Things You Should Know Before Ordering Best Custom Hoodies
There is something fantastic about covering your body in a soft, fleece garment – with a hood attached to it –keeping you warm and snuggly as the weather becomes chilly. There are many brands and many styles available in the market, how do you know which one to get? Moreover, what do you need to know when it comes to creating custom hoodies?
Let’s get into those soft & stylish customised hooded sweatshirts.
How to choose the right kind of hoodie
You should know that not all hooded sweatshirts are made equal. If you are looking for the perfect hoodie to customize, there are a few essential things to consider before you place an order: style, fabric, and brand. Here’s a quick overview of the following items:
Hoodie styles
There are two major styles of hoodies to customize: one is a pullover or Sweatshirt, the other is a full-zip.
If you search on the internet, you may find quarter-zip hoodies, side-zips, button-downs, or feather fringes with remote-control LED lights. However, these are not common & exclusive to a particular brand or a designer. The only difference between these two main styles is how you put them on, and the names are self-explanatory:
Full-zip Hoodies
Pros: More trendy, more comfortable to wear, and the zipper can be used to regulate the temperature.
Cons: Printing across the zipper can be troublesome; zippers can break and can turn wavy or bend outward on certain brands.
Pullover Hoodies
Pros: Warm, easy to print across the chest area & even on the pocket.
Cons: You can’t control your temperature with a full zip. Either you can keep it on, or you can take it off. It’s your choice.
Hoodie fabrics
Hoodies are made of various kinds of fabrics & blends, like t-shirts. There’s the soft, classic favorite 100% cotton. There are the moisture-wicking performance and ever-growing technological advancements of 100% polyester. There are poly/cotton blends & the best of all three worlds: tri-blends.
So what’s the absolute softest, you ask?
Fleece
Sweatshirt fleece is a kind of fabric that can be made from a variety of materials. Mostly, it has shredded yarn loops on the inside– it’s brushed to make it all frayed, fuzzy, & soft. If you have felt the inside of your hoodie, that’s usually fleece. It’s smooth & keeps you warm.
French Terry
French terry is another type of fabric in which the yarn loops are kept intact. It’s not as soft as fleece; however, while sweatshirt fleece is a more substantial material that keeps you warm, French terry is a lightweight material that can help keep you more relaxed. It’s also highly absorbent and breathable. That’s why they make towels and other stuff. So go with fleece in winter, and terry when it’s warmer out.
Custom Print on a hoodie
Hooded Sweatshirt or pullover has a wide range of possible print locations and can accommodate a wide range of printing methods. However, there are a few limitations and potential issues involved. Like so many other things, the thumb rule is to keep it simple. Better, keep that classy.
Hoodie Print areas
While hoodies provide all the print areas of a T-shirt and then some, however, there are some restrictions to be aware of. Below is an infographic showing the standard print locations along with a few conventional alternatives. Remember, this is a general guide. If you’ve any unique requests or crazy ideas, we can most likely make it happen. Try us.
Hoodie print methods
Screen printing
It is ideal for most hoodie printing. This classic method is vibrant, durable, & everyone’s favorite. You can print on dark fabrics & almost any kind of fabric. The trade-off is that you pay charges per color & screen set up charges can be high if you are going for low quantities.
DTG or Direct to Garment
DTG is ideal when printing small quantities of hoodies or when you need full color. The quality of printing is not as good as screen printing, and the colors are not as vibrant. However, you can easily make a single piece with a rainbow on it, which could be inexpensive with screen printing. Please be aware that you should go with 100% cotton for the best results. Be careful about washing with hot water & strong detergents if you wish to prolong its life.
Heat transfer
It is a printing technique to be used if you need a glossy metal foil business or if you have a full- design. However, you can’t afford to pay for all the ink colors, and you can’t use DTG because you have an odd print location. Please note that it creates a thin plastic coating on the surface of the fabric and eliminates breathability. It could eventually crack & chip — if you’re too hard on it, or if you wash it too many times. Mostly, it’s a pressed sticker.
Embroidery
Embroidery is the method of keeping your hoodies elegant or branded for retail. Please note that the embroidery comes with a backrest on the opposite side of the fabric that can be cumbersome on thinner clothes or barely uncomfortable in areas of friction (like nips). So keep the design of your embroidery small & simplified. The left chest is the place where the embroidered logo or design would go. However, a few innovative examples of placement are the wrist or the edge of the hood.
Standard fit vs. fashion fit hoodies
Many brands offer fashion fit (also called retail fit, slim fit, Euro fit, or just fitted). Ladies’ apparel has always been fitted. However, now some men’s styles hug the body & offer a slimmer profile for the more fashion-conscious.
These styles feature thinner, blended fabrics, and well-designed details. You’re also paying a little more, of course. It’s worth it, however, for something that’s worn frequently.
Read descriptions carefully: if it doesn’t say slim fit retail fit or fashion fit, it’s possible standard.
Men’s and Unisex vs. Women’s hoodies
One of the significant decisions to make when buying in bulk is whether to purchase all unisex or to order both men’s & women’s styles. Because not all hoodies come in both men’s & women’s. If they don’t, it is unisex. Unisex is basically the same thing as men.
Look at the differences in fit (because of the cut) shown in the picture above. The significant difference is that the women’s hoodies are overall more contoured to the female figure. Precisely, it’ll taper in at the waistline & then begin to flare out at the hips. The men’s will generally tend to have more room around the waist, shoulders & down the arms.
The neat & tidy way to fold a hoodie
Zip it up & lay your hoodie flat, then start by folding along parallel lines on the sides. Fold the arms, so they point straight down, then the hood down, then the bottom up and over. Boom, done.
Want to know more about customised hoodies or sweatshirts? Get in touch with our Apparel Consultants by contacting at +91 965-454-6400 or drop us an email at [email protected] today.