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T-Shirt Yarn — Recycled Knit Selvedge, Coned in Jaipur
✓ Specs last checked: 2026-09-02
T-shirt yarn — often written tshirt yarn — is recycled knit selvedge yarn in 7-9mm stretch widths, sold on 0.5-1kg cones for crochet baskets, rugs, and bags. We produce and sort it at our Jaipur factory with a 1,000 meter MOQ per SKU and answer every quote within one working day.
We've been making cords in Jaipur since 1991, and t-shirt yarn is the one product we don't actually spin. We recover it. It comes off knit fabric as selvedge — the edge strip mills would otherwise throw away — and we cut, sort, and wind it onto cones ready for the hook.
Width, and why it varies lot to lot
Ours runs 7-9mm in stretch width, roughly 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch. The range exists because this is a by-product, not an extruded cord: every fabric lot carries its own weight and knit tension, so the strip behaves a little differently lot to lot. We sort for consistency within each cone, wind 0.5-1kg per cone, and ship it ready to use.
Why does the price move every quarter?
Because we don't control the raw material. T-shirt yarn is a recycling by-product — when knit mills run heavy production, selvedge floods in and prices soften. When the mills slow down, supply tightens fast.
Our contract buyers handle it the simple way: they lock rates quarterly. We agree a price against projected fabric-lot availability, they get budget certainty, and we get planned volume.
Ordering monthly? Ask for a quarterly rate lock in your first quote. It costs nothing to set up, and it removes the one genuinely unpredictable part of buying recycled t-shirt yarn.
How do mixed and sorted colour lots work?
Two ways to buy. Mixed lots are exactly what they sound like — whatever colours the fabric lots produced that cycle, wound cone by cone. They're cheaper and genuinely random. Sorted lots are graded by shade family at our factory: you order blues, you get blues.
Mixed lots suit rug and basket makers selling one-off pieces. Sorted lots suit anyone building a repeatable product line, where a customer reorders that grey bag and expects the same grey.
Dispatch and freight
Ex-works Jaipur — about 2 to 6 days by surface across India. Freight is to your account, by your transporter or ours. Export orders are quoted separately with air and sea options.
T-Shirt Yarn — Specifications
Material
Recycled knit selvedge; fibre content follows the source fabric and varies lot to lot — tell us at enquiry stage if your product needs a specific content
Construction
Continuous cut knit strip that curls into a round stretch cord
Sizes
7-9mm stretch width (approx. 1/4-3/8 inch)
Colours
Mixed lots and sorted single-shade lots
MOQ
1,000 m per SKU, shade and size
Lead time
Quote within one working day; 7-14 days air courier or 25-40 days sea after confirmation
Packing
Cones of 0.5-1kg (approx. 1.1-2.2 lb) in export cartons
Frequently asked questions
What is t-shirt yarn made of?
T-shirt yarn is made from recycled knit selvedge — the edge strip trimmed off during t-shirt fabric production. The fibre content follows the source fabric and varies from lot to lot, so tell us at enquiry stage if your product needs a specific content and we will confirm it against the lots we have. Nothing is spun fresh; the entire product is recovered material.
Why does the price of t-shirt yarn keep changing?
Prices change because t-shirt yarn is a recycling by-product, so supply depends on how much knit fabric the mills are running. When fabric lots are plentiful prices soften, and when mills slow down supply tightens. Contract buyers avoid the swings by locking rates with us quarterly.
What is the minimum order for wholesale t-shirt yarn?
Our minimum order is 1,000 meters (approx. 1,094 yards) per SKU, and a SKU is one shade in one width — a sorted blue and a sorted grey are two SKUs at 1,000 m each, and a mixed lot is its own. Most first orders are a single lot run through your own hook before a season is committed; several lots in one shipment is fine and costs the minimum for each. We answer every quote within one working day.
How long does t-shirt yarn take to ship from India?
Air courier takes 7-10 days to the USA, EU, and Middle East, and 10-14 days elsewhere; sea freight runs 25-40 days depending on the port. We've shipped to 60+ countries, so we'll tell you plainly which option fits your order size. Domestic Indian orders go by surface courier, which is faster still.
