Factory

Where are your clothes made?

Clean Tee Factory set up its factory in beautiful Antigua, Guatemala. The location choice stemmed from Guatemala's standing as one of the most talented, and highest salaried, garment worker bases in the world, along with its "nearshoring" proximity to the United States, which lowers the transportation impact and cost.

One of the reasons we chose Guatemala is that the labor laws are very good. Minimum wage is equal to the living wage. Maternity leave is paid for 12 weeks. Unfortunately, what we discovered is that very few garment factories follow the law.

Why don't you manufacture in the US?

Much of the waste in fashion happens before the clothing ever reaches the shelves. By locating our factory in an area where large-scale production is happening, we can use the off-cuts of larger factories to create small-batch production on an on-demand basis. By locating in Guatemala, we are close enough to the US to ship directly to customers in just a few days, so we can bypass the need for a costly and wasteful fulfillment center.

Are all the products you sell made in your factory?

Everything sold on our website is made at our wholly-owned factory.

Why don't you have a fair trade certificate?

The Fair Trade Textile Standard allows brands an implimentation period of six years for a living wage. We feel this is misleading and have our own commitment to treat our employees well. You can learn more about our living wage commitment here.

People

How can you charge what you do and pay your workers enough?

Our production costs are significantly lower than standard manufacturers because we're not required the minimums most brands need to fulfill a purchase order. We only make what is ordered. In addition, by shipping directly to the customer we avoid the additional shipping, labor, and warehouse costs of a fulfillment center.

Are your workers paid a fair wage?

Every maker at Clean Tee Factory earns a living wage as a minimum starting salary. Pay for senior workers exceeds 250% of the local living wage. You can learn more about our commitment to our workers here.

How can you prove your living wage claims without certification?

We will post our warehouse salaries quarterly on this website.

How do I know where the tip goes?

We will post the details of tips sent and distribution quarterly on this website.

Production

How is your manufacturing process different?

Clean Tee's innovative made-to-order production system produces zero inventory waste. Our clothes are made on-demand when customer orders are received, meaning we only make what you order. You can learn more about our process here.

If you're making to order, how long does it take to receive my purchase?

Our team is experienced in working on a quick turnaround. Typically production of an order will be completed within 5-7 business days of order. Orders ship via DHL Express and typically take 2-3 business days to arrive at your door.

What do you do with your factory's waste?

Clean Tee is working to keep as much fabric from landfill as possible. In addition to using overages from other factories for the production of our clothing, we are using the remnants from our production to produce additional sellable goods such as rugs and home products. Whenever possible, we use smaller pieces of fabric for pockets, trim, and strings.

Shipping

Do you ship directly from Guatemala?

All of our products are made to order. We make custom paper packaging for each order, then bundle the orders together and send them via DHL to the states. From there, we use our carbon neutral shipping partner Sendle to get them directly to your door. This helps keep the shipping costs down and also reduces the footprint of each order.

Why does my order say it's coming from the US?

While we make and pack every order in our factory in Guatemala, we ship them together to the states to reduce shipping costs and the carbon footprint of each order. We group orders together and send them to the states to be shipped via Sendle, a carbon-neutral shipping partner.

Fabrics

What is deadstock fabric and why is it better than organic cotton or recycled materials?

Deadstock fabric is the term used for overages on large lots of fabric ordered for big production runs. This fabric has never been used but is too small in quantity for a large facility to re-use for other purposes, so it is often discarded. Clean Tee's made-to-order production model allows us to reclaim this deadstock fabric and turn it into clothing, extending the life of another factory's unused virgin materials. Organic cotton and recycled materials require significant resources to produce (it takes 2,700 liters of water to make one cotton t-shirt - enough for one person to drink for 900 days). Reclaiming fabric overages doesn't require new resources or energy, making this among the most sustainable fabric types in the industry.

What kind of fabrics do you use?

At Clean Tee, we integrate fabric overages from other factories and put this unwanted material back into circulation. Unlike organic or recycled fabrics, using reclaimed fabrics doesn't require new resources or energy to create, making this among the most sustainable fabric types in the industry. At Clean Tee, we're not only eliminating waste in our own production, but helping clean up the waste from other factories as well.

Why don't you use organic cotton?

Organic cotton requires an enormous amount of resources. Did you ever wonder how so many brands can claim their cotton is organic when less the 1% of the world's cotton is grown organically? We reduce the raw materials required to produce apparel by 50%. This is done by using recycled or reclaimed fabrics in our production. Clean Tee Factory pledges that, at a minimum 50% of our raw materials used in our production will be either recycled or reclaimed.

Where do you get your fabrics?

Clean Tee integrates fabric overages from other factories and put this unwanted material back into circulation.

Wholesale

Do you sell wholesale?

We do! Please contact us at wholesale@cleanteefactory.com to find out more.