What are rapid dry shirts and do they work?

In recent years the advent of rapid dry or moisture management material has become very popular for embroidered logo apparel.  We sell a lot of these types of shirts-mostly in polo shirt styles but use of this material in t-shirts, layering and other garments are gaining in popularity.

We still get questions from customers about how rapid dry material works and if it does really work or is it a “marketing gimmick”.

Moisture wicking clothing has many applications in today’s busy lifestyles. Numerous people are using this type of clothing to increase their comfort. These new garments wick, or absorb, sweat caused by exertion, exercise, or hot climates by pulling it away from the wearer’s skin.

NIKE Dri-fit Polo

There are a number of terms you have maybe heard to describe a moisture management material.  They include, moisture wicking, rapid dry, dri-fit, drytec, dryblend, climatlite are some of the more popular but they all basically mean the same thing.

To achieve a moisture wicking characteristic, the manufacturers apply a topical treatment to a garment made from hydrophobic fibers, such as polyester, to give it the ability to absorb sweat. The hydrophilic (water-loving) finish or treatment will allow this type of garment to absorb residue, while its hydrophobic (water-hating) fibers will help it to dry fast, keeping the wearer more comfortable.

That all sounds pretty technical so let me simplify it for you.  Essentially what happens is the fibers move moisture away from the wearer’s skin allowing air to circulate more freely thereby drying the material faster.

So the next question is does it work.  The answer is an unequivocal yes.  And that is from personal experience.

I enjoy playing golf and in the summer here in Minnesota it can be really humid and sticky.  If I am wearing a cotton shirt and start to sweat, I will have to endure a wet, uncomfortable shirt for the remainder of the round.  But if I am wearing a rapid dry shirt, it really does stay dry when I start to sweat and that keeps me comfortable for the rest of the day.

The great thing about rapid dry shirts is that there is really no disadvantage to wearing them.  They are very stylish, durable and comfortable even if you aren’t sweating.

If you haven’t tried any, you should.  I think you will be surprised.

Embroidery vs. Screen Printing

There are a number of methods to decorate apparel but by far the two most common are embroidery and screen printing (aka silk screen or serigraphic).  However, they are very different in terms of their application, benefits and situations in which you would use one over the other.

Embroidery is basically defined as decorating fabric using a needle and thread.  Screen printing is a stencil method of print making in which a design is imposed on a screen of silk or other fine mesh, with blank areas coated with an impermeable substance, and ink is forced through the mesh onto the printing surface, usually a t-shirt.

An logo embroidered directly
on a polo shirt material.

At Thread Logic, we do a form of direct embroidery on all logo apparel.  Direct embroidery is where the design or logo is woven or sewn directly into the material of the garment.  The embroidered design essentially becomes part of the material.  You might contrast direct embroidery with something like a patch where the logo is embroidered on a piece of material first and then the patch is placed on top of and merely attached to a garment.

There are three major ways to compare and contrast embroidery and screen printing-how they look, how much each costs, and the applications for best using each method.

How They Look

In general, embroidery is considered a nicer and classier way to present a design.  An embroidered logo looks very nice and classy on the left chest of a shirt.  It is the preferred way to decorate a shirt with a logo by many companies.  Because thread has dimension, an embroidered logo ends up being three dimensional.  In addition, embroidery thread is coated and therefore has a sheen that helps the colors pop to attention.

A design screen printed on a t-shirt.

Screen printed designs look like they were painted or printed with an ink-jet printer on a shirt.  It is possible with screen printing to create designs or certain looks that could not be recreated in thread and embroidery.  The designs can be very colorful, but are one dimensional.  In general, screen printed items are considered by many to be less valuable and not as nice as embroidery.est of a shirt.  It is the preferred way to decorate a shirt with a logo by many companies.  Because thread has dimension, an embroidered logo ends up being three dimensional.  In addition, embroidery thread is coated and therefore has a sheen that helps the colors pop to attention.

The Best Applications

Logo embroidery is used most often for apparel that will be used for uniforms or promotions.  Millions of companies across the United States wear logo embroidered shirts to identify and promote their company logos and image.  Most embroidered logos are done on the left chest and look really good on polo shirts, button-down shirts, caps and hats, sweatshirts, jackets and bags.

Screen printed designs are usually best done on t-shirts and sweatshirts.  One reason for that is the finish on a t-shirt or sweatshirt is smooth and therefore provides a nice surface on which the ink can be applied.

If you need to do a large full-front or full-back design on a t-shirt for example, screen printing is the best choice.  Putting a large embroidered design on a t-shirt would spell disaster for both the shirt and the embroidered design.  The t-shirt material is too thin to properly hold all the embroidery stitches it would take to create a large design.  It would not look good or last very long.

Embroidery and screen printing are equally durable.  Often times, these decoration methods will outlast the garment they are printed on.

How Much They Cost

Pricing for each decoration method involves a number of variables that one should consider ahead of time.  Embroidery is most often priced by stitch count.  That is the number of stitches it takes to create a design in embroidery.  More stitches equal more cost.

However, at Thread Logic, we created a flat pricing structure that includes the embroidery in the cost of the garment to simplify the pricing process for our customers.

The pricing for screen printing is completely different.  It is driven by three variables including the number of shirts, the number of colors in the design and the number of different locations (i.e. front and back) printed on a shirt.

The more shirts you have to print, the lower the printing cost per shirt.  However, more colors in a design drives up the printing cost.  Similarly, if you want a design on the front of a shirt and one on the back, that also adds cost to the item.

