What are my merchandise options?
We have laid out the different options when it comes to garment decoration to help you decide what may be the best route for your projects.
Screenprinting
There are a lot of things to consider when thinking about using screen printing for your project. Screen printing is a highly involved set up and clean up process. This makes smaller orders more expensive. Once the screen printing press is set up and rolling out prints, it is a very affordable method for larger orders. It is also known to be one of the oldest methods of garment decoration due to its high durability and quality results.
There are many factors to how a screen printing job is priced: # of colors, # of locations to print, # of garments, ink color, ink type, type of garment, garment properties (ex: cotton/poly blend), etc.
CONS:
Minimum order of 20 items for screen printing.
Dark colored shirts with bright/light colored inks can be more expensive. These colors (especially white) need multiple layers of ink to show up opaque on the shirt. They must be printed, heat cured, and printed again. You can always ask to do one layer of ink for a price reduction, just know the ink will not show up as vivid. Sometimes this is better for a more vintage look, depending on your design.
PrOS:
High Durability, known to be one of the most quality ways to decorate clothing.
On larger orders it is usually the most cost effective option (if low amount of colors)
Best for larger orders of 1-3 colors/locations
DTF Transfers (Direct to FILM)
PrOS:
Available option for lower order quantities
Unlimited number of colors
CONS:
DTF has been known to have a worse ‘feel’ then screen printing.(This was a huge problem before the last couple years. The combined knowledge of what makes a DTF design feel great on a shirt and using a high quality transfer eliminate this con. We can help with that:)
It can be more expensive then other options depending on the quantity of items.
DTF is a newly improved option in the garment decoration world. Within the last 5 years, and especially the last couple, it has become a great option. That is only if you use the highest quality of transfers which we do here at HiLo. The great part about DTF transfers is that you can have minimum orders below 20 items and you can also have as many colors as you want in your designs.
Embroidery
PrOS:
Available option for lower order quantities
Unlimited number of colors
Easily make your logo in different colors on different items
Looks fancy *rawr*
Great on hats, sweatshirts, polos, bags, and much more
CONS:
Embroidery is art with thread. Not all designs can be done exactly as they show up in other methods or on a screen. Small details and tiny lettering can look messy if not edited correctly. We require a minimum width of 1mm on designs, so there is certain point where lettering gets too small and if done will not look good.
Not so great on t-shirts or thin garments.
Embroidery has been known to be the ‘cadillac’ of garment decoration. I’m not sure if that saying still stands, but we mean that it is a flashy and beautiful method when done well. Embroidery looks elegant and is very customizable. Many shops outsource their embroidery designing. We do our own designs at HiLo so that we can always edit and tweak to make your design come out the best that it can.