Screen Print vs DTG for Team T-Shirts: Which Wins?
Choosing the wrong print method for a bulk shirt order can add £4 to £8 per shirt to your bill. That is £400 wasted on a 50-shirt run before anyone pulls a shirt over their head.
For custom team t-shirts, screen printing costs less per unit for orders of 24 or more and delivers denser, longer-lasting colour. Direct-to-garment (DTG) printing is the better option for small runs, photographic artwork, or anything needed within 72 hours. Picking the wrong method adds cost and can push delivery back by 5 to 7 days.
How Screen Printing Works
Screen printing pushes ink through a stencil onto fabric using a squeegee. Each colour in your design needs its own screen, which is why setup costs are fixed and relatively high but the per-shirt price drops sharply as quantities increase. A two-colour logo on 50 shirts typically costs £5 to £7 each. The same order at 12 shirts might be £13 to £16 per shirt.
The ink sits on top of the fabric and cures under heat. Done properly, screen-printed graphics survive 50 or more washes without cracking or fading. The colours are dense and vibrant. That makes this the standard method for sports kits, charity run shirts, and any event where 40 or more people need matching garments that hold up over time.
There is one genuine limitation. Gradients, photographic images, and designs with more than six or seven colours are hard to reproduce cleanly. Screen printing works in solid spot colours. A photograph of the squad printed across the chest? DTG handles that better.
How DTG Printing Works
Direct-to-garment printing works like an inkjet printer, except the substrate is a t-shirt. A specialist machine sprays water-based ink directly into the fibres of the fabric. No screens, no setup fees, no minimum quantity.
That flexibility comes with real trade-offs. Per-shirt costs are higher at quantities above roughly 20. The ink soaks into the fabric rather than sitting on top of it, which means colours can appear slightly muted on dark garments unless a white base layer is applied first. That pre-treatment adds time and occasionally leaves a faint residue if the shirt is not washed before first wear.
Where DTG is genuinely hard to beat: a 6-shirt run for a stag do, a design with a photograph or more than ten colours, or anything needed in under three working days. Gildan Softstyle shirts are a popular blank for DTG because the tighter jersey weave produces noticeably sharper prints compared to heavier open-end cotton.
Cost Breakdown: The Real Numbers
The table below shows typical UK supplier pricing for a one-sided, two-colour design on a standard white shirt at 180gsm. Prices vary by printer and design complexity.
| Quantity | Screen Print (per shirt) | DTG (per shirt) |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | £18–22 | £12–16 |
| 12 | £12–15 | £11–14 |
| 24 | £8–10 | £10–13 |
| 50 | £5–7 | £9–12 |
| 100 | £4–5.50 | £8–11 |
The crossover sits between 18 and 24 shirts. Below that threshold, DTG is almost always cheaper. Above it, screen printing pulls ahead quickly. At 100 shirts, the saving can exceed £3 per shirt, which is £300 back in the club's pocket.
Dark-coloured shirts add roughly 15 to 25% to DTG costs because of the white underbase requirement. Screen printing charges the same per shirt regardless of shirt colour, which makes dark-colour bulk orders particularly well-suited to screen printing.
Quality and Durability
Screen-printed shirts tend to outlast DTG through repeated washing. The plastisol inks used by most screen printers bond strongly to cotton and hold their colour through regular laundering. Fruit of the Loom Valueweight shirts are a dependable base for screen printing: 165gsm, 100% cotton, widely stocked across UK suppliers, and available in packs of five or ten for easy bulk ordering.
DTG prints on 100% cotton can also last well when washed correctly. Cold wash, inside out, no tumble dryer. Polyester blends are the problem. If your team wears these shirts weekly for training or matches, screen printing on a heavy cotton blank is the more reliable long-term choice.
For events where shirts are worn once or twice, such as a fun run or a hen weekend, DTG quality is more than adequate. Nobody is putting a hen-do shirt through 80 washes.
Lead Times
Screen printing needs preparation time to produce the screens, mix the inks, and set up the press. Standard turnaround from most UK printers is 7 to 14 working days. Rush services exist but typically add 20 to 40% to the total cost. Book early.
DTG prints quickly once artwork is approved. Turnaround times of 2 to 5 working days are common. For genuinely urgent orders, it is often the only realistic option.
The single biggest cause of late custom t-shirt orders for both methods is artwork. Sending a low-resolution logo or requesting changes after the proof is approved is responsible for most delays. Submit artwork as a vector file (AI, EPS, or SVG) for screen printing, or a 300 DPI PNG with a transparent background for DTG. A JPEG pulled from a website will produce a blurry result no matter which method you use.
Which Method Fits Your Order?
- Ordering 24 or more shirts
- Design uses 1 to 4 solid colours
- Shirts will be worn repeatedly
- At least 10 working days before the event
- Fewer than 20 shirts needed
- Design has gradients or a photograph
- Deadline is within 5 working days
- Flexibility matters more than per-shirt cost
A practical approach for large events: order the bulk run via screen printing for all attendees, then add a small DTG batch for committee members or VIPs who need a different design. Many UK printers will manage both processes under a single order. Comfort Colors Garment-Dyed T-Shirts work well for tiered event orders where a smaller group needs a premium-feeling shirt that photographs well. The vintage-dyed look reads as intentional rather than corporate, which is exactly what a 10-person committee shirt should be.
FAQ
What is the minimum order quantity for screen printing in the UK?
Most UK screen printers require a minimum of 12 to 25 shirts per design. Some accept smaller quantities at a premium price, but below 12 units, DTG will almost always be cheaper and faster to turn around.
Can I mix sizes in a screen print order?
Yes. Standard practice is to print across multiple sizes within one run at no extra charge, as long as the design and colour are identical across all shirts. Sizes are just different blanks going through the same press at the same time.
Does DTG work on dark-coloured shirts?
It does, but dark garments require a white underbase layer first, which adds cost and means colours may appear slightly different from how they look on a white shirt. Always request a digital proof before approving any dark-shirt DTG order.
How should artwork files be sent to the printer?
Vector files (AI, EPS, or SVG) are best for screen printing because they scale to any size without loss of quality. For DTG, a PNG at 300 DPI with a transparent background works well. Send a JPEG screenshot from a website and you will get a blurry print, regardless of which method you chose.
What is the best fabric weight for custom team t-shirts?
100% ring-spun cotton at 180gsm to 200gsm is the standard for sports teams and events. It takes both screen print and DTG inks well, holds its shape after washing, and is comfortable to wear all day whether you are marshalling a 5k or captaining a pub quiz team.