Screen printing pushes ink through a stencilled mesh screen, one screen per colour, which makes it the lowest cost per piece on simple artwork in quantity and one of the hardest-wearing finishes on cotton once it is fully cured. DTG and DTF are digital, with almost no per-colour set-up, so they suit photographic artwork, gradients and short runs. Embroidery stitches thread into the cloth and reads as the most substantial finish on caps, fleece and outerwear, but cannot do gradients or small text. Choose by the artwork first, then the fabric, then the quantity.
In this article
- How does screen printing work?
- How DTG, DTF and sublimation put colour onto a garment
- How embroidery works, and what thread cannot do
- Set-up cost against per-unit cost
- Which method suits which job
- What the fabric does to your choice
- How each finish wears, washes and feels
- The specialist finishes: high-density, puff, appliqué and chenille
- How NO FUGAZI decorates your garments, and what to send
How does screen printing work?
A screen is fine polyester mesh on a frame, coated with light-sensitive emulsion. A film positive of one colour is laid on it and the screen is exposed to UV. Where the film blocked the light the emulsion stays soft and washes out, leaving open mesh in the shape of that colour. That stencil is the screen.
On press a squeegee pulls ink across the screen, forcing it through the open mesh into the fabric. One screen carries one colour, so a four-colour design is four screens printed in sequence, with a flash cure between layers. On dark garments a white underbase goes down first so the colours above read true, and it counts as a colour and a screen.
Mesh count sets the deposit: coarse for the heavy white a 340 GSM fleece needs, fine for halftones on smooth jersey.
Curing is where prints are won or lost. Plastisol has to reach roughly 160C right through the ink film to fuse; water-based ink has to lose all its water. Undercured ink looks perfect on day one and cracks out within a few washes.
How DTG, DTF and sublimation put colour onto a garment
DTG is an inkjet printer for garments: water-based pigment ink sprayed straight into the fibres. Dark garments must be pretreated first, with a liquid that gives white ink something to sit on; a bad pretreatment leaves a faint square. DTG needs cotton or a high-cotton blend, and brushed fleece swallows the detail smooth ring-spun jersey holds.
DTF prints the same artwork onto a PET film, dusts it with hot-melt adhesive powder, cures it, then heat presses the film onto the garment. It is the least fussy about fibre: cotton, polyester, blends and nylon can all take it, though nylon and other heat-sensitive shells need a low-temperature film and a press set to match. You are bonding film to the surface, so a large solid graphic has an edge and a hand you can feel.
Sublimation works differently again. Under heat the dye turns to gas and bonds inside polyester fibres, so nothing sits on the cloth and there is no hand at all. It works only on polyester and only onto white or pale fabric. All-over graphics are printed on the cut panels before the garment is sewn, which is how windbreaker sets and printed activewear are made. Vinyl is cut, not printed: names and flat colour only.
How embroidery works, and what thread cannot do
Embroidery does not print. Your artwork is digitised first, a manual job that redraws it as stitch paths, types and directions. That file is what the machine runs, made once and reused on every repeat order.
Stitch count drives cost and run time. A dense filled block takes far longer than an outline of the same shape, and scaling a design up multiplies the stitches inside it.
Thread cannot do gradients, photographic detail or small text. Below roughly 4 to 5 mm cap height in standard 40 weight thread, letters fill in, counters close up and hairlines vanish. A fine outline needs redrawing for thread, not shrinking.
Backing matters as much as stitching. Knit needs a cut-away backing or the design distorts as the garment moves; a water-soluble topping stops stitches sinking into loopback terry or brushed fleece. A heavy stitch count on a 150 GSM tee drags the cloth out of shape. Embroidery flatters weight: twill, fleece, outerwear and custom caps.
Set-up cost against per-unit cost
Screen printing loads the cost at the front. Every colour in every placement is a screen to make, expose, register and reclaim, and that work costs the same at 50 pieces as at 500, so it thins out the more you make.
DTG and DTF have almost no set-up, but per-unit cost barely moves with quantity: machine time on piece 500 is the same as on piece 50. They suit several designs in small numbers, or artwork with too many colours to screen sensibly.
