How do we stop re-dyes?

[Cole]

Hey,

I've been having a lot of issues lately with Gildan Hammer shirts and re-dyes. As you can see from my image, the shirt on the right is a re-dyed blue shirt. Of course I didn't notice until a dozen of them were in the dryer.

As far as I know, the manufactures don't let the suppliers know when they've been sent re-dyed shirts. Due to that, there's no way for the supplier to keep track and separate de-dyes from regulars. The only way to find out what's what is to have the print shops waste a bunch of shirts. Yes, the suppliers tell shops to always test the print, but I'm not going to test a print on every sized shirt to make sure that it's not a re-dye. That's just wasteful.

My questions is, can we do anything to prevent this? Can we, as an industry, talk to our suppliers and ask them to work out a system with the manufactures? I feel like our industry is moving in two directions: DTG and Waterbase printing. With so many shops moving into discharge printing, it seems like this re-dye issue needs to be dealt with sooner than later. I've already sent an email to S&S to see what they can do. If this is a problem for other shops out there, I urge you to talk to your supplier. It doesn't seem like it would be that hard for companies like Gildan and Hanes to separately and label cases that contain re-dyes.

Maybe I'm asking for too much, idk.

[BP]

The supplier should know when they get re-dyes. I always ask for first dyes.

[tonypep]

Not necessarily re-dyes but dyestuffs. They vary, Start w/country of origin next see if this is size specific.

[Cole]

Not necessarily re-dyes but dyestuffs. They vary, Start w/country of origin next see if this is size specific.

What is the difference between re-dyes and dyestuffs?

[tonypep]

Completely different. Re-dyes are just as they imply, however dye stuffs may vary and yet result in the approved color. The less expensive ones will tend to migrate more and are often substituted from factory to factory and country to country............... very difficult to control this. Hell, I've seen an offshore print shop use gasoline to thin out plastisol to simulate waterbase.. For childrens sleep wear no less! For the unforseen future as long as the garment meets cut/sew specs and color, they pass muster. Getting offshore factories to discharge test their products is just plain unlikely for now.
Sorry TP

[Pangea]

Honestly, buy better shirts that are guaranteed not to be re-dyed. B&C are guaranteed not to be over/re dyed:

"There are several reasons our tees take discharge ink so well. The first is that we never over-dye or re-dye our garments."

You get what you pay for, just my two cents.

[Cole]

Completely different. Re-dyes are just as they imply, however dye stuffs may vary and yet result in the approved color. The less expensive ones will tend to migrate more and are often substituted from factory to factory and country to country............... very difficult to control this. Hell, I've seen an offshore print shop use gasoline to thin out plastisol to simulate waterbase.. For childrens sleep wear no less! For the unforseen future as long as the garment meets cut/sew specs and color, they pass muster. Getting offshore factories to discharge test their products is just plain unlikely for now.
Sorry TP

Thanks for the clarification Tony. Insane to think that people can have a clear conscience knowing that they are putting gasoline in their ink.

Honestly, buy better shirts that are guaranteed not to be re-dyed. B&C are guaranteed not to be over/re dyed:

"There are several reasons our tees take discharge ink so well. The first is that we never over-dye or re-dye our garments."

You get what you pay for, just my two cents.

I completely agree with you on that. You do get what you pay for. The issue is that all of my customers want a 6oz tubular fit, thick collared shirt. Bella is just too fashion fit for their liking (and my own). I wish that Next Level or Bella would come out with a heavier shirt with a more traditional fit, but I understand that defeats their whole "be different" statement.