You upload a design, pick a shirt, and check out. Then what?
A lot of custom printing feels like a black box — you send artwork into a website and a package shows up a week later. Here's what actually happens to a one-off order at Threadmates, step by step, so you know what you're waiting for and why it takes the time it does.
1. Your order comes in exactly as you previewed it
When you order in our customizer, we get the garment, color, and size you picked, plus whether you printed one side or front and back — with the design placed where you placed it in the preview.
That's the order we print to. No minimum works in your favor here: one shirt is a complete order, not a sample run or a test. A custom T-shirt is $20 for a one-sided print or $25 for front and back, and it goes through the same steps as any other order.
If you haven't ordered yet, our guide to printing one custom T-shirt walks through the customizer itself.
2. We match the print method to your design
Threadmates prints with DTG and DTF only — never screen printing.
We recommend the right method for your design and garment when you order, rather than making you choose blind. You don't need to become a print expert to get one shirt made; you upload the artwork, and we handle that call on our end.
3. It's printed in River Edge, New Jersey
Your shirt is printed here in our River Edge studio in Bergen County — not sent out to a warehouse in another state.
We're an online studio, so there's no walk-in counter and no retail line to wait in. Everything starts online: you design it, we print it, it ships to you. That setup is also why a single shirt doesn't have to wait behind a big bulk run to get made — it's printed as its own order.
Ordering for a business or a team instead? That's a different lane — businesses and teams can get a free printed sample tee first, and bulk orders are quoted from our catalog based on how many sides are printed, sleeve prints, and garment brand.
4. Check, fold, and ship
Before it leaves, the finished print is checked against your order — garment, size, and design — then folded and packed for shipping.
Here's the timeline that matters:
- Fulfillment: most orders are fulfilled in 2–3 days
- Transit: 2–4 days across the US after it ships
- Shipping: US standard shipping is free on website orders $99+
So when people ask how long custom T-shirt printing takes, the honest answer at Threadmates is those two numbers added together: a few days to make it, plus a few days in transit. If you need it for a specific date, count backward from the event using 2–3 days + 2–4 days, and order with a little buffer.
Working against a tighter deadline? We can often print same-day when the studio's schedule allows — it depends on the day's workload, so email studio@threadmates.com before ordering and we'll tell you honestly whether we can make your date.
The same timeline applies across the one-off range — a custom hoodie is $40 one-sided / $45 front and back, printed and shipped the same way.
Ready to see yours happen? Start with a custom T-shirt, preview it front and back, and we'll take it from there — right here in River Edge.
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