If you see someone walking down the street in a bold and stylish custom hoodie with a brand logo that you’ve never seen before, chances are you’ll be curious to learn where they got it from. Creating your own custom hoodies presents a unique opportunity to promote your brand while connecting with your customers.
Whether you’re looking to design a hoodie for your brand, team, or simply for fun, choosing the right printing technique can make or break the final product. With so many options available, how do you decide on the best method? Don’t worry—we’ve got you covered!
In this article, we’ll explore the top printing techniques for custom hooded sweatshirts, helping you create high-quality hoodies that truly stand out.
- The Power of Custom Apparel
- Designing Your Custom Hoodie
- The Best Printing Techniques for Custom Hoodies
- Ordering Custom Hoodies
The Power of Custom Apparel
Branded merchandise is a $50 billion industry worldwide, and it can be a great way for businesses of any size to generate additional revenue. A study commissioned by Deloitte found that 81% of consumers would be willing to pay more for customized clothing.
The benefits of custom apparel go beyond financial incentives. Creating high-quality branded merchandise can enhance brand awareness and foster trust with customers. The average customer engages with an ad for only 2 to 4 seconds, which means you need to grab their attention right away for your message to make an impact.
In contrast, customers engage with promotional items like custom hoodies for a much longer time because they see these garments daily when they open their closets.
A study conducted by the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) found that people keep promotional products for an average of eight months. That’s eight months of people seeing your company logo, which can create a positive association with your brand.
Designing Your Custom Hoodie
When designing a custom hoodie, you might be worried about including intricate designs or artwork. While you can certainly incorporate your own artistic flair, a good rule of thumb when it comes to custom apparel is to keep it simple.
Let’s consider Gap as a prime example of this philosophy. In 1998, Gap introduced its iconic arch logo hoodie to the market. The sweatshirt had a deceptively simple design; it was just a grey hoodie with “Gap” printed in large letters on the front. The hoodie quickly became one of their best-selling items to date and continues to be a mainstay of modern streetwear.
Dozens of famous fashion brands have adopted this minimalist approach to branding. So, when it comes to creating custom hoodies for your own brand, take a page out of Gap’s playbook and keep it simple.
Choosing the Right Fabric
Visuals are only one aspect of creating a great custom hoodie. The feel of your hoodie is just as important, if not more important, than its look. After all, if your hoodie is not comfortable to wear, all of your hard work will have been for nothing.
Here are some of the most common fabric options for custom hoodies:
- Cotton: Soft, breathable, and absorbent.
- Cotton blend: Can be more durable and wrinkle-resistant than pure cotton.
- Polyester: Lightweight, quick-drying, and wrinkle-resistant.
- Polyester blend: Can offer a balance of softness and durability.
- Fleece: A highly functional fabric that will keep you warm but also allow your skin to breathe.
When choosing fabrics for your custom hoodies, think about using Organic Cotton. Unlike regular cotton, organic cotton is grown without harmful chemicals, pesticides, or genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In an era where values-driven decisions resonate deeply with consumers, investing in organic cotton clothing is a powerful way to showcase your commitment to a sustainable future.
The Different Types of Hoodies
Custom hoodies are incredibly versatile and come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes. Before deciding on what type of hoodie you want to go with, it’s important to consult your team to make sure they’re comfortable with the style.
Here are some of the most popular hoodie styles you can choose from:
- The pullover hoodie: A simple sweatshirt that offers a great deal of comfort. It can come with or without a kangaroo pocket.
- The zip-up hoodie: This versatile option allows the hoodie to be fully zipped up or worn open.
- The quarter-zip hoodie: The quarter-zip hoodie offers the warmth and comfort of a standard hoodie with a slightly more formal style.
- The cropped hoodie: Ideal for spring and summer adventures, the cropped hooded sweatshirt is a more feminine and stylish alternative to the classic hooded sweatshirt.
- The toddler hoodie: A special toddler hoodie is a thoughtful and cute way to show your appreciation to your clients or employees.
