Uniform embroidery vs heat transfer: which suits your team?

What is the best decoration for uniforms?

There is no single best decoration for uniforms. The right one depends on three things: the garment, the artwork and how hard the garment gets washed. Embroidery is the durable default for a small logo on a polo, a jacket or a cap. A heat transfer is the better choice for detailed or full-colour artwork, large prints and light fabrics. If you are not sure, send us the logo and the garment and we will tell you which suits it before you order.

A quick rule of thumb:

• Small logo, solid colours, washed weekly or harder: embroidery.
• Caps, beanies and bucket hats: embroidery, for a reason covered below.
• A photograph, a gradient, fine lines or lots of colours: heat transfer.
• A big design across the back: heat transfer.
• Names or numbers that change from garment to garment: heat transfer.

How embroidery works

Embroidery sews your logo into the garment with thread. We turn the artwork into a stitch file, a set of instructions telling the machine where every stitch goes and in what order, then stitch the logo in-house on our own machine in Glenfield, one colour at a time. Nothing sits on the surface to crack or peel. The logo becomes part of the cloth, with a raised texture you can feel.

Building the stitch file is called digitising, and it is skilled work. A logo is not traced, it is rebuilt in stitches, with decisions about direction, spacing and what goes underneath so the fabric does not pull. That is why embroidery has a one-off setup, and why an embroidery price is an estimate until your logo has been digitised and the exact stitch count is known. There is more on how we do it on our embroidery page.

How heat transfer and DTF printing work

A heat transfer is a design printed onto a film, then pressed onto the garment with heat and pressure. Most of what we press is DTF, short for direct-to-film: the design is printed in full colour onto a film, an adhesive powder is bonded to the back, and the finished transfer is pressed on. Our transfer partner prints the transfers. We press them in-house on our own heat press.

Because it is printed rather than stitched, a transfer handles what thread cannot: photographs, gradients, fine lines and small text. A twelve-colour logo presses the same way as a two-colour one. It sits flat and soft on the fabric and works on cotton, polyester and blends. Cut vinyl still has a place for one or two flat colours, like a name or a number, but printed film has replaced it for most logos. There is more on our printing page.

One thing we do not do is screen printing. If you need a few thousand identical tees in one or two colours, a screen printer is the better call, and we would rather tell you that than quote you for the wrong job.

What are the disadvantages of embroidery?

Embroidery's main disadvantages are detail, size and setup. Thread cannot hold photographs, gradients or text smaller than about 5mm, so a busy logo gets simplified. A large design takes a lot of stitches, which makes it stiff and pushes the price up. Every size the logo is stitched at needs its own stitch file, built before anything runs. And very light or stretchy fabric can pucker under a dense logo.

Two more to know about:

• Waterproof and coated jackets. The needle goes through the outer fabric. What that does to a particular jacket's waterproofing is not something we can tell you, so check with the jacket's supplier before you choose a method. Our jackets page covers it.
• Brushed fleece. Fine detail can sink into the soft surface unless the logo is sized to sit on top of it. We will tell you which parts of your logo will not read at the size you want before anything is stitched.

What are the downsides of heat transfer printing?

A heat transfer sits on top of the fabric rather than in it, so it wears faster than embroidery under hard, hot laundering. It needs a little care: wash it inside out, warm rather than hot, and skip the high-heat tumble dry. It also needs a flat, smooth surface to bond to, which rules out deeply textured knits and most waterproof or coated shells, where the coating stops the transfer bonding.

Two more to know about:

• Caps are embroidery only with us. Pressing a transfer onto headwear needs a cap press, which is a different machine from the flat press we run, and we do not have one yet.
• A big solid print is a layer on the fabric. On a light sports top you will feel a full back print more than a small chest logo.

Embroidery vs heat transfer, side by side

Side by side, embroidery wins on durability and on looking premium, and heat transfer wins on detail, colour and big designs. Neither is cheaper across the board. The price depends on the garment, the size of the logo and how many you order, and every job is quoted as one price per garment with the decoration in it. The table sets out the differences that usually decide it.

Which lasts longer in the wash?

Embroidery lasts longer. Polyester embroidery thread handles commercial and industrial laundering, and there is nothing on the surface to crack or peel. A well-pressed transfer will outlast most of the garments it goes on if the garment is looked after, but it is not a match for embroidery in a hot commercial wash every week. If your uniforms go through a laundry service, embroider them.

You will see wash counts quoted online for transfers. I do not quote one, because I have no test result that backs a number, and how long a transfer lasts depends as much on the wash as on the print. What I can tell you is how to make one last: inside out, warm rather than hot, and no high-heat tumble dry.

How setup works for each method

Embroidery has a one-off setup and a heat transfer does not. For embroidery we build a stitch file from your logo, quoted as a one-time setup if we have not already set your logo up at that size. The stitch file is kept on record, so a reorder of the same gear never pays setup again. A transfer is printed straight from your artwork, so there is no digitising step.

One stitch file runs across flat garments at the same logo size, so polos and jackets with the same chest logo share it. Caps stitch differently and need their own, and a much larger logo needs its own too, because it is not just the same stitching enlarged. The uniform pricing guide walks through what else moves the number.

Choosing by garment

Most garments take either method, so the choice usually comes down to the artwork and the wash. Where the garment decides it, the reason is the fabric, the shape or a machine we do not have. Here is how I would choose for each garment we brand most often, with a link to its page if you want the detail.

• Polos. Embroidery is the usual choice for a chest logo. A transfer suits a detailed logo, or a sports polo in a light technical fabric.
• T-shirts. Either. A transfer handles big prints and full-colour artwork; embroidery gives a heavier tee a tidy chest logo.
• Work shirts. Embroidery for a chest logo. A transfer for a large print across the back.
• Hoodies. Embroidery for a chest logo that has to last. A transfer for a big front or back design.
• Jackets. Embroidery on softshells and fleece. On a waterproof or coated shell, check with the jacket's supplier before choosing either method.
• Workwear pants. Embroidery is the default. A transfer on a knee or thigh sits on a crease that bends all day, and it will lift before the trousers wear out.
• Hi-vis. Either, placed clear of the retroreflective banding. We are a decorator, not a certifier, so we cannot tell you what decorating does to a garment's certification. Confirm that against the garment's own certification before you order.
• Caps. Embroidery only.

Using both on one uniform

Using both is common, and it is often the best answer. A typical uniform has an embroidered logo on the left chest, where people see it up close, and a heat transfer across the back, where a big design is cheaper and sharper printed than stitched. Names and numbers that change from garment to garment are usually transfers too. One quote covers both methods, and we confirm the placement of each in writing before anything is produced.

Questions people ask about embroidery and heat transfer