The front.
Gettin’ that special treatment.
On the way in!
Palettes of cotton thread spools.
The cotton thread on a spool. These threads come in different weights leading to different weight t-shirts: 5oz, 6oz, etc.
Different threads make t-shirts that feel different: combed, combed-ringspun, standard.
All of the thread spools are loaded onto these complex spool racks.
These racks then feed some crazy-complex edward-scissor-hands-type-o machines.
These machines take the thread and weave it into a tube of cotton fabric.
The fabric is woven in tubes (check your AK T’s – no side-seams!), so each machine weaves a different size tube. One machine for each size of t-shirt.
Winding up the woven fabric into giant rolls.
These rolls are all different sizes for different sizes of t-shirts later on. Check out that stock! These guys make and sell something like 50,000 t-shirts a day!
Checkin’ the goods.
Ready to Dye.
Dye-shop, getting hands dirty.
The fabric rolls are then dyed in these massive pressure cookers. High-pressure and heat dying techniques require less liquid, are more environmentally friendly, and get the best colors.
Patrick, with his fair share of chemo-phobia, was definitely stoked to see the whole dye scene, but wasn’t so sure about breathing it all in as well.
Because really… Who knows what’s in this bag?
After the dying, the cloths rolls are rung-out through a machine to get all of the liquid out.
Getting the leftover dye out.
Check those colors! These dudes know how to do it right. Their dye lab is ultra-precise to ensure that there is virtually no color change from batch to batch, or year to year.
Checking out the freshly dyed, dried, and folded fabrics.
Dyed rolls being flattened and folded.
From here the fabrics are shipped off the Mexico where they will be sewn into the t-shirts we’re all wearing today. Thanks again Jim & Caroline!