• Our Unisex Midweight Pigment Dye Crew has individual and unique vintage character we accomplish during our full garment dying process. Made with ultra soft cotton/polyester blend fleece in an assortment of amazing colors, these garments are as comfortable as they are eye catching. We use premium ring-spun cotton to achieve a smooth and stable fabric surface for printing. Completed with our quality construction, and 1×1 ribbing at cuffs and waistband in a standard unisex fit.

  Please note:

  • The pigment-dyeing process gives each garment unique character. Please allow for slight color variation in production and washing
  • Care Instructions: Due to the nature of pigment dye, loose pigments may remain on the surface of the garments. We therefore strongly recommend washing these garments separately, as some of the pigment dye may stain light or white colored garments in the wash.
  • Pigment dye garments must be printed with a poly blocker base and a low cure ink. Cure around 300 degrees to avoid dye migration. At 320 degrees you risk dye migration to your print. Always test pigment dyed garments prior to bulk production.
  • Pigment dyed garments do not discharge.
  • *The main thing to be aware of when printing on Pigment Dye Garments is the possibility of dye migration as well as unwanted ink (pin holes, finger prints, etc.) cannot be blown out and removed with spot remover guns.
  • Spot remover guns will remove the pigment dyed color on the garment as well as often leave a ring on the garment.
• • 9oz (300 gm) 80% cotton/20% polyester blend
  • ring spun cotton
  • 100% cotton 30 singles face yarn
  • split stitch double needle sewing on all seams
  • twill neck tape
  • 1 x 1 ribbing at neck, cuffs and waistband
  • standard fit

  Please note:

  • The pigment-dyeing process gives each garment unique character. Please allow for color variation in production and washing
  • Care Instructions: Due to the nature of pigment dye, loose pigments may remain on the surface of the garments. We therefore strongly recommend washing these garments only with like-colored garments, as some of the pigment dyes may stain light or white colored garments in the wash cycle.
  • Washing the garments in cold water will reduce the possibility of staining.
  • *PFD Note: Our Prepare For Dye sweatshirts, fleece pants, and fleece shorts are not 100% Cotton. They are a 3-End Knit with 100% cotton Face Yarn, 100% Polyester Middle Yarn, and 80% Cotton/20% Poly back yarn. We chose this blend to achieve some stretch, and an ultra-soft feel for our pigment dye that isn’t found in 100% Cotton. Please do your own testing prior to bulk production. Pigment Dyes, Tie Dyes and other unique dyes/washes work best on these garments. The sewing thread on this PFD Garment is a polyester core cotton sheath thread. We use this to achieve the strength of polyester thread with the dye capabilities of Cotton thread. Although this thread takes dye better than Polyester thread, Dark Reactive dyes and Overdyes are not recommended because the thread doesn’t take dye as well as 100% Cotton. Tie dyes, Pigment Dyes, Mineral Washes, dip dyes etc work best. The Poly Core/Cotton Sheathe thread is very strong so the decreased amount of fallout from broken threads when dyeing is the major benefit, this thread is very strong.
  • The “PFD Prepared for Dye” Garment is the raw garment we use to garment dye. You can wear it as is, or dye it yourself. Keep in mind it will have a slightly larger fit because it has not been garment dyed yet. After a garment dye or wash, the PFD garment will shrink to match the Pigment Dyed spec.
• Please note:
  • The pigment-dyeing process gives each garment unique character. Please allow for slight color variation in production and washing
  • Care Instructions: Due to the nature of pigment dye, loose pigments may remain on the surface of the garments. We therefore strongly recommend washing these garments only with like-colored garments, as some of the pigment dyes may stain light or white colored garments in the wash cycle.
  • Washing the garments in cold water will reduce the possibility of staining.
  • *PFD Note: Our Prepare For Dye sweatshirts, fleece pants, and fleece shorts are not 100% Cotton. They are a 3-End Knit with 100% cotton Face Yarn, 100% Polyester Middle Yarn, and 80% Cotton/20% Poly back yarn. We chose this blend to achieve some stretch, and an ultra-soft feel for our pigment dye that isn’t found in 100% Cotton. Please do your own testing prior to bulk production. Pigment Dyes, Tie Dyes and other unique dyes/washes work best on these garments. The sewing thread on this PFD Garment is a polyester core cotton sheath thread. We use this to achieve the strength of polyester thread with the dye capabilities of Cotton thread. Although this thread takes dye better than Polyester thread, Dark Reactive dyes and Overdyes are not recommended because the thread doesn’t take dye as well as 100% Cotton. Tie dyes, Pigment Dyes, Mineral Washes, dip dyes etc work best. The Poly Core/Cotton Sheathe thread is very strong so the decreased amount of fallout from broken threads when dyeing is the major benefit, this thread is very strong.
  • The “PFD Prepared for Dye” Garment is the raw garment we use to garment dye. You can wear it as is, or dye it yourself. Keep in mind it will have a slightly larger fit because it has not been garment dyed yet. After a garment dye or wash, the PFD garment will shrink to match the Pigment Dyed spec.

