choice for sports and athletics. Polyester has wicking properties, meaning the fabric will dry faster during activities.
Cotton Polyester Blends are Less Likely To Shrink
Shrinking after washing and drying a 100% cotton piece of clothing is a bit of a gamble. However, the synthetic fibers of polyester will keep a blended fabric from shrinking. Although you can purchase pre-shrunk 100% cotton clothing, polyester/cotton blends are a little more reliable when it comes to maintaining size and shape.
If you’re purchasing t-shirts, you don’t want to be concerned with shrinking, and a 50/50 blend will give you peace of mind that the size you purchase is the size you will continue to have.
A 50/50 Fabric Blend Provides a Sporty Look
As mentioned when we talked about 100% cotton, sometimes you want your clothing to have a more professional look, but that’s not always the case. If you’re purchasing shirts for sporty or casual purposes, the polyester/cotton blend will suit your needs well. It’s comfortable and perfect for outdoor and indoor activities of a more casual nature.
Jerseys or event tees are a great example of shirts that would look great in a polyester and cotton blend.
Cotton and Polyester Fabrics Together Will Keep You Warmer
While it’s true that 100% cotton is the more breathable fabric, that’s not always a quality you’re looking for! If you need material that's going to keep you warmer
, the polyester and cotton blend provides the comfort of the natural cotton feel with the warmth of the synthetic polyester.
Not all activities take place in the winter, or in warmer climates. This blended fabric will be a better choice for you if you need something that breathes but isn’t going to leave you wet and freezing after your activity.
When and Why to Choose 100% Cotton Over a 50/50 Polyester Blend
A 50/50 blend shares some of the same benefits as 100% cotton, but there are a few factors that set the latter apart — and might make it your preferred fabric.
Conclusion
In certain cases, 100% cotton is a better choice than a 50/50 polyester and cotton blend, but as you can see, the blend holds many advantages over 100% cotton. When choosing a fabric for your needs, take all of these things into consideration and you may find that the blended fabric is exactly what you were looking for.
Whichever fabric you prefer, you can find great, affordable shirts to meet your needs at Discount Mugs.
We all wear clothes, at least the overwhelming majority of us do. One of the most popular natural materials used to make our clothes is cotton, by a long way. If your wardrobe were 100% absent of cotton then we’d be curious to take a look at your innovative style.
The natural style of cotton is part of the reason it’s so popular. But cotton clothing does come with some other key benefits, although with a few caveats dotted along the way.
In any case, let’s get to it. Here’s a quick summary but skip over if you’d like to get to the deets.
The benefits of cotton clothing: summary
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Kind on the skin, warm and cosy
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A natural fabric that can be sustainably produced
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Affordable when compared with other natural fabrics
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However, all of the points above depend on the cotton’s quality.
1. Comfort
Let’s start with a straightforward reason to wear cotton. It feels good, even great. There are a number of reasons for this. Cotton is, above all, kind on the skin. Synthetic fabrics can irritate your skin as they’re made from man-made materials (in the case of polyester, plastic from petroleum). The cotton that we wear, on the other hand, is just spun from a fluffy white flower from a plant and your body’s not going to have any problems with that.
Men's organic cotton sweatshirt
Cotton feels:
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Soft
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Warm
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Breathable
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Cosy (also Hygge)
While that’s the general rule, remember that cotton comes in a few different varieties. The better the cotton - and the longer the fibre (or staple) of the cotton - then the more softness, warmth, breathability and cosiness you’re going to feel. So stick with high quality cotton if you want to get the best out of it. That also means you’ll enjoy your garment for longer, which is also an important sustainability concern. Which brings us onto…
2. Sustainability
These days, the sustainability of our clothes is less a nice-to-have and more a must-have. It’s hard to overlook this aspect in light of the challenges to the planet and its people. Fashion is also one of the world’s most wasteful industries - responsible for some quite shocking waste, like approximately 10% of global carbon emissions and 92 billion tonnes of textile waste each year.
Because of the problematic stats above, there are now a fair few ‘sustainable fashion’ brands trying to do things better. We count our brand, POMP, as one of those. This is because of the strict sustainability measures we take.
There are many ways to be a sustainable brand, of course, but the fabric used to make the clothes is pretty fundamental. So how good is cotton? Well, on the whole, it’s a fairly sustainable fabric because it’s a natural material that is biodegradable and it also doesn’t involve fossil-fuels to produce it, like synthetics such as polyester do.
Cotton is complex, though, and it’s not quite as simple as that. The fluffy white fibre has also been called ‘the world’s dirtiest crop’ because of the huge amount of water, pesticides, dyes, and insecticides it requires to produce clothes. That’s before you even look at the inhumane working conditions that are often intrinsic to large-scale cotton production.
So, just like the comfort of cotton - the sustainability also depends on the type of cotton. And the quality. Let’s say you opt for something made from upland cotton (a.k.a. Mexican cotton), which is a cheap cotton responsible for over 80% of global production. That’s not going to be a very sustainable garment. Instead it’ll just contribute to cotton’s notorious dirty crop rep. On the other hand, if you go for an item of clothing made from GOTS-certified organic cotton then you’ll have an item of clothing that is far more sustainable.
It’ll be backed by the good things about typical cotton, such as the biodegradability and plant-based origins. It’ll also mitigate some of the drawbacks, like all the water waste, pesticide use, and cruel conditions for workers. It’ll also last longer so you don’t have to lob your pre-loved item onto landfill after a handful of wears. We get much more in depth about GOTS certification here.
3. Affordability
Cotton has gone up in price recently, like many other things have. In fact, in 2022 the price of cotton experienced one of the steepest hikes on record.
The pressures eased a little in late 2022 and so far in 2023 but the good news is that cotton, despite price fluctuations, remains one of the most affordable natural textiles. Compared to other virgin fabrics, like wool, silk, hemp - or even innovative new fabrics like Lyocell - cotton still remains within reach to most buyers. A garment made from cotton will rarely break the bank - even if it’s made from premium cotton like Supima or the GOTS-certified cotton POMP uses. We’re mentioning this benefit, as it’s important. The cost of living pressures are not easing anytime soon - and our need for clothes is not going anywhere either. Affordability is not an aspect to take lightly.
Nevertheless, we have said a few times that you should seek out good cotton - and combining quality with affordability isn’t easy. That’s why a lot of high-quality sustainable brands are often priced at the luxury end of the market. There are a few exceptions though, with this excellent guide from Good on You revealing some of the most trustworthy. Our brand POMP, is also one of those affordable sustainable fashion brands you should know about. We use a lean D2C model and technology like on-demand production to reduce waste and keep prices down.
POMP’s 100% organic cotton sustainable essential tee
We combine all three of the benefits of cotton in this post. So please do take a look at one of our collections, because after all, POMP’s clothing is made strictly from 100% GOTS-certified organic cotton. No other material is used. And each item is recyclable and can be sent back to us at no cost - we make new clothes out of it! The shirt you see above is made from 50% recycled cotton and 50% virgin. We’re proud to say we’re part of a circular fashion system.
And if now’s not the time then we hope this post has been useful! If we’ve given you something to think about the next time you’re buying some cotton clothes then that’s a step in the right direction.