Hanes vs Gildan: Which is Better and Why? Explained

Hanes and Gildan are the two names that come to everyone’s mind when looking for black T-shirts for your business. In fact, it’s often confusing which of these two brands are better for your purpose and your business, because they are equally popular in this field.

Anyone who has a T-shirt printing business, a printing business, or a heat transfer business have often come to this crossroads. The choice between a Gildan and a Hanes T-shirt can be quite confusing if you don’t know the difference between them.

This article has every single information you need to know about both Hanes and Gildan blank T-shirts, as well as easy ways to compare and decide between them, depending on your printing purpose.

What is Hanes T-shirts?

The Hanes range of T-shirts started from the Hanes Beefy-T, a blank T-shirt range for men made from heavy-weight fabric. These T-shirts were heavier than the average T-shirts available in the market at that time, but also soft.

Later, Hanes expanded into women’s blank T-shirts, tops, leggings, socks, kid’s clothing items, and different shirt and T-shirt options for men. At the moment, Hanes also specializes in men, women and children’s underwear. 

Hanes’ blank T-shirts are used in production by brands such as Wonderbra, Champion, Playtex,L’eggs and their signature company, Hanes. With its headquarters in North Carolina, USA, Hanes is an 119-year old company that specializes in both innerwear and outerwear. 

What is Gildan T-shirts?

Gildan, on the other hand, is a Canadian brand – a 30-year old clothing company that manufactures blank activewear. They produce half-sleeved, sleeveless or long-sleeved T-shirts for men, women and children, in a number of colors and designs.

Besides regular T-shirts, Gideon also makes sportswear, underwear, sweats and socks. 

Hanes vs. Gildan T-shirts: a Comparison 

For printing or heat press businesses, you need black T-shirts, shirts, sweats and other types of blank clothes to print one, and Gildan and Hanes are two very important names in this game. Both companies manufacture blank clothing for men, women and children, in a number of designs, fabrics and colors. 

Here are some more details about the clothes manufactured from these two companies that can help you decide between them. 

1.Material 

Most Gildan T-shirts are made from 100% cotton (the Gildan Ultra and Gildan Heavy Cotton from pre-shrunk cotton, and the Gildan DryBlend from a 50/50 blend of polyester and cotton).

The ones made from 100% cotton are extremely lightweight and comfortable while the range made from 50/50 blend is perfect for outerwear and sportswear, as it can absorb sweat and moisture.  

On the other hand, Hanes T-shirts (in particular, Hanes Beefy Tee) are made from 100% ring spun cotton, which happens to be the strongest part of the cotton plant. 

2.Comfort 

There’s no denying that Hanes T-shirts are more comfortable compared to Gildan or any other brand of blank T-shirts. Hanes T-shirts (the Hanes Beefy Tee and the Hanes Tagless) are made from 100% ringspun nano T-shirt.

This is the softest part of the cotton plant that makes the T-shirts extremely comfortable to wear. Gildan T-shirts, on the other hand, resemble any other brands available in the market on the basis of comfort. 

3.Color Options

All T-shirts from Gildan and Hanes come in multiple color options for you to choose from, i.e. the Gildan Ultra Cotton T-shirt (G200) has 64 color options, the Gildan DryBlend T-shirt (G800) has 44 color options, the Gildan Heavy Cotton T-Shirt (G500) has 70 color options.

On the other hand, the Hanes Beefy Tee (Hanes 5180) has 44 color options, and the Hanes Tagless has 16 color options. 

In terms of color, Gildan ranges of blank T-shirts have more options. 

4.Cost

All Hanes T-shirts are costlier than Gildan T-shirts, no matter which range you choose or what number. Although the cost decreases when you order these T-shirts in bulk, these T-shirts from Hanes still costs more than Gildan ones. 

The most common Gildan blank half-sleeve T-shirts for men can cost up to $6.00 per piece, full-sleeved T-shirts for men costs up to $10.00 and sleeveless T-shirts costs up to $9.00. Ladies half-sleeved T-shirts costs up to $8.00 and full-sleeved ones cost up to $9.00. 

On the other hand, the same type of half-sleeved men’s T-shirts from Hanes can cost up to $19.35 (large size) and a pair of  long-sleeved ones can cost up to $34.95. 

5.Sizing 

The Gildan Ultra Cotton range T-shirts comes up to 6XL for certain colors, while the Hanes Beefy Tee range goes up to 4XL for some colors. When it comes to sizing, you get more options with Gildan.   

6.Product Weight 

When it comes to weight of individual T-shirts, both the ones from Gildan and Hanes (Gildan Ultra Cotton T-shirts Fits and Hanes Beefy Tee) are similar. They both weigh 6.1-ounce. 

7.Other Features 

There are some other small, but nevertheless, important features of these two brands that you might find interesting, i.e. 

• Hanes blank T-shirts are tagless, which means that you don’t have to worry about that annoying itch at the back of your neck, or along the waist.
• Hanes T-shirts are a little denser than Gildan T-shirts, even though they weigh exactly the same. Even in the white and light colored T-shirts, Hanes Beefy Tees are denser and looks more solid.
• Gildan T-shirts are a little see-through, compared to Hanes blank T-shirts; you can see the designs on the back of the T-shirt from the back.
• Gildan T-shirts feel lighter and softer, as if they have already been washed a few times. It might feel nice to wear them, but Gildan T-shirts might not take regular washings very well.
• The collar of Hanes T-shirts are thicker and better stitched and can withstand more washing than Gildan T-shirt; the stitching on Gildan T-shirts are lighter. 
• Hanes T-shirts might need a few (at least five washes) to become as soft as a new Gilman T-shirt new out of the box. 

If you are thinking of cost, Gilman T-shirts costs at least 60 cents less than an individual Hanes T-shirt.

This might not seem like a big difference per shirt, but if you have a business and buy blank T-shirts in bulk, there’s a large difference (about hundreds of dollars worth of difference) between the two T-shirts. Gilman T-shirts are definitely more cost effective than Hanes T-shirts. 

On the other hand, if you are thinking of quality, it is always better to go with Hanes. Although slightly more expensive, Hanes T-shirts are denser (though they weigh exactly the same) and less see-through.

They will definitely last longer than Gildan T-shirts, which come already soft out of the box. Besides, Hanes T-shirts are tagless and have better stitching around the collar, which makes them a better quality. 

Therefore, after overall comparison, it seems that Hanes T-shirts are definitely a better choice than Gildan T-shirts, although slightly more expensive. Although both the T-shirt brands weigh the same and have similar features, Hanes T-shirts simply happens to be better if you consider quality.