Embroidery sits between the two: one digitising charge per design, then a per-unit cost set by stitch count and by placements hooped separately. That file is reused, so the set-up is paid once for the life of the logo.
In practice against a 50 piece minimum order, one or two colours screen prints comfortably at 50. A six-colour front with three further placements does not, because set-up dominates. Reduce the palette, consolidate placements, or move that design to DTF.
Which method suits which job
Treat it as a shortlist, not a verdict; fabric and placement override rows.
| Method | Set-up against per unit | Suits | Colour and detail | Hand feel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screen print | High per colour, low per unit | Cotton-rich jersey and fleece | Spot colours, gradients as halftones | Sits on the surface |
| High-density silicone | High set-up, higher per unit | Heavy fleece, stretch knits | Bold solid shapes | Raised, matte, rubbery |
| Puff print | High set-up, moderate per unit | Heavyweight fleece and jersey | Bold letterforms | Raised and soft |
| DTG | No set-up, flat per unit | Cotton or high-cotton only | Full colour, photographic | Soft, sunk into the cloth |
| DTF | Minimal set-up, per unit by area | Any fibre, nylon included | Full colour, photographic | Thin film with an edge |
| Sublimation | In artwork and panel layout | Polyester only, pale base | Full colour, seam to seam | None at all |
| Embroidery | Digitising once, then stitch count | Twill, fleece, caps, outerwear | No gradients, nothing under 4 mm | Textured face, backing inside |
| 3D and puff embroidery | Digitising plus foam | Cap fronts, structured panels | Bold satin columns | Raised and sculpted |
| Appliqué and chenille | Cutting and placement | Varsity, bombers, heavy fleece | Flat blocks of colour | Layered and substantial |
What the fabric does to your choice
Polyester and poly blends bleed. Disperse dye in the garment turns to gas at curing temperature and migrates into the ink, so white on a red poly hoodie can go pink days after it leaves the factory. Fixes: a low-bleed underbase, a low-cure ink, or move the job to embroidery. DTF is not automatically safe on a bleeding poly, because the press runs hot enough to move the dye as well, so it needs a low-temperature film and a blocker.
Nylon shells need ink with a bonding additive and distort if the cure runs hot. Puffer jackets have a rule of their own: a needle through a baffled fill panel is a hole, and holes leak, so decoration goes on an applied patch, a non-baffled panel or a heat transfer.
Texture eats detail: a 320 to 360 GSM brushed fleece has a nap that fills in fine halftones, while a smooth 180 to 220 GSM jersey holds the finest detail. Cloth moves on its first wash, so never place a print hard against a seam. Our fabric is all low-shrinkage and pre-shrunk, at 1 to 3 percent residual shrinkage, but untreated cloth can move a good deal more than that. The fabric guide covers weights.
How each finish wears, washes and feels
A fully cured screen print should last as long as the garment does. When one fails early it is almost always undercure, or a silicone softener left in the cloth that the ink could not key into. Neither shows on day one.
Durability runs roughly in this order. Embroidery lasts longest, being mechanical rather than chemical. High-density silicone flexes with a knit and resists cracking. Plastisol is solid but can crack laid thick over a stretchy area. Sublimation cannot crack or peel at all, the colour being inside the fibre. DTG fades soonest on darks, and DTF lifts at the edges when mispressed.
Hand feel runs almost in reverse: none for sublimation, soft for water-based screen print, surface-level for plastisol, deliberately raised for silicone and puff, film-like for DTF, textured with backing inside for embroidery. Put the same line on every care label: cold wash, inside out, no tumble dryer, do not iron the decoration.
The specialist finishes: high-density, puff, appliqué and chenille
High-density silicone is a thick deposit printed through capillary film. It builds a sharp vertical edge and a matte rubbery face, and because silicone flexes it moves with a knit instead of cracking. Bold shapes and thick letterforms only.
Puff print is plastisol with a blowing agent in it. Cure heat expands the ink and it rises off the fabric, soft and raised, but detail softens as it lifts. It belongs on heavy letterforms, and suits the heavyweight fleece used for custom hoodies.
