Apparel Decoration Techniques

Apparel is the smart and easy choice for your brand’s promotional products.

It has the highest recall rate of any promo item, which is why so many companies prefer to promote their brand using shirts, hats, and outerwear. But when it comes to choosing how to decorate your apparel, things can get tricky.

Unlike other promotional products, apparel can be decorated in many ways and choosing the right method of decoration is not always as easy as it sounds.

Decoration Methods for Apparel

At Symphonix, we use a variety of decoration methods depending on the desired product. We understand that decoration techniques can be a challenging concept, so we have created a guide that can help you choose what is best for your promotional items.

Embroidery

Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric with needle and thread and is most often used on caps, hats, coats, blankets, bags, dress shirts, denim, stockings, and shirts.

Digital Print

Digital print is a form of apparel decoration that allows you to vibrantly print any digital logo onto an apparel item. By using direct-to-garment (DTG) printers, digital print decoration follows a similar process as a typical desktop printer. For digital print, it is recommended that garments are 100% cotton, though they can print on garments of 50/50 cotton.

Screen Print

Screen print works using mesh screens that are stretched over a frame to create a stencil of the image to be printed. Areas of the screen are blocked off with a non-permeable material to form a stencil, which is a negative of the image to be printed. The open spaces are where the ink will appear. Ink is applied to the screen and a squeegee pushes the ink from top to bottom across the screen pushing ink through the open areas of the screen and onto the garment.

Direct to Film Transfers (DTFx)

Similar to DTG printers, the design is printed on a clear film and fed directly into a machine which adds the glue to the imprint. The design is then cut out of the film and pressed on a heat press. The simplicity of this process allows us to fill a gap between screen print and DTG like never before. Full color designs on a very wide variety of materials.

Heat Transfer Vinyl

Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV) is a very versatile method of decoration that can be tailor fitted in its color, finish, and texture to fit a variety of uses. HTV Can be used on any fabric except Leather, Spandex, Polyurethane, and Raised Fleece.

Dye Sublimation

Dye sublimation is a process where art is printed with special sublimation ink on treated paper. The paper is then placed onto the garment in the requested location. Using a heat press, the heat and pressure cause the ink to change into a gas which then absorbs into the fibers of the garment. After that the paper is removed and the garment is complete.

FlexStyle Patches & Emblems

FlexStyle Patches offer unique 3D designs for a variety of decorations. There are three kinds of FlexStyle patches, 3D Embroidery, Genuine Leather, and Stitch & Dye Sub. With 3D Embroidery, the design is converted to a digitized file for embroidery. The 3D portions of the design are separated, and the 3D portion is embroidered over an expandable foam to give it a 3D effect.

Laser Etch

Laser etching is a truly unique decoration method, where the laser melts a thin layer of fiber from the fabric/material. By adjusting the intensity and speed of the laser we can sculpt dimension into the designs, giving you a result that has stunning clarity and precision.