Guide

Embroidery or print? How to choose, garment by garment

Short answer: embroider polos, fleeces, softshells and caps. Print t-shirts, hoodies with big front designs, hi-vis and anything with fine detail or lots of colours. Most teams end up with both, and that is the right answer rather than a compromise.

£6.50

Embroidered chest logo

£4.50

Printed chest logo

7–10 days

Either method

The decision in one table

	Embroidery	DTF print
Chest logo, our price	£6.50	£4.50
Back logo, our price	£10.00	£7.50
Best on	Polos, fleeces, softshells, caps, beanies	T-shirts, hoodies, hi-vis, waterproofs
Fine detail	Loses it below about 8mm	Holds it
Many colours	Each colour is another thread change	No extra cost
Gradients / photos	Cannot do them	Fine
Feel	Raised, textured, part of the garment	Flat, slight film feel
Wash life	Outlasts the garment	Good, but the garment usually outlives it
Looks like	A uniform	A t-shirt with your logo on

Those are our actual prices per garment, per position, with no setup fee and no minimum quantity. Printing works out cheaper on the chest and noticeably cheaper on the back.

Why embroidery still wins on polos and fleeces

A polo shirt gets washed twice a week for two years. Thread does not care about that. It is stitched into the fabric rather than sitting on top of it, so there is nothing to crack, peel or fade — the collar goes limp long before the logo gives up.

It also reads as a uniform. There is a difference between a team who turned up in branded polos and a team in printed t-shirts, and customers notice it without being able to say why. If your people are in front of homeowners, that difference is worth the pound or two.

Where it falls down: fine detail and colour count. A logo with thin lettering, a gradient, or a photographic element cannot be stitched faithfully. We can usually simplify it — that is a redraw, and we charge for it rather than quietly bodging the file.

Embroidered logos on grey work polos and a cap, stitched at chest size

Embroidery from our workshop. Chest logos at roughly 9cm wide, which is where most trade marks sit comfortably.

When printing is the better answer

Printed Metalhead Autoworx design on dark t-shirts, showing fine linework

Printed work. Detail and line weight that thread could not hold.

Print gets treated as the cheap option, which does it a disservice. There are jobs embroidery simply cannot do: a full-colour crest, a photographic element, a design the size of someone's back, or thin lettering under about 8mm.

It is also the sensible answer on garments you expect to replace. A t-shirt worn through a summer on site is a consumable. Paying a premium to stitch it is money spent on a garment that will be a rag by September.

And on hi-vis, print is usually the practical choice — it sits flat and adds no weight to the garment. Where a garment is certified to EN ISO 20471, tell us before you order so we can place the logo without interfering with the reflective bands or the certified area.

What most teams actually end up with

The split we see most often across an order is straightforward, and it is not a compromise — it is each method doing what it is good at.

Embroidered

Polos, fleeces, softshells, caps, beanies

The kit people meet customers in.

Printed

T-shirts, hoodies with a big front or back design, hi-vis

The kit that takes a beating or carries detail.

Either

Sweatshirts, work shirts

Depends whether the logo is simple enough to stitch.

Four mistakes that cost real money

Sending a logo lifted off a website. A 400-pixel PNG pulled from a homepage will not stitch and will not print sharply. Vector — AI, EPS, PDF or SVG — or a high-resolution PNG with a transparent background. Low resolution is the single most common reason an order stalls at proof stage.
Choosing embroidery for a logo with six colours. It can be done, but each colour is another thread, and the result on a 9cm chest logo is often a muddle. Simplify it for stitching, or print it.
Decorating the back of everything by reflex. A back logo costs more than a chest one on either method. Worth it on hi-vis and outerwear people see from behind on site; usually wasted on a polo worn under a jacket all winter.
Ordering for the whole team before seeing one. We do not accept returns on personalised goods — nobody in this trade can, because your logo makes the garment worthless to anyone else. That is exactly why the £29.99 sample pack exists: a polo and a t-shirt with your real logo, so the decision costs thirty pounds rather than six hundred.

How we handle it

Both methods are priced on every product page and in every bundle, so you can switch between them and watch the per-head figure move rather than asking for a quote. Printing shows as the cheaper option because it is.

Whichever you pick, nothing goes into production until you have approved a proof of your logo at the size and position ordered. Turnaround is typically ten days, and most orders post inside seven, going out with DPD on a two to three day service.

If your artwork is not usable we will tell you and quote the redraw before doing any work. It is never added to an invoice unannounced.

Questions we get asked

Which is cheaper, embroidery or printing?+

Printing. A chest logo is £4.50 printed against £6.50 embroidered, and a back logo is £7.50 against £10.00. Both are per garment, per position, with no setup fee.

Which lasts longer in the wash?+

Embroidery, comfortably. It is stitched into the fabric so there is nothing to crack or peel, and it will normally outlast the garment. Good print holds up well, but the garment usually outlives the print rather than the other way round.

Can you embroider any logo?+

Most, but not all. Thin lettering under about 8mm, gradients and photographic elements do not stitch faithfully. We will tell you honestly whether yours will work at chest size, and if it needs simplifying we quote the redraw first.

What file do you need?+

Vector is best — AI, EPS, PDF or SVG. A high-resolution PNG with a transparent background is usually fine. A small image copied from a website generally is not.

Can I mix both on one order?+

Yes, and most teams do. Embroidered polos and fleeces, printed t-shirts and hi-vis, one order and one delivery.

Does printing work on hi-vis?+

Yes, and it is usually the practical choice. If the garment is certified to EN ISO 20471, tell us when you order so the logo is placed without interfering with the reflective bands.

Can I see it before committing?+

That is what the £29.99 sample pack is for — a polo and a t-shirt with your own logo, posted to you. We do not take returns on personalised goods, so it is the sensible way to check before ordering for everybody.