FAQs

DSent coloured t-shirts

Do all products come in all sizes?
No, it depends on the product. Some designs and styles are limited to certain sizes. We recently extended the sizes we offer in women's leggings and some casual shirts and hoodies and continually assess demand.

In which currency will my payment be made?
You can choose to see prices and pay for products in several common currencies. Our prices are set in $USD and conversion to other currencies is automatically applied at the current exchange rate.

Will my payment and personal details be safe?
Yes. We take your security as seriously as we take our own – that’s why our checkout facilities are secured through Stripe, and we accept all major payment methods, including PayPal.
All transactions are encrypted and we don't store your payment card number. Your personal details are kept secure, in line with best industry practice and as per our Terms of Service.

What are the shipping costs?
Shipping is flat rate, and US orders of $75 and over ship free. 
Shipping rates to the rest of the world are flat rate, with shipping free for orders of $100 and over.
Occasionally, for some bulky or special order items shipping will be extra, but where this is the case it will be clearly explained in the product information.

How long does shipping take?
We do our best to get items to you as speedily as we can. We use ethical production methods, with many of our products made only when ordered rather than stock-piled. We process more than half of our products within three days and use a variety of methods to deliver your order in a timely and cost-effective way. For US delivery typically allow two weeks from the time of ordering.
For shipping to other countries, please allow up to three weeks for the item to be delivered to you.
In all cases, if an item is stopped for checking at customs, shipping times could take longer and this is out of our control.

Will I be charged a customs fee or extra tax?
Most T-shirts, vests, sweatshirts, hoodies, leggings, shorts and joggers are shipped from the US. Therefore, customers in the US are not usually required to pay a customs charge for these items. However, sometimes we need to ship an item from a location outside the US.
In particular, some products - particularly footwear, outerwear, winter-sports equipment including skis and snowboards - are manufactured and shipped from various locations worldwide. 
Like all online stores, we do not have any control over customs or with a situation where a state or country decides to impose additional tax levies.
As with any online purchase, it is the customer's responsibility to pay any applicable fees imposed by their local authorities. 
We do not issue refunds because a customer has refused to pay customs or had a local tax imposed beyond our control.
As different countries have their own customs arrangements and additional tax thresholds (state and national) which can change at any time, no online business can predict in advance whether an item might attract a fee. We hope you understand.

A design I like is no longer shown - will I still be able to get it?
Unfortunately, that's unlikely. Typically, we update at least 10% of products each month. Also, items that are sold out are quickly removed from the store. If there is a temporary stock issue and an item will be available again soon, we leave it up online with information on when it will be back. If a design no longer appears, this usually means it's sold out or our range has moved on. If you like an item, our advice is to buy it while you can rather than hope it will still be available next time you visit. This is especially true with limited editions, partnered items (such as skateboards, snowboards, bike etc) and fashionwear which often sell out quickly.

How often do you update your collections?
Our collections change based on emerging styles, sales and continuously refining production methods in line with our environmental principles. As our customers shop with us from all parts of the globe, winter in one place is summer somewhere else, so we don't time collection releases with seasons but we do remove 10% of our products each month, introducing new products in their place.
We sell t-shirts all year round, leggings all year round, hoodies and outerwear all year round. Any specific design, though, might be available for only a short time, so we recommend buying something you like while it's still showing rather than putting it off.

Does this mean each design is available for a full year?
No. Some designs might be (and our 'Signature' range is constant) but many are available for a short time only, either because of partnership agreements, because they sell out or because they're limited editions.

How can I tell which items are about to be replaced as part of the 10% changes you make each month?
Our range of products changes totally over the course of a year, with typically 10% of our products being withdrawn and replaced with new designs each month (apart from our 'Signature' range, which is constant). Across our two brands - DSent and Dark Sentinel - there are often more than 1,000 different products available, meaning around 100 of them change monthly (or 25 per week). We don't announce which products are next to be replaced - this is determined partly by a forward planning schedule, partly by demand and partly by continuously refining our production techniques and material choice in line with our environmental focus. 
Therefore, we suggest that if you like a certain product, you purchase it as soon as possible as there is a good chance it won't still be available on your next visit.

