Heat Transfer VS Screen Printing
What’s the difference between screen printing & heat transfer ?
There are many different ways to decorate apparel! Screen printing, heat transfer, direct to film printing, direct to garment prints … and so many more. The two techniques we use the most in our shop are screen printing and heat transfers. But what’s the difference between the two? And how do you know which one is better for your order? Let us break down the two techniques for you, to make it a bit easier to choose next time you’re ordering custom merch.
Screen printing
Screen printing is what most people think of when they think custom apparel. This technique starts with creating stencils on metal, mesh screens with a wax coating. There will be one screen created for each colour in the design! While printing the shirts, each colour will be printed one at time, pushing the ink through the stencil with a rubber squeegee. There are are a few pros to choosing screen printing over heat transfer! Firstly, it typically costs less for orders with a high quantity or large designs. But our minimum order for screen printing is 10 pieces (per logo). Secondly, it wears better over time. Heat transfers can sometimes fade, or peel off. Especially when washed, or dried at high temperatures. Screen prints tend to wear better, crack less, and last longer.
Heat transfer
Heat transfers are made by printing out a design on a specialty vinyl! This vinyl can then be pressed onto a garment, using heat to fuse it in place. It’s sort of like a sticker! The pro of using heat transfers is that you can have as many colours as you want, so long as they can be printed by a CYMK printer. We also only require a minimum order of $35 for vinyl printing. Which is much lower than our minimum for screen printing. But again these designs don’t always wear as well over time. They are extremely sensitive to heat, and we do not recommend putting them in the dryer AT ALL. So they require a bit more attention while washing. They also tend to be more expensive per piece for larger orders.
Whether you decide to get your merch screen printed or heat transferred Print & Platen is the place to go! We have a full screen printing, and vinyl printing set up so can accommodate for either. Feel free to contact us by clicking the link below to get a quote started.