Printing company clothing is a craft. By obtaining our own printing company, we can now also print your work clothing and have it embroidered. For this, we use the newest machines and techniques. The materials of our work clothes require specific expertise when printing it. This way, we can guarantee the quality of the printing and deliver a complete product. So less to worry about for you as a customer. In this article, we explain how this process works.

PRINTING COMPANY CLOTHING WITH YOUR OWN DESIGN

You can simply send us your own design and/or logo that you want to show off on your work clothing in a file. Together, we then make sure to properly map all your wishes. The designs will be checked, we establish what kind of clothing must be printed and in what quantities. What's more, we like to contribute in what kind of printing is the most suitable for your clothes. A combination of different printing techniques is one of the possibilities. Once this is clear, printing the company clothing or work clothes can commence.

TECHNIQUES FOR PRINTING WORK CLOTHES

Printing work clothes is done best by using the newest techniques in the field of printing. The print must be opaque. It often goes wrong in this regard. We use the following techniques for printing work clothes:

Ultratrans Flex/Ultratrans Plus
DTG print
Flex printing using a plotter
Screen printing (only for leather products)

PRINTING WORK CLOTHES WITH PRINT TRANSFERS

The most important techniques that are used are Ultratrans Flex and Ultratrans Plus transfers. These are crisp and clear digitally printed transfers which allow company clothing to be printed in multiple colours or with colour gradients. This is a print in full-colour, without additional cost if multiple colours are used. Printing is the new screen printing; it's a lot easier and quality-wise, it produces a better result. It is, however, an intensive process. Coloured work clothes must be pre-treated with a so-called ‘dye blocker’ to prevent ‘bleeding’.

PRINTED AND SUITABLE FOR INDUSTRIAL CLEANING

Behind the print transfers, we will put a white coating or an additional adhesive coat of glue in screen print. This makes the printing suitable for industrial or chemical cleaning. This distinguishes Ultratrans Flex and Ultratrans Plus from other printing techniques. This is very important for work clothes by Tricorp, because they need extra strong adhesion and coating, seeing the diverse applications for which our work clothes are used. The Ultratrans Flex and Ultratrans Plus transfers have successfully been tested on all of Tricorp's clothing.

PRINTING: THE NEW SCREEN PRINTING

Another print technique we use is the DTG print (direct to garment). In this, a design is printed directly onto the work clothes. The rest of the prints are all transfers. The screen print is only used for leather, for example when a belt has to be printed.

FLEX PRINTING

Additionally, we frequently use flex prints. Using a plotter, the right design is cut from the material. Then this is ‘peeled’ manually and applied to the work clothes under a press. This too is meticulous work. It's important to use the right temperature (this is 160ºC standard) and to not keep the clothing under the press for too long or too short. Another possibility is a flock print. This is a thin layer of fabric that's applied to glue. It gives the print a retro look. We use a special material for the flex prints: Poli-Flex.

PRINTING WORK CLOTHES WITH DIVERSE MATERIALS

Poli-Flex is a commonly used material. It's flexible and therefore a practical application for many types of work clothes. As such, it's extremely suitable for printing nylon or stretch. Think of, for example, sportswear. When work clothes have been printed with Poli-Flex, the person wearing it can move a lot in their work clothes without degrading the quality of the print. The print feels smooth, looks great and stretches with the fabric.

Additionally, we use Sublitex. This is a print on sublimation material, a satin-like fabric. During this process, balls of ink are injected into the material. The balls of ink then melt into the material. Sublitex can also be washed at a high temperature and printed in full-colour. It's a cheap option which gives the print a badge-like look. This makes Sublitex especially suitable for emblems. Lastly, the print can also consist of reflective material.

CHALLENGES IN PRINTING COMPANY CLOTHING

A number of textile types require additional attention when printing work clothes. Bamboo, for example, burns easily and softshell prints can easily bleed. For this reason, we use a special block-out to prevent the print from ‘bleeding', which means that parts of the fabric behind the print are visible. Dark blue and black works, must, for example, also be printed with a block-out, especially if there's white in the design to be printed. This isn't always the case with other materials.

EMBROIDERING COMPANY CLOTHING

Embroidering logos or other designs on work clothes is also part of the possibilities. We have this done by an external party who is specialised in this. Tip: embroidery looks great on our polo shirts that are available in several colours and sizes. Naturally, the polo shirts are also suitable for printing.

PERSONAL ADVICE

Because printing work clothes is a meticulous job, the best way to provide advice is to go over your specific wishes. Do you have any questions or are you interested in printed company clothes? Then contact us.