{"id":8603,"date":"2026-07-07T07:50:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T12:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bluecotton.com\/blog\/?p=8603"},"modified":"2026-07-07T07:51:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T12:51:16","slug":"comfort-colors-vs-hanes-comfortwash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bluecotton.com\/blog\/garment\/comfort-colors-vs-hanes-comfortwash\/","title":{"rendered":"Comfort Colors vs Hanes ComfortWash for Custom Apparel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Garment-dyed shirts are a classic choice for that worn-in retro look, since the method involves dying the fabric <\/span>after <\/span><\/i>the shirt is sewn instead of before \u2014 delivering that slightly faded color that\u2019s great for events, teams, and brand merch.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Two of the brands that do garment-dyed shirts best are Comfort Colors and Hanes ComfortWash. They\u2019re both known for their garment-dyed apparel, use 100% U.S.-grown cotton in many of their best-selling styles, and focus on creating soft, durable shirts with a broken-in feel.<\/span><\/p>\n

So if you’ve narrowed your order down to one of these two, here’s where they differ and where the difference barely matters at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

At a Glance<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nComfort Colors 1717<\/b><\/td>\nHanes ComfortWash GDH100<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fabric Weight<\/b><\/td>\nHeavyweight, 6.1 oz\/yd\u00b2<\/span><\/td>\nMidweight, 5.5 oz\/yd\u00b2<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Construction<\/b><\/td>\nTubular, 100% ring-spun cotton<\/span><\/td>\nTubular, 100% ring-spun cotton<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Color Options<\/b><\/td>\n67 colors<\/span><\/td>\n34 colors<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fit<\/b><\/td>\nBoxy, runs short, size up<\/span><\/td>\nTrue to size, longer body and sleeves<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sizes*<\/b><\/td>\nAdult S-4XL, Kids YXS\u2013YL<\/span><\/td>\nAdult S-3XL, Kids YXS\u2013YXL<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Texture<\/b><\/td>\nMost textured of the two<\/span><\/td>\nSmoother, still soft<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pricing**<\/b><\/td>\n$13.70 per shirt<\/span><\/td>\n$14.78 per shirt<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

*Size availability varies across colors<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

**Based on order of 50 shirts with 1 color screen print<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Brand Comparison<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Founded in Vermont in 1975, Comfort Colors is the brand most people picture when they think of a garment-dyed T-shirt. The company built its reputation around soft, vintage-inspired apparel with a lived-in feel straight off the shelf. If you’ve ever picked up a faded concert tee or a shirt from a local brewery, there’s a good chance it was printed on a Comfort Colors blank.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hanes has been manufacturing apparel in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, since 1901. While Hanes is best known for everyday basics, the ComfortWash line focuses specifically on premium garment-dyed apparel with a softer, more vintage appearance, offering broken-in comfort and a casual aesthetic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Garment-Dyeing Style<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For context, garment-dyed shirts are made differently from the piece-dyed shirts that most people are familiar with.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of dyeing the fabric first and then cutting and sewing it into a shirt, the garment is constructed in its natural state and dyed after assembly. Because the entire finished shirt goes through the dyeing process, subtle variations in color naturally develop around seams, folds, and different areas of the fabric.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That variation is part of what gives garment-dyed apparel its distinctive character. Rather than looking factory-perfect, garment-dyed shirts have a softer, more lived-in appearance that many people associate with vintage clothing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Comfort Colors specifically uses pigment dyeing, a type of garment dyeing that uses pigments that remain closer to the fabric’s surface rather than becoming fully integrated into the cotton fibers. This creates the faded, weathered appearance that has become the brand’s signature look, with slight shifts in tone and visible variation throughout the garment.<\/span><\/p>\n

For their ComfortWash line, Hanes combines garment dyeing with a vintage wash and an enzyme wash, which helps remove loose surface fibers from the fabric and results in an exceptionally soft feel. The garment-dye process still produces subtle color variation, but the overall effect is more controlled and uniform. Colors still have a washed, vintage-like quality to them, though they typically appear smoother and less weathered than a pigment-dyed shirt.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fabric Weight and Construction<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s where the brands are most similar.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For one, both shirts share the same tubular construction, meaning the body comes from a continuous tube of fabric instead of separate front and back panels stitched together. This is what gives these shirts their boxy, relaxed shape rather than the more tailored silhouette that\u2019s common in retail fashion tees.<\/span><\/p>\n

Second, both brands also lean on ring-spun, U.S.-grown cotton rather than standard open-end cotton. Ring-spinning twists the fibers tighter during processing, which leaves fewer loose fiber ends sticking out of the yarn. That’s a big part of why both lines feel noticeably softer against the skin than a basic cotton tee, even before the garment-dye process gets involved. However, Comfort Colors has a slightly denser, more textured hand, while ComfortWash feels smoother and softer straight out of the package, partly due to its enzyme-wash process.<\/span><\/p>\n

The biggest difference is in their weights:<\/span><\/p>\n