Incorporating Your Brand’s Personality
Your custom hoodies should reflect your company’s personality and values. This is your chance to get creative! Before designing brand merchandise, make sure you have a good grasp of your brand’s unique identity.
- Logo placement: Decide where your logo will stand out the most—on the chest, back, sleeve, or even the pockets of the hoodie.
- Colors: Stick to your brand colors or create a complementary palette that pops. A vibrant or neutral color scheme can make a big difference.
- Design elements: Include taglines, subtle patterns, or unique graphics that reflect your brand’s identity.
If you want an amazing company logo to put on your custom hoodies, LogoMaker‘s AI-powered logo design suite has over 10,000 unique design templates that you can use to design a custom professional logo in just minutes.
The Best Printing Techniques for Custom Hoodies
After you design your amazing custom hoodies, you’ll have to print them and ship them to your team and customers. There are many options.
In this section, we’ll review the best printing techniques for custom hoodies, explaining the pros and cons of each so that you can decide which method is best for your business.
Screen Printing
If you’re looking for a timeless look with bold, vibrant colors, screen printing is your best bet. This classic printing technique is widely used by top names in the industry for good reason. Screen printing involves pushing ink through a mesh screen onto the fabric, creating a smooth and durable design.
Why Choose Screen Printing?
- Durability: Screen printing produces long-lasting designs that can handle countless washes.
- Vibrant colors: The ink sits on top of the fabric, creating bright and bold colors that pop.
- Cost-effective for bulk orders: If you’re making a collection of custom-printed hoodies, this technique offers a great cost per unit.
Considerations
- Minimum order quantity (MOQ): Screen printing usually has order minimums, so it may not be ideal if you only want to print one or two hoodies.
- Limited color range: Since each color requires a separate screen, designs with many colors can get expensive.
Direct-to-Garment (DTG) Printing
Want to print a full-color image with various fonts and intricate details? Direct-to-garment (DTG) printing is your go-to method. This technique works like an inkjet printer, applying ink directly onto the fabric.
Why Choose DTG?
- Great for complex designs: You can upload highly detailed artwork without worrying about color limitations.
- No minimum order quantity: Ideal for printing just one or two personalized hoodies.
- Soft feel: The ink soaks into the fabric, making it feel smooth and comfortable.
Considerations
- Not as durable as screen printing: DTG prints can fade over time, especially if not washed properly.
- Best on 100% Cotton: Works best on cotton garments rather than fleece or polyester blends.
Embroidery
For a premium and professional touch, embroidery is the way to go. This technique stitches the design directly onto the fabric, making it perfect for adding a logo to high-quality hoodies.
Why Choose Embroidery?
- Luxurious and professional look: Embroidery gives your custom hoodie a high-end feel.
- Durable: Unlike printed designs, embroidered designs won’t fade or peel.
- Ideal for branding: Many brands and teams prefer embroidery for a polished and uniform appearance.
Considerations
- Higher cost: Embroidery can be more expensive than printing, especially for large designs.
- Limited design options: Fine details and shading are difficult to achieve with embroidery.
Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV)
Heat transfer vinyl (HTV) is perfect for creating personalized sweatshirts with names, numbers, or simple logos. It involves cutting out vinyl designs and pressing them onto the fabric with heat.
Why Choose HTV?
- Great for one-off designs: Perfect for making a one-time custom hoodie for a special event.
- Durable and flexible: The vinyl adheres well to the fabric and can stretch without cracking.
- Various fonts and colors available: Explore different styles to make your design pop.
Considerations
- Not ideal for large orders: Applying vinyl to multiple hoodies can be time-consuming.
- Layering limitations: Using too many colors or layers can make the hoodie feel stiff.
Sublimation
Sublimation printing is a fantastic option for all-over designs, but it only works on polyester garments. This technique uses heat to transfer dye into the fabric, creating a smooth, breathable, and long-lasting design.
Why Choose Sublimation?
