Silk screen at home or …

March 10, 2022 4:57 AM

I’d like to make a few hoodies for work with the work logo. Work supplies us with a limited set of work uniform items which does not include hoodies. I might make some for other coworkers at some point. Should I try to make my own or get a company to do it for me? If I should make my own, what will I need to accomplish this? If I should pay someone to do this, any suggestions as to which company.
posted by sciencegeek to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (12 answers total)

Some options if it doesn't have to be silkscreen? From most to least complicated:

1/ You can get a Cricut machine pretty cheaply 2nd hand off Ebay or Craigslist or whatever, buy your own iron-on vinyl sheets, cut the logo on the Cricut, and iron them to the hoody. (Order blades from AliExpress, they are much cheaper.)

2/ You can get someone to make you the iron-ons on Etsy.

3/ You can upload the logo to Redbubble and just order your printed hoody and let anyone else order one too.
posted by DarlingBri at 5:18 AM on March 10, 2022 [2 favorites]

Do you want to make the shirts yourself because it seems fun or as a way to save money? At the most entry level you could get something like speedball beginner paper kit and go up from there. Professionals use photo emulsion to prepare their screens. Or at least they did when I was last doing this kind of stuff - cheap plotters may have changed the space some. You can do this at home, but the initial setup can be expensive. A nice middle ground would be to pay a printshop to make the screen for you. I haven't done it in years, but places around me used to charge $25-$50 for this service. Screen printing the shirts yourself is pretty easy after a few practice runs, but expect to make mistakes. If your artwork contains multiple colors it might be time to pay the pros as that will require multiple screens and lining everything up just right can be a real pain without a dedicated screen printing setup.
posted by phil at 5:28 AM on March 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

> Should I try to make my own or get a company to do it for me?

IMO, you should get a company to do this for you. The company that should create these hoodies the one that you work for. This is on them, not on you.

smh at late capitalism & its bullshit...
posted by rd45 at 5:34 AM on March 10, 2022 [12 favorites]

I would try to get the company to do it BUT if this is a matter of comfort or some weird thing where they think the hoodies will look “unprofessional” I would do it low key with enough distribution among coworkers that no one will give you up because they’re upset they don’t have one.
posted by raccoon409 at 5:52 AM on March 10, 2022 [2 favorites]

If you only want to make a few , I wouldn't recommend doing silk screening at home. It's not going to be cost effective, especially since you need to learn and practice, which will use up material.

The inkjet iron-ons you can get at places like Michael's are easy to use (assuming you have a high quality version of your logo and an inkjet printer), and they have a white backing, so you can print on dark colored shirts.

But aside from numerous online sources, there's almost certainly someone near you who does small runs of shirts. Digital printers have gotten relatively inexpensive, and they allow short runs (even singles) and have white ink, so they can print on dark colors.
posted by jonathanhughes at 7:06 AM on March 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

Promotique will do one-off hoodies and the quality is generally good. They (and other online printers) may ask you to confirm you have the right to reproduce the logo, though, which might be a problem depending on how well-known it is.
posted by picopebbles at 7:43 AM on March 10, 2022

Response by poster: The company was headed by a person who thought hoodies were unprofessional. The company is no longer headed by this person. Other departments wear hoodies. The company moves glacially on stuff like this.

The logo is single color and composed only of text.

The work I do is physical, dirty and in all weather; would a vinyl/iron on stay on through rough use?
posted by sciencegeek at 9:17 AM on March 10, 2022

The work I do is physical, dirty and in all weather; would a vinyl/iron on stay on through rough use?

In my experience? No. And also silk screening is a messy hassle to do at home. I would definitely get a company to do it for me in your position.

As a wild card, what about an embroidered logo? Many workwear companies seem to do that around me, if you're happy with something small.
posted by stillnocturnal at 9:49 AM on March 10, 2022 [5 favorites]

I would ask around in your area to find the company that does promotional stuff for local organizations. Sports teams, local businesses, etc. There is almost certainly a small local business who makes shirts, hats, mugs, wall calendars, etc, etc. Work with them. Silk screening is not hugely difficult, but there is a learning curve, specialized materials and equipment, and a lot of mess. If you want to make a statement about professional appearance standards, work with somebody who will give you professional results.
posted by Sublimity at 10:57 AM on March 10, 2022 [3 favorites]

Unless you're experienced, it's easy to make a big mess and end up with shirts with unprofessional splatters, off kilter alignment, etc. Just let pros do it.
posted by Candleman at 1:15 PM on March 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

I have found it cost-effective to buy individual custom printed t-shirts from Printful for myself. They also offer hoodies. Don’t silk-screen at home, it’s a giant mess!
posted by migurski at 2:30 PM on March 10, 2022

I got a friend who does this kinda stuff all the time. She is a dancer and costumer and prints small batches of things for big-name sorts of outfits and would be happy to do this for you for not-crazy prices. Sometimes I go over and help her with big orders. MeMail over this way if you want the details!
posted by lauranesson at 10:19 AM on March 12, 2022