When you place the order for the work gloves, You may be wondering which gloves printing methods are more appropriate to use.
Before choosing the best method to print your gloves, you need to know the pros and cons of different gloves printing methods.
Sometimes I got my customers to complain about the order they received not matching their expectations and preferences. It can happen to you and that’s why you need to be savvy with your customers.
Here are the 3 different gloves printing methods:
1. Ink Printing
Ink Printing, also called pad printing, which is the most common gloves printing method, is an indirect offset (or a gravure) printing process, where an image is transferred via the template onto the surface to be printed.
Ink printing costs less requires less production space, and wastes less ink, the process is much simpler.
However, it has one problem:
You can end up with a low-resolution design with dot patterns if you have an inferior textile printer. You can’t use this method to create a design for dark fabric, because the ink is thin and won’t look well.
Ink printing is ideal for printing small logos or designs in one colour. The more colours used, the longer the process will take.
What’s more, Ink Printing is the least durable and the fabric may fade in a year or less.
2. Screen Printing
Screen Printing is also called silkscreen printing because silk was used in the process. It is also known as serigraphy and serigraph printing.
For this method to work, you will need a stencil and a mesh, (mesh could be made of a synthetic polymer, such as nylon, and a finer and smaller aperture for the mesh would be utilized for a design.) You set up the stencil, which is held by the nylon mesh. A waterproof material will block the negative space that you want to design. The negative space is the only part permeable to the dye. Ink is then flooded into the screen.
The screen printing method is ideal for printing high-quality glove designs because it guarantees ultimate replication of the design, which is a clear, unique and impressive look.
This gloves printing method is suited for one colour per screen. It is not ideal for super complex multi-colour designs.
3. Heat Transfer Printing
Heat Printing, also known as heat transfer printing, is the process of applying heat-applied materials to various items with a heat press.
This gloves printing method incorporates a design printed on a special paper called transfer paper. Here is how it works.
You take a glove, press it on the best heat transfer vinyl, and then apply heat and pressure. A more similar approach like the dye sublimation with slight differences. You do the process until the heat softens the dye on the paper and it gets beneath the gloves. After that, you take the glossy paper transfer and strip off the dye which leaves you with the intended design on the gloves.
If you want complex designs, the heat and press method is ideal for you, however, it won’t work well with dark glove liner because of its translucent dye. Gloves printed through heat printing are durable, they work well when the printed object is exposed to the elements.
Which gloves printing method is better for you?
Gloves can be printed by offline processing methods, i.e., after the gloves have been moulded. Commonly used printing methods include inkjet printing and screen printing, and the advantages of these methods are that they can achieve fast, large-area printing, and they can be printed in a variety of colours and patterns as needed.
For screen printing, it is necessary to use a special gum paste as the ink, which has good covering power and colouring power and can form clear and lasting patterns on the surface of the gloves. The advantage of screen printing is that it can be done on gloves of various shapes and sizes, and the printed pattern can be a complex pattern or text.
In short, the printing method of gloves needs to be selected according to specific needs, and different printing methods are suitable for different situations.