GSM means grams per square metre - the weight of one square metre of the fabric. It is the single most useful number when comparing blanks, because it tells you how the garment will feel, how it will hold up to washing, and how it will take a print. Everything below is read from the stated weight on stock we currently hold, and updates as the range changes.

Choosing a weight

Fabric weight by brand

Sorted lightest to heaviest by average. Styles is how many products in that range state a weight - a brand with more styles gives a more reliable average.

T-shirts

Singlets & tanks

Polos

Hoodies & fleece

Business shirts

Things the number does not tell you

Two garments at the same GSM can feel completely different. Yarn matters - ring-spun and combed cotton are smoother and print better than open-end at the same weight. Knit matters - a pique polo and a jersey tee at 180 gsm behave nothing alike. And a heavier garment is not automatically better: for a summer event in Queensland, 150 gsm is the right answer and 220 is not.

If you are printing, mid-weight ring-spun cotton is the safest brief. If you are selling the garment on, weight is what a customer notices first when they pick it up.