Embroidery, flocking or screen printing: which marking for your textiles?

Before comparing, you need to see what each of the three processes does, in one sentence. Embroidery sews your logo stitch by stitch into the fibre: there is no ink, only thread. Screen printing pushes ink through a screen, one colour after another, and lays it on the fabric. Flocking starts from a material with a velvety feel, cut to the outlines of the logo and then heat-applied to the garment.

These three methods explain almost all the differences you will notice later: the appearance, the feel under your fingers, the way the marking stands up to washing, the number of possible colours and the quantity from which each process becomes relevant. Each has its own detailed page: custom embroidery, screen printing and textile flocking. Here, we focus solely on what sets them apart when it is time to choose.

To the eye as to the touch, the three markings cannot be confused.

• Embroidery: a slight relief, the sheen of the thread, an immediate impression of a well-finished garment. With a thread close to the shade of the fabric, tone on tone produces a discreet effect, much sought after for clothing worn in front of clients.
• Screen printing: solid colours, sharp outlines, a dense layer of ink that makes colours stand out. It is the most graphic finish of the three, that of printed artwork.
• Flocking: a soft, slightly raised surface, recognisable by touch. It gives character to a simple logo, a number or a first name.

So start with the image you want to project. A reception polo shirt often calls for the understated look of thread; an event T-shirt, the vibrancy of ink; team kit marked with each person’s name, the soft relief of velvet. This first sort often eliminates one process out of three.

The durability of a marking depends first on how it is bonded to the textile. Embroidery thread becomes one with the fabric: it withstands repeated washing, which makes it the most robust option for a garment in daily use. Screen printing offers solid, durable colours, perfectly suited to T-shirts and bags handed out in large numbers. Flocking is chosen above all for its velvety feel and its flexibility on small quantities.

The right reasoning is to relate the process to the life of the garment. A jacket your technicians will put on every morning deserves a marking that will age at the same pace as the fabric. A T-shirt handed out at a trade show or a charity run will be worn less often: a printed process suits it very well. Embroidering a lightweight textile intended for a single day makes little sense; conversely, workwear that is washed constantly fully justifies thread.

The number of colours in the logo is often the deciding criterion. In screen printing, each colour requires a pass: generally from one to four colours depending on the area, and the product page shows the maximum allowed. In embroidery, each colour corresponds to a separate thread; here again, it is the marking area that sets the limit. Flocking, because it is cut out, works better with a solid colour and clean shapes than with a busy palette.

None of the three reproduces a gradient: it is reduced to solid colours, and the file check flags this before any production. Very fine details also cause problems, especially in thread, where small text or a tight rule benefits from being simplified. If your artwork has many colours or details, look at digital textile printing, which accepts an unlimited number of shades as solid colours. For a photo or a true colour transition, sublimation remains the only suitable process.

What the three have in common: the machine follows outlines. You will therefore need a vector logo, with text converted to outlines, whichever option you choose.

Quantity often decides between the ink-based and material-based processes. Screen printing is the technique for large runs: the preparation of the screens is spread over all the items, which makes it relevant as soon as the same artwork is reproduced in numbers. Flocking, for its part, shines on single textiles or small runs, for example to personalise each shirt of a club with a different name.

Embroidery has a special place: it is not so much the volume as the type of garment and how long it will be worn that justify it. Its grid remains degressive, like the whole catalogue, since the embroidery program is prepared once for the whole run. In every case, the minimum quantity depends on the product and is shown on its page; our guide to the minimum order quantity explains how to read it and how to group your needs.

• Which garment? Thick, structured textile, such as a polo shirt, a cap, a sweatshirt or a jacket: embroidery comes into its own. T-shirt or tote bag: screen printing is the benchmark. Item marked with each person’s name: flocking.
• How often will it be worn? Daily use and frequent washing: favour thread. One-off event: ink is enough.
• How many colours in the logo? One or two solid colours: all three processes are suitable. More: screen printing within the limit of the area, otherwise a digital process.
• How many identical items? A large run with the same artwork: screen printing. A few items or individual variants: flocking.
• What image do you want to give? Understated and durable: embroidery. Graphic and colourful: screen printing. Soft and sporty: flocking.

The same clothing allocation can also combine two processes, for example an embroidered logo on the chest and a large printed design on the back, if each area allows it. On our custom polo shirts as on the rest of the textiles, the configurator only shows the processes actually possible on the chosen area, with the price recalculated at each change.