Lamurdi's Official Blog: Triblends 101: Everything You Need To Know

[Guest Post from Bella+Canvas. Check out their blog for more great garment-focused articles!]

Triblends are one of the highest quality fabrics you can find in the world of t-shirt printing. At BELLA+CANVAS, we’re kind of an expert on the subject matter since we have the softest and most extensive triblend collection around. If you’re wondering what all the fuss is about, then you’re in luck! We are about to tell you everything you need and want to know about triblends and what they mean for your business!

How Did Triblends Get So Big?

The success of Triblends, which entered the wholesale market nearly a decade ago, was a sure sign that the customers’ taste had evolved to prioritize quality over price. When we launched our triblend tee at BELLA+CANVAS, it was a big risk. It wasn’t a sure bet that an industry conditioned to budget shop for the cheapest tee around was ready for a pricier, high quality tee like a triblend. But we built our business model around the idea that quality fabric and fit matters to the customer, so we doubled down on triblends, and today, with 24 styles and 30 colors, our assumption proved true.

What is a Triblend?

A triblend is a blend of three types of yarn that all serve an important role in what makes this fabric so special. Most triblends are a mix of 50% polyester, 25% cotton and 25% rayon—creating a tee that boasts the comfort of cotton, the durability of polyester and the luxurious drape of rayon, which was originally created as a substitute for silk. The BELLA+CANVAS triblend tee is then knit together with a 40 single needle (remember, the higher the single, the softer the tee) and then undergoes a special finishing treatment, resulting in the industry’s softest triblend.

Color Innovation

Triblends are known for their heather look. This is a result of how the different types of yarn take the fabric dye. Polyester, a synthetic fabric, absorbs a different type of dye than cotton and rayon, which are both derived from cellulous fiber and thus react to dyes intended for natural fabrics. The result is a textured, dual-colored dye.

At BELLA+CANVAS, perfecting the vibrancy and texture of our tees is like a science project and an art project rolled into one. We experiment with different colors and combinations, creating lab dip after lab dip and making tiny tweaks to our formula until we land on the perfect hue.

Although most people think of that textured look when they think of triblends, we wanted to bring the softness of a triblend to solid colors as well, so we engineered the first ever solid triblend. Due to the way the various yarns take the dyes differently, it was no easy feat, but the resulting solid black, white, dark grey and navy took the industry by storm.

Triblends Today

Thanks to the unique qualities that triblends bring to the table, these tees are a favorite in the fashion world. Their softness and drape makes triblend tees a blogger staple, a camera-ready favorite for street fashion photography. The super soft fabric is also very breathable and doesn’t trap heat between the t-shirt and your skin, making triblends a commonplace in the athleisure and athletic markets.

So if you are looking to elevate your brand, impress a client or just in the market for the softest tee around, your best bet is a triblend. Check out our favorite BELLA+CANVAS styles here.

Take a look at the video from BELLA+CANVAS below to learn more: