Client Case · 2026-11-14

One Design System, Full Size Run: Acid Wash Tees Printed Water-Based DTG for a Costa Rica Surf Shop

Most supplier pages show blanks. This one shows what those blanks look like once a real order ships — a set of surf-spot artworks printed on washed tees for a Costa Rica surf shop, with a hand-feel as soft as the fabric itself. Here is how the run came together, and what to check if you are planning something similar.

Washed apricot blank, water-based DTG back print — the ink sits into the fade instead of covering it.

The brief

An independent surf shop needed a merch line that matched its brand: vintage, salt-worn, nothing that looked factory-fresh. The plan was a set of location artworks sharing one visual style — Santa Teresa, Tamarindo, Tabilagan — each with a hero back print and a small chest hit, printed across two washed shades and a full size curve. Quantities had to stay light on cash: decorated orders from 50 pieces per design, colours and sizes mixed.

Why acid wash plus water-based DTG

Two choices carried the brief. The blank: our 210 gsm combed cotton acid wash tee, snow-washed after sewing so the fade pattern develops differently on every single piece. The decoration: water-based DTG. The ink soaks into the yarn instead of sitting on top as a plastisol layer, so there is no rubbery patch on the chest — the print wears like part of the garment itself.

On a washed blank that matters twice over. A plastisol print would sit as a slightly shiny film on top of the vintage surface and give the whole look away. With water-based DTG the artwork reads as if it was printed into the fade — soft to the touch, breathable, and consistent with the lived-in surface of the fabric.

The DTG line mid-print on a washed black tee — one design, printed across the whole size run.

The run, step by step

Blank confirmed: washed black and washed apricot shades, S through 3XL, boxy drop-shoulder cut.
Samples: blank sample in 24 hours, decoration sample in 72 hours — photographed on the real garment, not a mockup, before bulk was approved.
Decorated run: 50 pieces per design, spread across the two shades and the full size curve. Stock shades carry no per-colour minimum.
Delivery: bulk finished in 7-10 days and shipped DDP door-to-door.

Hero back print on washed black — same artwork system, second shade.

What made it work

One artwork system, several designs. Each surf-spot design shares the same visual language, so the capsule feels cohesive and every new location reuses the same template — a merch line that grows without being redrawn.
Two placements per design. A hero back print plus a small chest hit keeps the garment balanced and lets the same artwork sell at two price points.
Wash before decoration. The acid snow wash happens on finished blanks before printing, so the surface is stable when the DTG head runs — no re-washing after print, no fade drift under the artwork.
Hand-feel as a selling point. Water-based DTG keeps the printed area soft and breathable; screen print stays in reserve for designs that need maximum opacity on dark shades.

Planning something similar?

Every in-stock blank on this site runs on the same workflow: blanks ship with no MOQ, decorated orders start at 50 pieces per design with colours and sizes mixed, and decoration samples are photographed on the real garment before bulk. If you want the look from this case, start with the acid wash vintage tee. For a heavier, cleaner hand-feel, the heavyweight cotton tee runs the same workflow on a 280 gsm blank.

Send us your artwork and we will return a decorated sample photo before you commit — request a sample set to see the wash and the print on real fabric first.