- No feel on fabric: The ink becomes part of the material, so there’s no added texture.
- Long-lasting: Sublimated designs won’t crack, fade, or peel.
- Great for vibrant, full-color prints: Ideal for bold and colorful graphics.
Considerations
- Only works on polyester: Not suitable for cotton or fleece hoodies.
- White or light-colored fabric needed: Sublimation doesn’t work well on dark fabrics.
Discharge Printing
Discharge printing is a unique fabric printing technique used primarily on dark-colored garments. It involves applying a discharge ink that deactivates the dye in the fabric. Instead of laying color on top of the shirt, the discharge ink removes the shirt’s original dye, revealing the natural color of the fabric or the dye’s lighter shade. This method results in a very soft print that becomes part of the fabric rather than sitting on top of it.
Why Choose Discharge Printing?
- Soft feel: Integrates seamlessly into fabric without adding stiffness.
- Long-lasting: Resistant to cracking, fading, or peeling.
- Great for dark clothing: Excels on dark clothing to achieve a stylish, washed-out look.
Considerations:
- Difficult to work with: Color outcomes are less predictable.
- Not sustainable: More environmentally harsh than some water-based inks.
- Inconsistent: Slight variations can occur between hoodies.
Choosing the Right Printing Technique for Your Needs
So, which printing technique should you choose? It really depends on your needs. If you want to bulk order your custom hoodies, screen printing is probably your best option. However, if you want to make your custom hoodies stand out from the pack, embroidery provides a premium professional touch that you can’t match.
Regardless of the technique you select, be sure to consider factors such as material, design complexity, cost, and order minimums.
Ordering Custom Hoodies
LogoMaker’s custom hoodie maker is perfect for creating a professional and unique look for your team, business, or event. Our hoodies are made with medium-weight, breathable cotton-poly fabric, perfect for cool weather. Our sizing chart goes from small to 5XL to ensure that all members of your team or community feel included.
With our intuitive design tools, creating a personalized hoodie design is easy. Use the hoodie editing tool to create logos and several cool hoodie designs, or upload a logo of your choice if you already have an established brand.
Conclusion
Customizing your own hoodie is a fun and creative way to express yourself, whether for personal use, branding, or everyday wear. By choosing the right printing technique, you can ensure that your custom hoodies look great and last a long time.
Keep our advice in mind when selecting a printing technique for your own custom hoodies, and start feeling the benefits of having amazing custom apparel!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is the most durable printing technique for custom hoodies?
Screen printing and embroidery are the most durable options. Screen printing offers vibrant, long-lasting prints, while embroidery provides a high-end, stitched design that won’t fade.
Can I print just one hoodie, or is there a minimum order quantity?
Some techniques, like DTG printing and HTV, allow for one-off prints with no minimum order quantity. However, screen printing and embroidery usually require bulk orders. LogoMaker has no minimum order quantity for any of our hoodies, so you can order as few or as many as you need.
What materials work best for custom-printed hoodies?
Cotton is best for DTG printing, while polyester works well for sublimation. Screen printing and embroidery work on various materials, including fleece blends.
How long does it take to get my custom hoodies?
Production time depends on the printing technique and the store you choose. Many custom hoodie makers offer fast shipping options, but bulk orders may take longer. LogoMaker offers fast shipping to ensure you get your custom hoodies quickly.
Can I upload my own design?
Yes! Most printing services, including LogoMaker, allow you to upload your own custom hoodie design. Be sure to check the file requirements for the best results.
Which printing method is best for a team or brand logo?
Embroidery and screen printing are the top choices for teams and brands looking for high-quality, professional designs.
How do I care for my custom hoodie to make it last?
Wash your custom hooded sweatshirts inside out in cold water and avoid high heat when drying. For embroidered designs, air drying is recommended.
What if I want various fonts and colors in my design?
DTG and sublimation printing allow for unlimited colors and intricate designs, making them the best choice for vibrant, multi-color graphics.
