Custom Heat Transfers

What are heat transfers?

Heat transfers primarily come in two different forms: screen printed heat transfers and digitally printed heat transfers (direct to film). Both are simple ways of decorating a sheet of transfer material, essentially a special type of paper or film. You can then lay this decorated film on a garment, and by using a heat press to apply heat and pressure, you can transfer the decoration from the film to the garment. For us, this is primarily reserved for certain garments and materials in order to either improve the quality of the print on that material, or in order to reduce costs for low minimums for the customer. We also use screen printed heat transfers for the inside tags for anything fleece, like hoodies and crewnecks. This is because if we printed directly to fleece it would not be legible, however when transferred to the material it is able to matte down the fibers and improve legibility and quality. You can also use heat press transfers on tees as well for an ultra bold look, however they are typically not as soft as printed tags.

So when should I choose heat transfers?

Ultimately, custom heat transfers are extremely versatile, but they have an extensive list of pros and cons depending on the design, and garment. We personally recommend screen printing in almost every case, however if it is a situation where we believe heat transfers will be more cost effective, or give a better result we will be sure to inform you. This could be the case of the material of the garment, or the location of the design on the garment/product. For instance if you wanted a full color logo on the front of a fanny pack, we would probably inform you that this may be the only solution in order to decorate this product.

Are they durable?

Any custom heat transfer product that we use or recommend is going to meet our standards of quality, there are definitely plenty of ways to poorly heat transfer a design onto a garment, and plenty of garments that should not receive transfers based on the fabric type. We will ensure this doesn’t happen to you, however they are not as durable as screen printing. Digital transfers should always last 50+ washes, and printed transfers should be even better. Depending on your garments, wash habits and products, you may experience better or worse. We always recommend gentle, cold water wash cycles for any decorated product, and we always suggest turning your decorated garments inside out when washing. This protects the decoration from any abrasive actions while in cycle.