Every week someone asks us the same thing: what’s the best way to put our logo on this?
The honest answer is that there’s no single best method. There’s the right method for your garment, your quantity, your artwork and your deadline. Get that match right and the job looks sharp and lasts for years. Get it wrong and you’re paying for a finish that fades, cracks, or costs more than it needed to.
After 30 years and four decoration methods running under one roof on the Dock Road, here’s how we actually decide, and how to brief us so you get the right one first time.
Embroidery
Best for: polos, fleeces, jackets, softshells and caps. Anything you want to look premium and professional. Embroidery is thread stitched directly into the garment, so it never cracks or peels and survives years of washing without fading.
- The gold standard for corporate uniforms and staff workwear
- Ideal for left-chest logos, names, roles and small back text
- Priced by stitch count, not colours. A five-colour logo costs the same as one
Watch out for: large, highly detailed or photographic artwork, and very thin fabrics where dense stitching can pucker.
If you want it to look like it belongs on a uniform, embroidery is almost always the answer.
Screen print
Best for: high-volume t-shirts and hoodies. Ink is pushed through a stencil, one screen per colour, so the setup pays for itself once you’re printing in volume.
- Lowest cost per unit on runs of 50 and up
- Vivid, opaque colour that holds up wash after wash
- Perfect for events, promotions, club kit and merch drops
Watch out for: small quantities (the screen setup makes 10 shirts expensive) and artwork with lots of colours or fine gradients.
DTF printing
Best for: full-colour, detailed or photographic logos, small runs, and mixed-garment orders. DTF (direct-to-film) transfers a complete full-colour print onto almost any fabric.
- Photographic detail and unlimited colours at no extra cost
- Economical even for a handful of garments
- Works across a mixed order: hoodies, tees and bags in one go
Watch out for: it’s a print, not stitch. For a high-end corporate uniform, embroidery still reads as more premium.
Heat transfer / digital print
Best for: names and numbers on sports kit, and detailed artwork applied to individual garments on demand. The method of choice when every item is different: personalised staff names, event roles, squad numbers.
The quick rule of thumb
- Premium and washable ? embroidery
- High volume and simple ? screen print
- Full colour or small run ? DTF
- Personalised names and numbers ? heat transfer
Still unsure? Send us the garment and quantity and we’ll tell you straight.
For businesses branding staff kit
Most of what we decorate is workwear, and for staff uniforms the instinct should usually be embroidery. It’s the finish that still looks sharp after two years of daily wear and industrial washing, which is exactly what a uniform has to survive. We’ll typically embroider the left chest and add print or transfer only where the artwork demands it (a large, detailed back logo, say).
If you’re kitting out a team, anything from 40 polos to a 5,000-strong rollout, the method is only half the decision. Sizing, reorders and keeping every new starter on-brand matter just as much. That’s a conversation worth having before you place the first order, and it’s one we have every week.
What we’ll ask you
When you send a brief, four things decide the method: the garment (fabric and weight), the quantity, the artwork (colours and detail) and your deadline. Give us those plus a logo file, and you’ll have an itemised quote, with the method we’d recommend and why, back within 24 working hours.
Not sure which finish you need? Tell us the garment, quantity and deadline, and we’ll recommend the right method and quote it back the same day. Get a same-day quote ?
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