Gildan 5000 Review: Size Chart, Colors, vs Comfort Colors

Key Takeaways

• The Gildan 5000 is 5.3 oz per square yard, and 56 of its 80 colors are 100% cotton.
• Gildan cuts it in a loose classic fit; order your usual size.
• A Comfort Colors 1717 is as wide but heavier, softer, shorter, and pricier.
• Pick it for work, event, and team shirts, and a softer tee for retail merch.

Table of Contents

• What Is the Gildan 5000?
• Is the Gildan 5000 100% Cotton? Which Colors Are Blends?
• Is the Gildan 5000 Good? How It Fits and Feels
• Gildan 5000 Size Chart in Inches and cm
• Does the Gildan 5000 Shrink?
• Gildan 5000 Color Chart: Every Color by Shade
• Gildan vs Comfort Colors: The 5000 or the 1717?
• Gildan 5000 vs Other Gildan T-Shirts
• How Big Can a Logo Be on a Gildan 5000?
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Order the Gildan 5000 With Your Logo

The Gildan 5000 is the tee to pick when people will work, volunteer, or play in the shirt. That covers crew uniforms, event shirts, giveaways, and team orders. It is a plain, roomy cotton shirt with a deep color range and sizes up to 5XL, and it costs less than softer shirts. For merch that people buy, a softer shirt such as the Comfort Colors 1717 is often the better pick.

What Is the Gildan 5000?

The Gildan 5000 is Gildan's Heavy Cotton T-Shirt, a classic-fit tee sized S to 5XL. Its fabric weighs 5.3 oz per square yard, about 180 grams per square meter (GSM). Most colors are 100% cotton, and the heathers, neons, safety colors, and a few others are blends. The fabric, fit, and size lines in the table are Gildan's own spec-sheet values. Every color and size count in this guide is as of October 2026.

Despite the "Heavy Cotton" name, the 5000 is not Gildan's heaviest tee; the Gildan Ultra Cotton 2000 is heavier, at 6 oz. The 5000's yarn is listed as 20 singles, the number of 840-yard lengths in one pound of it. A higher count means a finer yarn, as Cotton Incorporated's CottonWorks guide to yarn counts explains.

A 20-singles yarn is thicker than the 30-singles yarn in a Gildan Softstyle or the 32-singles yarn in a Bella + Canvas 3001.

You can shop custom t-shirts to compare the 5000 with every other tee we print.

Is the Gildan 5000 100% Cotton? Which Colors Are Blends?

Most Gildan 5000 colors are 100% cotton, but 24 of the 80 are cotton and polyester blends. The table below sorts every color we carry by the fabric Gildan's spec sheet gives it.

The blend matters when a group asks for "all cotton." Every heather, neon, and safety color comes as a 50/50 shirt. An all-cotton order picks from the 56 colors in the table's last row.

Is the Gildan 5000 Good? How It Fits and Feels

The Gildan 5000 is a good shirt for work, events, and teams, and a weaker pick for retail merch that has to feel soft. Gildan's own product page calls it a "classic fit for loose comfort." Its chest widths match the Gildan 2000 and Softstyle from S to 5XL, so order the size you wear in those tees.

The 5000's loose cut looks boxy next to a slimmer retail-fit tee. Its taped neck and shoulders suit a shirt people work in.

Gildan says it remastered the Heavy Cotton family with soft cotton technology for better comfort, so today's 5000 may feel softer than older ones. The Softstyle, which Gildan makes from soft ring-spun cotton, is the family pick when feel matters most.

Gildan 5000 Size Chart in Inches and cm

A Gildan 5000 small measures 18 inches across the chest, and a 5XL measures 32 inches. Chest is measured with the shirt laid flat, armpit to armpit. Length runs from the top of the shoulder at the collar to the bottom hem.

The maker allows 1 inch either way on both chest and length, so two shirts of the same size can differ slightly.

Not every color comes in every size: 45 of the 80 colors run to 5XL, 9 stop at 4XL, and 26 stop at 3XL. Size runs can change, so a group that needs 4XL or 5XL should check those sizes in its color first. On our product page, 2XL costs more per shirt and 3XL to 5XL cost more again; the size grid shows the extra before you order. Kids can join the same order in the Gildan 5000B youth tee, which runs youth XS to XL.

Our t-shirt sizing chart turns a chest measurement into a size and sets the 5000 beside a Bella + Canvas and a Comfort Colors tee.

Does the Gildan 5000 Shrink?

Washing and tumble drying can shrink a Gildan 5000, and the maker publishes no shrink figure for it. Its spec sheet does not call the shirt pre-shrunk either. Bella + Canvas does list its 3001 as pre-shrunk, so pick the 3001 when a pre-shrunk tee matters.

Cotton knits in general carry some shrinkage. Cotton Incorporated's technical bulletin on wet processing cotton knits says knits of every construction are "inherently more prone to shrinkage" than woven fabric. It also says no knitter can make a knit that will not shrink at all.

To protect the fit, hang the shirt or lay it flat to dry. A second Cotton Incorporated guide, on shrinkage performance, found that tumble drying brings out all the shrink left in a cotton knit. In its test, the dryer's heat setting made no difference. The Comfort Colors 1717 behaves differently, because most of its shrinking happens before it ships; our Comfort Colors 1717 guide explains why.

