Core styles
| Style | Fabric | Weight | Fit | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Heavyweight Short Sleeve | 100% cotton, 16 singles (Heather Grey 90/10 and Charcoal Grey 50/50 cotton/polyester) | 7.5 oz (245–255 GSM) | Slightly oversized in chest, length and sleeves | The brand's signature thick tee in a 90s boxy shape, sold in regular sizes, extended sizes and talls. |
| Max Heavyweight Garment Dye | 100% cotton, 16 singles, pigment or reactive washed | 7.5 oz (255–260 GSM) | Slightly oversized | A washed-out version of the Max Heavyweight that the brand calls shrink-free, with a densely knit face for clean printing. |
| Max Heavyweight Oversized Tee | 100% cotton, 16 singles, with a 3.5% Lycra rib collar | 7.5 oz (245–255 GSM) | Oversized width and shoulders, slightly shorter length, mock neck | A wider, shorter cut with a stretch mock-neck collar; the brand suggests sizing down for a normal fit. |
| Active Short Sleeve | 100% cotton, 18 singles (Heather Grey 90/10; Charcoal Grey, Safety Green and Lime 50/50 cotton/polyester) | 6.0 oz (195–205 GSM) | True to size, regular width and length | The midweight everyday tee in a broad color list, which Shaka Wear pitches directly at screen printers. |
| Garment Dye Designer T-Shirt | 100% cotton, 24-singles twist yarn, double knit, garment dyed | 9.0 oz (300 GSM) | Oversized with drop shoulder, normal length | The heaviest tee in the range, a double-knit garment-dyed shirt where each piece varies a little in shade and spec. |
| Max Heavy Fleece Garment Dye Hoodie | 100% cotton, garment dyed | 13.5 oz | Slightly oversized; true to size | A heavy washed fleece pullover with a single-piece hood, no drawstrings and tight-knit ribbing. |
Styles and specs from Shaka Wear's own product pages, checked 2026-10-04. Colors and details change; check the current spec before ordering. Style page in this Library: Shaka Wear Max Heavyweight T-Shirt.
Shaka Wear describes itself as LA-created streetwear, and its site sells a full retail line of denim, nylon, outerwear and accessories next to the plain tees and fleece that decorators buy. The blanks are the part most people search for. The site links a separate wholesale portal for trade buyers, which needs a login. The product pages quoted here are the brand's public retail listings for the same styles.
The Max Heavyweight family
The Max Heavyweight short sleeve is the shirt that made the name: 7.5 oz, listed as 245 to 255 GSM, knit from 16-singles cotton that the brand says is grown in the US. A 16-singles yarn is fairly thick, which gives the fabric its dense, almost stiff hand when new. The cut is the boxy, slightly oversized shape of 90s streetwear, a little longer and wider than a standard tee with roomier sleeves. Its size run is unusually long, from Small through 5XL plus 7XL and tall sizes. The full spec sheet lives on the Shaka Wear Max Heavyweight page.
Several shirts are built on the same 7.5 oz base:
- Max Heavyweight Garment Dye: pigment or reactive washed for a faded look, listed slightly heavier at 255 to 260 GSM, and described as shrink-free.
- Max Heavyweight Oversized Tee: wider shoulders and body, a slightly shorter length and a mock-neck collar with a little Lycra in the rib. Shaka Wear suggests sizing down for a normal fit and warns that it shortens after washing.
- Garment Dye Drop Shoulder: an oversized, boxy cut with a shorter length on the garment-dyed fabric.
Lighter and heavier options
The Active Short Sleeve is the midweight workhorse: 6.0 oz (195 to 205 GSM) in 18-singles cotton, true to size, in a broad color list that runs from basics to Safety Green and Lime. Shaka Wear pitches it directly at screen printers. At the other extreme, the Garment Dye Designer T-Shirt is a 9.0 oz (300 GSM) double knit in a twisted 24-singles yarn, cut oversized with a drop shoulder. The 6.5 oz Retro Garment Dye sits in between with a boxy fit.
For fleece, the 13.5 oz Max Heavy Fleece Garment Dye Hoodie is 100% cotton with no drawstrings and a single-piece hood. Some of the brand's other hoodies are retail products with a Shaka Wear woven logo patch on the pocket, so confirm a style is plain before ordering it as a blank.
How Shaka Wear blanks decorate
Thick, all-cotton jersey is an easy base for plastisol: ink sits on a firm surface without the fabric showing through, and heavy prints and puff ink have support. Water-based and discharge inks suit the cotton solids, provided a test on the exact color shows the dye releases cleanly.
Two color groups need attention. The heather colors carry polyester, and Charcoal Grey on the Max Heavyweight plus Charcoal Grey, Safety Green and Lime on the Active tee are 50/50 blends. On those, light inks can pick up color from the polyester during curing, a problem called dye migration, so ask for low-bleed ink. The garment-dyed shirts are the other group. Shaka Wear notes that each garment-dyed piece varies in color, and pigment-washed colors are poor candidates for discharge, so test before committing. Garment-dyed blanks explained covers lot variation.
DTG works on the cotton colors with pretreatment. The coarse 16-singles yarn is not as smooth as a fine ring-spun tee, so expect slightly softer detail on very fine art. For embroidery, a 7.5 or 9.0 oz tee is one of the few T-shirt bases that carries a chest logo with little puckering, with a cut-away backing behind it.
Choosing a Shaka Wear style
- The classic thick boxy tee, in the widest size range: Max Heavyweight Short Sleeve.
- The same weight with a washed, vintage color: Max Heavyweight Garment Dye.
- A wider, shorter streetwear silhouette: Oversized Tee or Garment Dye Drop Shoulder.
- Budget-friendly event or crew shirts: Active Short Sleeve.
- A statement tee where weight is the selling point: Designer T-Shirt.
Because several of these styles run large or shrink in length, publish your own measured size chart; T-shirt size charts shows how.
Alternatives
Made Blanks and Los Angeles Apparel offer heavy and garment-dyed tees from Los Angeles too, and AS Colour has an 8.2 oz Heavy Tee. Heavyweight vs midweight vs lightweight T-shirts and boxy, oversized and streetwear fits put these choices in context.
Sources
- Shaka Wear: 7.5oz Max Heavyweight Short Sleeve product page, checked 2026-10-04
- Shaka Wear: 7.5oz Max Heavyweight Garment Dye product page, checked 2026-10-04
- Shaka Wear: 7.5oz Max Heavyweight Oversized Tee product page, checked 2026-10-04
- Shaka Wear: 6.0oz Active Short Sleeve product page, checked 2026-10-04
- Shaka Wear: 9.0oz Garment Dye Designer T-Shirt product page, checked 2026-10-04
- Shaka Wear: 6.5oz Retro Garment Dye product page, checked 2026-10-04
- Shaka Wear: 13.5oz Max Heavy Fleece Garment Dye Hoodie product page, checked 2026-10-04
- Shaka Wear: Essential Super Heavyweight Hoodie product page, checked 2026-10-04
- Shaka Wear: About page, checked 2026-10-04
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