Screen Printing vs DTG for Custom T-Shirts
Affiliate disclosure: Some links in this article are Amazon UK affiliate links (tag: faiza0d2-21). TMK Tees earns a small commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you.
Most people pick DTG because it sounds more modern. For orders above 24 units, that choice typically doubles the per-shirt cost compared to screen printing.
For custom t-shirts and streetwear, screen printing is cheaper at scale and DTG is better for small runs or photo-realistic artwork. The right method depends on three things: how many shirts you need, how many colours are in your design, and what fabric you are printing on. Get those three right and the decision almost makes itself.
What Each Method Actually Does
Screen printing pushes ink through a mesh stencil onto fabric, one colour at a time. A four-colour design needs four separate screens, each mixed, aligned, and cured under heat. Setup takes time. The payoff is sharp, vibrant prints that hold up through hundreds of washes without fading.
DTG, short for direct-to-garment, works more like an inkjet printer aimed at fabric. A machine sprays water-based inks directly onto the shirt in a single automated pass. No screens. No setup fees. No minimum order quantities. A single shirt costs roughly the same to print as a run of fifty.
Both methods produce wearable, retail-quality results when done correctly. The differences are in cost structure, colour flexibility, and fabric compatibility, not in raw output quality.
Cost by Order Size
Screen printing carries a setup fee of £15 to £40 per colour, but the per-shirt price drops sharply with volume. At 48 units, a single-colour front print can cost as little as £3 to £5 per shirt. DTG skips the setup cost entirely but prices each shirt at £7 to £12 regardless of how many you order.
| Order size | Screen printing (2 colours) | DTG (full colour) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 10 units | £18 to £30 per shirt* | £8 to £12 per shirt |
| 12 to 24 units | £9 to £14 per shirt | £8 to £12 per shirt |
| 25 to 48 units | £5 to £8 per shirt | £8 to £12 per shirt |
| 50+ units | £3 to £6 per shirt | £7 to £10 per shirt |
*Includes screen setup fees amortised across the run. Prices are indicative UK market averages for 2026.
The crossover point sits around 24 to 30 units for a two-colour design. Below that, DTG is almost always cheaper. Above it, screen printing wins, often by a wide margin.
If you are sourcing blank tees to send to a printer yourself, Gildan 5000 Heavy Cotton T-Shirts are the most widely used screen-printing blank in the UK, available in multipacks on Amazon UK. The tighter 185 gsm weave holds screen ink cleanly and resists bleed at the edges.
Colour Limits and Design Complexity
Screen printing gets expensive fast with complex multicolour artwork. Every added colour means another screen, another setup fee, and more alignment time. A photographic gradient is almost impossible to reproduce accurately. Most printers limit jobs to six colours or fewer, though simulated-process printing can push that further at a premium.
DTG has no colour limit at all. Full-colour photography, gradients, and subtle shading all print in a single pass at no extra cost. For streetwear drops built around detailed graphic artwork, illustrated portraits, or all-over prints, DTG is the clear choice below the 24-unit threshold.
One caveat: DTG struggles on dark garments. Most machines lay down a white underbase on black or navy fabric before applying the design ink, which adds a second pass and can soften very fine details or thin text. On white, cream, or light grey blanks, the results are noticeably sharper and more saturated.
Fabric Choice Matters More Than You Think
Screen printing works on almost any fabric: cotton, polyester, nylon, canvas, mesh. DTG printers strongly prefer 100% ring-spun cotton. Polyester-blend fabrics can repel the water-based inks, leading to patchy coverage and accelerated fading after just a few washes.
For hoodies and heavier blanks, this distinction matters a lot. DTG on a cotton-rich fleece produces excellent results. Screen printing on a 50/50 cotton-polyester fleece handles bold single-colour graphics reliably and costs less to produce at volume. A practical starting blank for either method is the Fruit of the Loom Classic Hooded Sweatshirt, available in multipacks on Amazon UK, which uses a 80/20 cotton-polyester blend that works adequately for both print types above size 24.
For premium small-batch DTG hoodies, seek out 100% organic cotton blanks. The Stanley/Stella Cruiser (85% organic cotton, 15% recycled polyester) is a popular choice for UK streetwear brands printing under 30 units.
Which Is Better for Streetwear?
Streetwear drops tend to be small (under 50 units), graphic-heavy, and designed to survive repeated wearing and washing. That profile points toward DTG for limited drops and screen printing for anything sold through physical shops or distributed at events.
Durability tests from independent UK printing labs show screen-printed designs retaining around 95% of ink density after 50 washes on 100% cotton, versus 80 to 85% for DTG prints on the same fabric. For a piece that gets worn weekly, that 10-point gap adds up over a season. For a 12-unit drop destined mainly for photographs and online sale, it almost certainly does not.
Wash temperature matters too. Both methods perform significantly better at 30 degrees than at 60. Screen prints can usually tolerate 40 degrees without visible degradation. DTG prints should stay at 30 degrees and be turned inside out for every wash.
If you are building streetwear pieces at home rather than through a print shop, heat transfer vinyl (HTV) is a third option worth knowing. Sheets of Siser EasyWeed Heat Transfer Vinyl on Amazon UK let you cut precise designs and press them onto almost any fabric with a standard iron or entry-level heat press. Wash results at 30 degrees are excellent, and the material comes in over 60 colours.
The Bottom Line
Pick screen printing for orders of 24 or more units with a design of six colours or fewer. Pick DTG for small runs, full-colour artwork, or one-off pieces. Pick HTV if you are pressing designs at home.
TMK Tees handles both screen printing and DTG in-house. Send your design file and quantity to the team and they will quote both methods side by side so you can compare the real cost before committing to anything.
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FAQ
What is the minimum order for screen printing?
Most UK screen printers set a minimum of 12 to 24 units per design. Some apply a low-quantity surcharge rather than refusing smaller orders outright. Below 24 units, DTG is almost always the cheaper route even after factoring in that surcharge.
Does DTG printing wash out quickly?
On 100% cotton with proper pre-treatment and heat curing, a DTG print typically holds for 50 or more washes without significant fading. On polyester-blend fabrics, durability drops considerably. Always wash inside-out at 30 degrees to get the most from a DTG print.
Can I mix screen printing and DTG on the same order?
No. The two methods use completely separate equipment and workflows, so you choose one per production run. A printer can run separate batches using different methods if your full order has distinct components, but each batch is priced independently.
Which method handles dark-coloured shirts better?
Screen printing, because it applies thick, fully opaque plastisol inks that do not need an underbase. DTG requires a white underbase layer on dark garments, which can reduce sharpness on very fine lines and small text. For bold graphics on black tees in quantity, screen printing wins.
How long does production take for each method?
Screen printing requires 3 to 5 working days for screen setup before printing begins, plus production time. DTG has no setup stage and can finish small orders the same day. For an urgent drop of under 30 units, DTG is the faster route by several days.