3D and puff embroidery lays foam on the garment, stitches satin columns through it and tears the surplus away, leaving a sculpted raised shape. It needs columns of roughly 4 mm or wider to hold the foam, which is why it is standard on cap fronts and useless for small type.
Appliqué cuts a second fabric to shape and stitches it down at the edge, covering a large area without an enormous stitch count and adding fabric contrast in twill or corduroy. Chenille is looped yarn on a felt base, the classic varsity jacket letter finish, normally built as a patch and applied.
How NO FUGAZI decorates your garments, and what to send
NO FUGAZI is a custom clothing manufacturer based and managed in London, producing at its own dedicated facility. Pattern development, fit development, the technical work and the decoration are handled in house, and every method above is available.
You do not need a tech pack to start. A sketch, a moodboard, reference photos or a garment you already own is enough to quote from; a tech pack is quoted straight from. The minimum order is 50 pieces, and several designs around that number can usually be worked out, depending on how many and how complex.
Sampling is normally deposit-credited: you commit to the bulk run with a deposit, the sample is made first, and that deposit is credited towards the bulk total rather than charged on top. One revision round is included, further sample revisions are chargeable, and quote revisions are free. A standalone sample without a bulk commitment is available at a separate fee, not credited later.
As ranges, sampling takes about 2 to 3 weeks and bulk about 3 to 8 weeks after sample approval, plus shipping, varying with queue, quantity and design. Quality control runs in four stages and we ship worldwide; the full process is set out step by step. Send the artwork, the garment, the quantity and the placements. WhatsApp is fastest, on +44 7537 134878, or the brief form.
Questions
Why is screen printing also called silk screening?
The first screens were stretched silk. The mesh is polyester now, but the method has not changed: a stencil is made in the mesh, and ink is pushed through the open areas onto the fabric with a squeegee. Silk screening, screenprinting and screen printing all describe the same process, and any of the three means the same thing to a manufacturer.
How long does a screen print last on a hoodie?
A correctly cured screen print should last as long as the hoodie. Plastisol has to reach roughly 160C right through the ink film to fuse, and once it has, the print takes repeated washing without cracking or noticeable fading. Early failure is nearly always undercure or a silicone softener in the fabric. Wash cold and inside out, skip the tumble dryer, and never iron the print.
What is the easiest way to get a logo onto a hoodie?
For a one or two colour logo, screen print or embroidery. Screen print is flat and gets cheaper per piece as quantity rises; embroidery gives more perceived value on fleece and outlasts everything else. Send vector artwork if you have it, say where the logo should sit and how wide it should be, and the method follows from the colour count, the fabric and the quantity.
How do I get hoodies printed with my own design?
Send the artwork, the garment you want it on, the quantity and the placements. The manufacturer chooses the method, makes a sample first, then runs bulk once you approve it. You do not need a tech pack, since a sketch, a moodboard or a hoodie you already own is enough. At NO FUGAZI the minimum order is 50 pieces and sampling takes about 2 to 3 weeks.
Can a screen print reproduce a photograph or a gradient?
Only by converting continuous tone into halftone dots and separating those into screens. It is done routinely, but it needs a smooth, tightly knitted fabric and it adds screens, so the set-up climbs. On brushed fleece the nap fills the dots in and the image goes muddy. For a photograph or a soft gradient, DTG or DTF is usually the better answer.
What artwork format should I send for each method?
Vector files, so AI, EPS or PDF, for screen printing, embroidery and vinyl, because those methods need separated shapes and hard edges. High-resolution raster at 300 dpi at final print size for DTG, DTF and sublimation. Name any colours that have to match. If all you have is a photo or a sketch, send it anyway, because artwork can be redrawn.
Related reading
- Streetwear fabric guide
- What we make
- How to find a clothing manufacturer in the UK
- How to screen print t-shirts, at home and in production – the process in full, and where doing it yourself stops working
- How does embroidery work on clothes? – digitising, stitch count, and what embroidery is bad at
- What is sublimation printing, and what is it good for? – the process, why cotton fails, and how it compares with DTF
