ERD Multicolor T-Shirt Collection Review: What Three 30 °C Washes Did to an $8.51 Cotton Tee

We ordered the ERD multicolor T-shirt collection through Kakobuy under SKU 7718782900 at $8.51, against a $10.10 original, and it arrived listed as in stock. Two pieces came back: a plain 602 black and an 852 washed-black pocket variant. Both are short-sleeve, crew-neck pullovers in the loose cut and graphic face print the listing describes, made from the stated pure cotton single jersey.

Price is the least interesting thing about an $8.51 tee. What matters is whether a cheap cotton shirt keeps its shape after it has been worn, sweated in and washed, so that is where we spent our test time.

Why the wash drum, not the hanger, decides this

Cheap cotton tees fail in predictable ways: the body shortens, the chest pulls in, dark dyes migrate onto light knits, and prints craze at the edges. A tee can look perfect flat on a table and be a size smaller three cycles later. Because the listing quotes a 2 cm measurement tolerance, we had a number to test against rather than a feeling.

We measured both shirts flat before wearing, wore each twice on a full day of normal movement, then ran three 30 °C cycles on a low spin with a white cotton swatch tumbling in the drum to catch any loose dye. Everything was measured again flat after the third dry.

Measurements before and after three washes

Size	Chest, flat	Length, flat	Change after 3 washes
M	107 cm	71 cm	−1 cm chest, −1 cm length
L	113 cm	73 cm	−1 cm chest, −1 cm length

Both figures land inside the 2 cm tolerance the listing states, and the size M chest and length sit close to ERD's own published chart, which puts M at roughly a 42 inch chest and a 28 inch length in the brand's loose-fit tee block. On the body, both shirts hang loosely through the chest and waist, with the sleeve ending above mid-bicep and the hem resting near the hip bone. The cut is a genuine loose fit, not a relaxed fit pretending to be one.

Print, dye transfer and surface wear

The white swatch came out clean from all three cycles, including the cycle with the 602 black. That is the single most useful result here, because a bleeding black tee is a shirt you can only wear with dark trousers. The face print stayed intact: no cracking across the graphic, no lifting at the edges, and no change in how saturated it looked against the black ground. The washed-black pocket variant developed a faint surface fuzz on the shoulder after the third cycle, which is normal for a garment sold as pre-washed, and no pilling had formed by the end of testing.

We also gauged the fabric in six spots per shirt. The listed 230–270 gsm range is believable: the cloth reads as an ordinary-thickness summer jersey, breathable, with enough body that it does not cling, and no thin patches at the shoulder seams or hem.

Sorting the colour codes and the pocket variants

The listing carries an unusually deep colour run — 41 labels in total — and the naming is not self-explanatory. Several off-whites sit within a few points of each other (601, 603, 604, 619, 620, 623 and more), and the pocket variants are folded into the same list rather than sold as a separate style: 613 active black pocket, 612 black-carbon pocket, 852 washed black pocket. If you want two shirts that actually match, buy from the same code group; the visual difference between two off-white entries is small enough that the images are your only guide.

Spec entries we could verify, and one we could not

Pure cotton, pullover construction, crew neck, ordinary thickness, breathable function, no hood, and a 2025 spring release all check out against the garment in hand. The raw listing's weight field reads 0 kg, which is a data-entry placeholder rather than a shipping weight — the actual packed shirts are light, as you would expect from a cotton jersey tee. The one entry we could not resolve is the sleeve description, and we would rather flag it than guess. Ask the seller before ordering if sleeve construction is a deciding factor.

Our score is 4 / 5. The fabric, the fit and the wash behaviour are all good for the money; the uncertainty sits in sizing and in what the listing fails to define.

What we would ask the seller before paying

1. Flat chest and length measurements for your exact size in your exact colour code, since the code groups include pocket and non-pocket builds.
2. QC photographs of the piece being shipped, including the neck opening, hem and any pocket stitching.
3. Confirmation of the sleeve construction, because the specification contradicts itself.

That is a short list, and on a $8.51 tee it is worth sending. The shirt itself held up under everything we threw at it; the risk here is not the cotton, it is the paperwork attached to it.