Most new clothing brand founders don't know what they're allowed to ask for — so they don't ask for anything. Then the order arrives and the garments look completely different from the samples: wrong color tone, uneven hems, poorly attached labels.
This is especially common in the vintage-washed, pigment-dyed, and enzyme-washed T-shirt space, where small variations in the washing process produce dramatically different results batch to batch — unless you've locked down your requirements in writing.
The truth is: professional manufacturers expect you to have requirements. Factories working with experienced brands receive detailed specifications covering everything from fabric weight (GSM) to how cartons should be stacked. If you don't provide those specifications, the factory fills in the blanks themselves — and you might not like what they choose.
This guide covers the five key areas where you can (and should) set clear requirements with your manufacturer before production starts.
Why Setting Requirements Matters
When a garment goes wrong — wrong wash tone, uneven distressing, loose threads, mixed sizes in a pack — it almost always comes down to one thing: the brand never specified what they wanted.
Without written requirements, the factory doesn't know how faded is "faded enough" for your vintage tees, whether enzyme washing should be light or heavy, how labels go in, or how products should be folded and packed. Every one of these is a decision point. If you don't make the decision, someone on the production floor will — and they're optimizing for speed, not your brand standards.
Area 1: Production Quality
Fabric Weight (GSM). For premium vintage-feel tees, specify your target GSM — for example, 220–260 GSM for a substantial, structured hand-feel. Lightweight blanks feel cheap and won't hold distressing effects as well.
Color & Wash Tone Control. Vintage-washed and pigment-dyed fabrics are especially prone to batch variation. Request a physical lab dip — a dyed and washed swatch — for your approval before bulk production begins. Reject it if the tone doesn't match. For enzyme or stone washes, specify the wash degree: light, medium, or heavy.
Color Fastness. Require a color fastness test result (Grade 3–4 minimum) for both dry and wet rubbing. Vintage-dyed garments that bleed onto skin or other clothing are a serious customer complaint risk.
Sleeve Shape. Specify that sleeves should run straight from the shoulder — no sharp angles, no bulging at the seam. If you have a reference garment, send it as a physical sample.
Hem Finishing. Hems must be straight and pressed flat. Wavy hems look cheap and are one of the most common complaints on first orders.
Label Placement. State clearly: all labels must be sewn on the interior of the garment, not the outside.
Area 2: Labels, Printing & Packaging Artwork
Second-Person Review. Require that all print files — labels, hang tags, polybag artwork, carton labels — be reviewed by a second person before going to print.
Pantone Color Matching. "Faded orange" is not a specification. "Pantone 021 C at 60% saturation" is. Specify exact Pantone codes for your brand colors, including your graphic prints.
Print Type for Vintage Look. If you're using screen printing or DTG on pre-washed garments, specify whether the print goes on before or after the wash process — this dramatically affects how distressed the graphic looks.
Logo & ® Symbol Placement. Logo placement must be consistent across every label — no drifting left or right between units.
Color Naming Accuracy. Make sure color names on stickers and carton labels use correct English names. Mismatches cause downstream warehouse problems.
Label Orientation. Labels must be correctly oriented after folding. A hang tag that reads upside-down when opened is a detail your customers will notice.
Area 3: Finishing, Inspection & Packing
100% Second Inspection. Require it in writing: every garment must go through a second quality inspection before packing — not a spot check.
Wash Damage Check. For stone-washed or enzyme-washed tees, require inspection for holes, thin spots, and fabric stress damage caused by the washing process. These defects are easy to miss at speed and are not acceptable in finished product.
Thread Cleaning. Loose threads must be removed from both inside and outside the garment — not just the visible outer layer.
Seam Integrity. Specify a stitching check at all structural seams: neckline, shoulder, underarm, side seam, and hem.
No Size Mixing. Each polybag must contain only ONE size. This sounds obvious, but size mixing during packing is surprisingly common when workers are moving fast.
Quantity Deviation Reporting. If the factory produces more or fewer units than ordered, they must notify you before packing — not after the shipment has left.
Carton Protection. Specify that each carton must have top and bottom boards to protect garments from damage during transit.
Area 4: Sample Measurement Standards
Measure After Wash. For pre-washed or enzyme-washed T-shirts, all measurements must be taken after washing — not on the raw garment. Cotton shrinks, and vintage-washed tees must hit your size chart in their final, post-wash state.
Measurement Points. All measurement points on your sample must follow your size chart exactly: chest width, body length, sleeve length, shoulder width, neck width, and sleeve opening at minimum.
Use Inches. Specify that all measurements must be reported in inches to eliminate conversion errors with US and European brands.
Photo Requirements. When the factory sends sample measurement photos, require that the full garment is visible — not just a close-up of the measuring tape.
Image Quality. Require original, uncompressed images. WhatsApp and WeChat compress photos automatically, making it impossible to inspect quality accurately.
Area 5: Shipment & Delivery
Address Confirmation. Before the driver departs, confirm the delivery address, contact name, and phone number.
Warehouse Documentation. The driver must carry a printed copy of the warehouse receiving document. Without this, many warehouses will refuse to accept the delivery.
Deadline Awareness. Confirm the warehouse's latest receiving time before scheduling shipment. Missing a receiving window by one day can delay your launch.
Carton Stacking. Heavy and larger cartons at the bottom, lighter and smaller on top. Improper stacking crushes lower cartons and damages garments.
Get the Full Factory Requirements Checklist (Free Download)
We've turned everything above into a ready-to-use Excel checklist — 39 specific items across all 5 areas — that you can send directly to your manufacturer before production starts.
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Download: Production & QC Checklist
39-point Excel checklist — Production, Printing, Finishing, Sampling & Shipment
Working with a Factory That Expects Your Standards
At Storiginator, we run structured production and QC checklists on every order — covering all five areas above — so your vintage-washed T-shirts come out looking exactly like the sample, every time. Whether you're placing your first 50-unit test order or scaling to 500+, we give you full visibility into every production step.
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