--- title: The Blank Tee Company That Says Your Favorite Tee Is Plastic description: Most men's performance tees are polyester, which is plastic. The company wants men to flip the tag, read the label, and consider a plastic-free clothing alternative. microplastics clothing polyester alternative plastic-free clothing hemp vs polyester canonical: https://time.com/branded-content/apg/The-Blank-Tee-Company-Rethinking-What-Your-Favorite-Tee-Is-Made-Of/ article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-08-19T18:44:06.714Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-10T21:04:28.534Z article:section: Branded Contributor Content og:title: The Blank Tee Company That Says Your Favorite Tee Is Plastic og:description: Most men's performance tees are polyester, which is plastic. The company wants men to flip the tag, read the label, and consider a plastic-free clothing alternative. microplastics clothing polyester alternative plastic-free clothing hemp vs polyester og:url: https://time.com/branded-content/apg/The-Blank-Tee-Company-Rethinking-What-Your-Favorite-Tee-Is-Made-Of/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf61db8a357f67a06/6a7a3a7e0d71180a78e58dae/image3_(1).png?branch=production&width=1601&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1601 og:image:height: 901 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Blank Tee Company That Says Your Favorite Tee Is Plastic twitter:description: Most men's performance tees are polyester, which is plastic. The company wants men to flip the tag, read the label, and consider a plastic-free clothing alternative. microplastics clothing polyester alternative plastic-free clothing hemp vs polyester twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf61db8a357f67a06/6a7a3a7e0d71180a78e58dae/image3_(1).png?branch=production&width=1601&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Blank Tee Company Rethinking What Your Favorite Tee Is Made Of > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription.  Image credit: Undrdog Hemp Image credit: Undrdog Hemp Image credit: Undrdog Hemp Image credit: Undrdog Hemp Image credit: Undrdog Hemp Here’s a quick check you can do with the shirt you’re wearing now: reach back, find the tag, and see what it’s made from. If it’s like many men’s performance tees on the market, the label may list polyester or a polyester blend, sometimes under a more technical-sounding fabric name. And polyester, chemically speaking, is plastic, polyethylene terephthalate, the same family of material used in soda bottles.  Image credit: Undrdog Hemp Most men have never made that connection. One apparel startup is building its entire business on the moment they do. **The Tag-Flip Moment** [**Undrdog**](https://undrdog.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopwR9B%5FUXfkNpRFv1ttA6bQkBew5GTI7iuwP73RxKde299RWzlg) Hemp, a direct-to-consumer menswear brand founded in 2025, calls it the revelation angle: men don't know what's in their blank tees. **The "premium" tee, the moisture-wicking gym blank tee, the travel polo, flip the tag, and it's plastic by another name.**The Tag-Flip Moment The numbers around synthetic textiles have drawn growing scrutiny. Researchers have documented that synthetic fabrics shed microplastic fibers, and studies on microplastics and chemical additives like PFAS in consumer textiles have accumulated steadily in recent years. The startup is careful not to promise its shirts deliver any health outcome; **the company makes no medical claims. Its argument is simpler and harder to dismiss: The company’s view is that shoppers can look into the research on synthetic fabrics for themselves. Once they understand how polyester is made and why it is used in performance apparel, some may decide they prefer a natural fiber against their skin.** "We tell men what's actually in their blank tee, show them proof, and let them decide," is how the brand frames it. Fog test. Fire test. Tag check. **What a Plastic-Free Blank Tee Actually Looks Like** The alternative Undrdog built is called DuraFlow™, a blend of 51% hemp, 31% [**bamboo**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo), and 18% organic cotton. No polyester. No spandex. No synthetic fibers at all. A note on the hemp: in this context, it refers to industrial hemp fiber, a long-used textile crop valued for its strength and durability. In fabric form, hemp is known for being one of the sturdier natural fibers used in apparel. **That strength also presented a challenge. According to the company, founder Chuckie was told during development that using more than 30% hemp in a blank tee could make the fabric feel too rough for everyday wear**. He spent $300,000 rebuilding his company to prove otherwise, pairing high-hemp content with bamboo for softness and breathability, and organic cotton for familiar comfort. **A Warranty as the Argument** According to the company, the clearest signal of how the brand thinks about disposable clothing is its warranty policy: an unconditional lifetime warranty on every blank tee. If the blank tee fails for any reason, ever, the company replaces it free. No expiration. No conditions. That stands in contrast to many performance tees, which are built around lower-cost production, strong marketing, and a shorter expected lifespan. The company thinks a lifetime warranty only makes sense if the shirt is genuinely built to last. To them, the promise is a way of putting real weight behind their durability claims. The market response suggests the bet is landing. **The brand reports selling out six times in twelve months and counts more than 300,000 men as customers**. Its drops are deliberately limited, monthly colorways, finite runs, no restocks.  Image credit: Undrdog Hemp **The Bigger Shift** The brand's customer base skews 45 and older: tradesmen, veterans, engineers, former athletes, men who, in the company's words, want proof, not promises. It's a demographic that rarely drives apparel trends, which may be exactly the point. These aren't buyers chasing a look. They're buyers who found out what their clothes are made of and changed their minds. The company's roadmap extends the idea: polos, boxer briefs, socks, long sleeves, and hoodies by the end of 2026, all plant-based, all plastic-free, a full wardrobe built on the same premise as the tee. That premise fits on a hangtag: made from plants, not plastic. Whether it reshapes the menswear industry or stays a niche, it starts the same way for every customer. Flip the tag. Read the label. Decide for yourself. _See the DuraFlow™ tee at_ [_undrdog.com_](https://undrdog.com/) _Prices and availability are accurate as of the time of publication and are subject to change without notice. Please check the retailer’s website for the most up-to-date pricing information._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/apg/The-Blank-Tee-Company-Rethinking-What-Your-Favorite-Tee-Is-Made-Of","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/apg/The-Blank-Tee-Company-Rethinking-What-Your-Favorite-Tee-Is-Made-Of"},"headline":"The Blank Tee Company Rethinking What Your Favorite Tee Is Made Of","datePublished":"2026-08-19T18:44:06.714Z","dateModified":"2026-08-10T21:04:28.534Z","description":"Most men's performance tees are polyester, which is plastic. 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