Gildan 5000 Color Chart: Every Color by Shade

We carry the Gildan 5000 in 80 colors, and the product page shows each color's sizes. The charts below show each color on its own product photo. We grouped them by how they look, because several names point to a different color than you might expect.

On our photos, Violet reads as a periwinkle blue and Lilac as a deep blue-violet. Midnight is a dark teal, and Blackberry is nearly navy. Aquatic is a muted sage green, and Charcoal has a slight green cast next to Dark Heather.

Size runs differ by color. All four Fan colors, both neons, Safety Pink, Lilac, and Midnight stop at 3XL. Black, White, Navy, Royal, Red, Sport Grey, and Safety Green all run to 5XL. Screens shift color, so treat any photo as a close guide to the shade you will receive.

Gildan vs Comfort Colors: The 5000 or the 1717?

Order the Gildan 5000 when price, color range, and big sizes matter most. Order the Comfort Colors 1717 when the shirt is merch people will pay for, or you want a faded, worn-in look. The two shirts are about the same width at every size. The 1717 is heavier, softer from the first wear, shorter, and costs more per shirt.

The 5000 and the 1717 both list 20-singles yarn, so the 1717's softer feel does not come from a finer thread. Its sheet describes ring-spun cotton, garment dyed "for a lived-in feel with minimal shrinkage," and the 5000's sheet mentions neither.

The two brands share an owner. Gildan's 2025 annual information form, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, lists Comfort Colors among its company brands.

On sizing, the chests match within a quarter inch, so you can order the same size in either shirt. Tall wearers may want one size up in the 1717, which is shorter. It runs about 1 1/2 inches shorter at small, 1 inch at medium, 5/8 inch at large, and half an inch or less above that. The 1717 also stops at 4XL, so a group that needs 5XL stays with the 5000.

Gildan 5000 vs Other Gildan T-Shirts

Pick the Gildan 2000 for a heavier shirt, the 64000 Softstyle for a lighter, softer one, and the 8000 DryBlend for a 50/50 blend. We carry five close relatives of the 5000, and each can take your design on the same order. The youth 5000B takes a smaller chest logo, up to 3 x 3 inches.

Prices across the short-sleeve adult tees sit close together, and the 5000 costs the least.

How Big Can a Logo Be on a Gildan 5000?

Every customization method we offer works on the Gildan 5000. A full-color print can run up to 13 x 17 inches on the full front or full back. Embroidery and patches go up to 4 x 4 inches at the left or right chest, upper back, or back neck. These are production limits, and your emailed design proof confirms the exact size before we make anything.

Ordering Gildan 5000 Shirts in Bulk

There is no minimum, and when you order Gildan shirts in bulk, the price per shirt drops as one design's quantity grows. Shirts that share one design count together across colors, styles, and shirt sizes. One design means the same artwork in the same spots, made the same way, with the same note on each side. A Navy 5000, a Safety Green 5000, and a 5400 long sleeve can all count toward one quantity.

To price your order, shop the Gildan 5000 and open the Design Studio from its page. After you save a design, the page prices the order as you enter quantities.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Gildan 5000 see-through in white?

A white Gildan 5000 weighs 5.3 oz per square yard, lighter than the 6 oz Gildan 2000 in the same classic cut. Gildan's spec sheets give no opacity rating for either shirt. When a white shirt must not show through, choose the 2000; the chests match, so order the same size.

What is the tag on a Gildan 5000?

The Gildan 5000 has a tear-away label, and if you resell the shirts without it, the FTC's textile labeling rules call for a replacement label. It must show the fiber content, the country of origin, and your company's name or RN number. Care instructions fall under the FTC's separate care labeling rule. We can make custom inside labels on request.

Is the Gildan 5000 a heavyweight t-shirt?

The Gildan 5000 is a midweight shirt by the numbers. At 5.3 oz per square yard, about 180 GSM, it is heavier than a Bella + Canvas 3001 or a Gildan Softstyle. It is lighter than the Gildan Ultra Cotton 2000 at 6 oz and the Comfort Colors 1717 at 6.1 oz.

Is the Gildan 5000 unisex?

Yes. Gildan sells the 5000 as an adult tee, one classic-fit cut for anyone from small to 5XL. For a women's cut, we carry the Gildan Women's Softstyle, a semi-fitted shirt from S to 3XL. It can carry the same design on the same order.

Is Comfort Colors made by Gildan?

Yes. Comfort Colors is one of Gildan's company brands, according to Gildan's 2025 annual filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Within that family, the Comfort Colors 1717 is the heavier, garment-dyed tee, and the Gildan 5000 is the lower-priced classic tee.

Order the Gildan 5000 With Your Logo

Before you set quantities on a Gildan 5000 order, choose a color that runs to the largest size your group needs.

To add your logo, open the Gildan 5000 from our t-shirt collection and press "Start designing". Choose a side, how that side is made, and one or more spots on it, then upload your artwork. You see it on the shirt before you order. We charge no setup or artwork fee, and the price is the shirt plus each decorated spot.

We email you a design proof within 1 to 2 business days of your order, and revisions are unlimited. Once you approve it, your shirts ship in 1 to 2 weeks, and transit time is separate. We offer free U.S. shipping.

Browse custom t-shirts →

Have a question before you order? Contact us, and we'll get back to you within 24 hours on weekdays.