Personalized shirts are everywhere. In professional settings, they’re used in uniforms. Schools buy them for their clubs and bands. Sometimes they’re even given out as party favors, or as personalized kids clothing. But have you ever noticed that some personalized shirts last longer than others? This is due in large part to how they’re made.
There are several different methods of creating a personalized shirt, and each has pros and cons. Depending on what your needs are, one of these methods may be best for your project:
Screen printing: Just like it sounds, screen printing is the process of running ink through a screen onto the fabric. Screen printing creates very high-quality, professional, durable garments that hold up indefinitely to normal machine washing. It is necessary to create a customized screen for your design; and if your design has different colors, you’ll need a separate screen for each color. The simplicity of this screen printing makes it cost effective when you are printing a large number of personalized shirts.
Heat press transfers: Heat press transfers were very popular in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Heat transfer is made possible by melting plastic with a design embedded into it onto a t-shirt’s fabric. Heat press transfers are very easy to create and apply. (In fact, there are now papers for inkjet and laser printers that let you create your own personalized shirts right at home!) Unfortunately, heat press transfers tend to have a heavy plastic feel to them, and they work best only on white shirts. On the down side, they can be cracked and fade after a number of wash cycles.
Direct to garment: This is the most recent of techniques, using technology to digitially print directly to the t-shirt. “Direct to garment” printing reduces the number of steps needed, can produce complex patterns, wears well, and can be easily customized for small orders of personalized shirts. However, this method requires expensive equipment and technical mastery for good results.