AREWX3500 – UNISEX MIDWEIGHT PIGMENT DYE CREW NECK

What is it about Pigment Dye that makes it so popular?

Pigment Dye is popular for its vintage/washed and worn look. It looks like your favorite old sweatshirt from years ago. This washed look makes screen prints really pop, and gives a really unique fabric look, and color palette that can’t be mimicked.

What makes Independent’s Pigment Dye different?

Pigment Dye is different in many ways:

The first major difference is a Pigment Dye garment It is made in different steps than a normal sweatshirt. Traditionally a sweatshirt fabric is knit, rolls of fabric are dyed to color, then cut, and sewn into a sweatshirt. For Pigment Dye however, fabric is knit, cut & sewn into a (“PFD” Prepared For Dye) sweatshirt, then Pigment Dyed to color as full garments.

The second major difference is Pigment Dye is different than a regular dye. Normal reactive dye bonds chemically to the yarns and won’t change. Pigment Dye however coats the yarns in the fleece fabric, but isn’t chemically bonded. That’s why you see variation in how well the pigment dye covers the yarns. The large panels get good coverage, and the seams and other high spots on the garment get less coverage. These highs and lows make for some beautiful textures, and color variation making each and every garment unique and individual like the wearer themselves.

Can you describe the Pigment Dye process?

Pigment Dye Garments are traditionally 100% Cotton. Our Pigment Dye Hoodie is 80% Cotton/20% Polyester. The face yarn is 100% Cotton for printability and the interior yarn is 60% Cotton/40% Polyester. We’ve added Polyester to the interior for softness and stretch. We also added an enzyme wash to give it a super soft feel.

Pigment Dye is not an exact science. We developed our Pigment formula after years of trial and error. Our unique formula has an ideal blend of color saturation and washed out look that we could come up with. It is a fine line, too washed out or not washed out enough. The AREWX4500 colors are just right.

Is Pigment Dye a lasting trend?

Absolutely. Pigment Dye is making a comeback now, and having the AREWX3500, AREWX4500 in stock is making it more accessible, but we’ve been making Pigment Dye garments custom for 30+ years. Pigment Dye was popular before us, still is, and we think will always be popular for apparel.

What inspired the color palette?

Our Pigment Dye color palette is geared towards resort wear, summer colors.

What is the fit on the AREWX3500?

For the AREWX3500 we went for a Unisex fit. Pigment dye sweatshirts traditionally have been a mens fit traditionally, but have been popular for women to wear as a baggy boyfriend fit. So we went for a unisex fit to be a standard fit for men and slightly oversized for women. We recommend women order a size down for a good fit.

Tell us about the PFD (Prepared for Dye) Garment.

The PFD AREWX3500 & AREWX4500 Garment is the garment before it is pigment dyed. The PFD is a quick way to make a custom color domestically. The sky is the limit, whether you want to pigment dye, tie dye, direct dye, Acid wash, snow wash etc.

1. IN STOCK – We keep AREWX3500 & AREWX4500 PFD in stock in our Fullerton, California, & Jessup, Pennsylvania warehouses. These can be shipped from our warehouse in 24hrs or less to your dyehouse of choice to be dyed quickly to whatever color or technique you desire.
2. CUSTOM – We also have PFD Garments in stock in our factory in China. There are many benefits to this process.
1. We can handle the dyeing for you. If you order 600pc. you will get 600 top quality finished pieces.
2. We can embellish your custom dyed garments with prints, embroidery, custom neck labels, hangtags, poly bags, custom boxes, you name it, we do it.
3. Custom Dyes on our AREWX3500 + AREWX4500 PFD is the fastest type of custom order we can make… What’s great about PFD is it cuts down the lead time by more than half. The garments are already knit, cut/sewn, and in stock in large quantities that are ready to be dyed. Dyeing can take 2-4 weeks and about 2-4 weeks to ship from China to our CA or PA Warehouse.
4. Minimum orders are 600pc. which is the lowest MOQ custom order we can make.