What materials are your clothes made from?
We use several kinds of material in our clothing, with the two most popular being cotton and polyester. Many people choose polyester for activities, whether physical sports or esports, and many professional sports teams kits are only available in this material. Sometimes it has wicking fabrics or treatments added to help the skin breathe, because being an oil-derived fabric it's not water absorbent. This man-made material has lots of positives: it’s long-lasting, the printing techniques used with it support bright colors, it resists fading, is durable and doesn’t easily wrinkle and often doesn’t need ironing. It can get runs or pulls in the thread if snagged, but again, not as much as in the past. Its big drawback is that it's derived from fossil fuels and therefore isn't a sustainable material. The good news is that manufacturing technology has brought efficiencies and seen an increase in recycling of oil-derived substances which can be made into (or mixed with) polyester to reduce its environmental impact. Also, there is so much polyester already manufactured that if recycled and reused properly, there should never be a shortage. This is why we use recycled polyester.
At one time, polyester could have a harsh, plastic feel, but these days it's soft and feels great next to the skin. The type of polyester we use is the highest quality lightweight cotton-touch jersey. 
Cotton (especially ringspun or combed) is soft, breathable and comfortable to wear. Due to being naturally wicking, it transfers moisture from the body and allows it to evaporate, meaning it helps you to keep cool. For many, cotton is the number one choice if wearing for more than a few hours.
Unlike some materials, with cotton, the lighter the weight, (usually) the better the quality. This means that heavier, thicker cotton shirts are often less costly to produce than finer cotton. Cotton is sometimes referred to by its weight and at other times by its number of singles. (Without getting too technical, singles refers to the diameter of the cotton yarn, determined by the number of times the fibre is twisted. The higher the number of singles, the better the quality.) Typical clothing manufacturers use 18 singles. Most cotton used by Dark Sentinel and DSent is 30 singles or higher.
How cotton is spun also determines its quality and feel. Many brands use a carded open-end process. We use the superior ring-spun method, in which the cotton strands are continuously twisted and thinned, which makes a very fine rope of cotton fibres. Due to this process, ring-spun cotton results in a stronger weave and a significantly softer feel. Our cotton is also typically combed to remove tiny impurities and give an even smoother feel. 
Of course, many items of clothing are made with a mixture of polyester and cotton, giving the wearer the best of both worlds. Sometimes, rayon is included to add durability. This results in a tri-blend.
We also use wool and are trialling materials made from lyocell and modal.

How should I care for my clothes?
Different items require different handling, so refer to inside labels for best advice. For general advice, these instructions are typical, whether for cotton, polyester or a mix:
    

Machine wash: cold (max 30C or 90F); do not bleach; tumble dry low heat, or hang dry for longest life: iron, steam or dry: cool, iron inside-out if necessary. do not iron printed decoration area; do not dryclean.

What printing processes do you use?
Some of our designs are digitally applied through 'direct to garment' (DTG) printing, in which the design is directly printed on the garment using a large color printing machine. This allows for a variety of designs and colors. Some of our most popular items are done through traditional screen printing, especially where the design is quite simple or has few colors. Some items are sublimation printed (sometimes called 'dye-sub'). This printing process transfers the design to the heated cloth which is pressurised through a commercial heat press. Garments with a high polyester content respond well to sublimation printing. With pressure and heat, the dye transforms into a gas (sublimates) which is then absorbed by the material. The material is then cut to shape and sewn to become the final product.
Some of our products are embroidered rather than printed.

Some printed clothes can smell of fixative - do yours? 
Depending on the product, a fixative might be applied to the printed design that can smell a bit like vinegar or leave small splashes that have an off white or light yellow appearance. Anything like this goes away after the first wash. All new clothes, wherever purchased, should be washed prior to being worn for the first time.
This doesn't happen with clothes that have been sublimation printed (such as leggings or polyester shirts), but can occur with cotton t-shirts. 

Where are your products made?
We use facilities in different locations for different products. Some of our clothing is manufactured in the US, some in the UK and Australia. Some t-shirts are manufactured in countries such as Nicaragua, Mexico, China and Bangladesh. Our Fair Trade tee-shirts are manufactured in India. Printing is typically done in the US, UK, and Europe. Embroidery is usually done in the US. Footwear and accessories are manufactured in a number of countries, including the US, UK, Australia and China.
Shirts, vests, hoodies, sweatshirts, leggings, shorts and joggers are typically printed and finished off in the US, Europe or China, depending on the customer's location and the style of item.
Regardless of where items are made, the important thing for us is that our values are upheld, including a fair wage for all workers involved in the production of our clothes, no child labour, care for the environment and treating each order like it’s our only order.

Where is DSent based?
We're based in South Australia and that's where our business is registered. We have three small design teams working in Adelaide (Australia), Los Angeles (USA) and Manchester (UK). We use manufacturing facilities in several countries.

As you’re an online company with few overheads, why aren’t you cheaper than bricks-and-mortar stores?
Our pricing is always competitive. Product costs reflect the efforts we go to in ensuring we use ethical and high quality manufacturers and suppliers, provide a fair wage to all workers and use material that is produced with the least possible damage to the environment.
Our clothing is typically less expensive than competing items available through famous fashion and sportswear brands, despite such companies having massive buying power, control of supply chains and incredibly low unit costs. Indeed, some of our products are identical to those famous brands because they’re made from the same material, in the same factories by the same workers; the only differences being the labels, logos and finish (which is often higher for our products). Equally, we refuse to deal with some factories that supply stock to such competitors, because of poor working conditions and a record of child labour.
A frequently asked question to these other companies is why aren't their prices so much lower and their ethical records so much better? It isn't frequently answered.

I'd like to give you some feedback, how can I contact you?
We love feedback, whether suggestions for improvement or to know that we're doing a good job. We can be reached at support@dsentgear.com, through completing the online form on our Contact Us page or by following our social media accounts on Twitter (now X), Facebook or Instagram.