Hopefully we have been able to provide some basic information about the difference between embroidery and screen printing.  Both decoration methods have their advantages and disadvantages.  If you have any additional questions, please contact us for more information.

What does ‘preshrunk’ mean?

One of the challenges we all face when choosing a shirt to wear is the sizing and fit.  An important consideration in that decision is any potential shrinkage of the material.  We have all bought logo embroidered shirts, washed and dried them only to have them shrink up to the point where we can’t wear them anymore.  That can be very frustrating not be mention expensive.

In the not-so-distant past in fact, it was common place to buy a t-shirt or polo shirt that was a size too big knowing it would shrink down to a size that would fit.  Thankfully, those days are long past.  The good news is technology has caught up significantly with this problem.

One of those technological advances is the ability for manufacturers to “pre-shrink” material in order to address that issue.  For many of the products on our website and the websites of others, you will see the term “pre-shrunk” used in the product description.

Fabric, either natural or synthetic, innately wants to shrink when washed.  Pre-shrunk fabric is not washed and dried as the name may imply, but put through a machine that pushes the fibers tightly together, condensing the fabric by removing the space between the stitches.   In essence, it replicates the shrinking process.

In theory, the practice seems ideal to eliminate sizing guess-work. However, If you understand the technical part, you know that pre-shrunk means they’ve taken most of the shrinkage out.  But that can be misleading for some people.  Pre-shrunk can imply that the garment will not shrink at all when it is washed.

That assumption is incorrect. Most every fabric will shrink, on average 3 to 7 percent depending on the type.  Even if it says the fabric is preshrunk, there will still be some shrinkage when it is washed.  However, shrinkage of 3 to 7 percent is not something most of us would even notice when it comes to fit.

So the bottom line is next time you see the word pre-shrunk or shrink resistant know that it means a majority of the shrinkage has been take out of the material.  You will see that mostly in loose knit shirts like polo shirts that are made of 100% cotton. Therefore, you can be confident that you will not need to get a size larger to account for any shrinkage.

Pricing for Custom Logo Embroidery: It doesn’t have to be so complicated.

Pricing custom logo embroidery services can be a very daunting and confusing adventure.

So you are ready to purchase some embroidered logo apparel. You go a Google search and find a number of companies from which can meet your needs.  You find a shirt that will work for your company so now you want to know the price.  But as you try and figure out how much it will cost to have your logo embroidered onto a polo shirt, you discover the pricing for custom logo embroidery can be a process in itself.

There are basically two different methods to price custom logo embroidery.

Stitch Count

In this method, the price is determined by the number of stitches it takes to create an image in embroidery.  The theory is the more stitches it takes, the longer it is on the embroidery machine and therefore it would cost more.

You would see this pricing method referred to usually as “$1 per thousand stitches” for example.  In this formula, a logo with 10,000 stitches would cost $10 to embroider on a shirt.

Part of the buying decision for customers is figuring out the price of an item.  Some companies make this very complicated.  For example, this is the embroidery pricing found on a competitor’s website.

Custom embroidered apparel or cap prices include up to 6 colors per logo, up to 10,000 stitches for the 1st logo, and up to 5,000 stitches for additional embroidery locations.

$0.35 for every 1,000 stitches exceeding 10,000 stitches, per piece* (regardless of quantity purchased)

What happens if my design has 7 colors in it?  Then what is the price?

I am in the business and I am not sure I understand how that pricing would work.  I can’t imagine if I were a customer just wanting a few polo shirts for my company this would make any since.

Pricing by stitch count has its advantages.  For the embroidery shop, it is a very accurate way to cover the costs of production.

But there are two very distinct disadvantages with a stitch count pricing method.  The only way to actually know the stitch count, and therefore the price, is to have the logo set-up or digitized.  That can be a time consuming process-it may even take a day or two.  How does that pricing method make is easy for a customer to make a buying decision?

Secondly, the customer really has no idea of how many stitches it takes to create their logo.  Only the embroidery shop knows the true number so this method is less than transparent.  Information is power and in this case the customer has no information or power in this transaction.

Flat Pricing Method

The other pricing method is one that we at Thread Logic have employed since the start of our company. It is a flat pricing method.

Under this method, the cost for the custom embroidery of a logo is a flat fee and it not determine by stitch count.  This makes it much easier for the customer to understand when making a decision about logo embroidered apparel.

In fact, we take it one step further; we include the cost of logo embroidery right in with the cost of the item that is to be embroidered.  That way it is very easy and transparent way for customers to make a quick and educated buying decision.

Every item on our website includes the embroidery of the logo.  It’s that simple.  No need for a quote.  No need to figure out stitch counts.

Flat pricing for custom logo apparel takes away all the disadvantages of pricing by stitch count.

So why don’t more embroidery shops use this method?  That is a good question.  The answer lies in the old traditions and practices of the industry.  Pricing by stitch count has been around for decades and is a commonly accepted practice within the industry.  It is driven by a cost account philosophy of pricing and not a customer friendly philosophy.

The flat pricing model is something we have used at Thread Logic from the time we started the company.  The feedback we get from customers on it has been very positive for the reasons stated above.  I would dare say it is one of the best marketing decisions we have ever made.

About Thread Logic

Jeff Taxdahl, Owner, Thread Logic

Thread Logic owner, Jeff Taxdahl, worked in marketing positions of both large corporations and small start-up companies before starting Thread Logic from scratch in 2001.

Jeff was often the person making the logo apparel purchasing decisions for those companies. He used that experience to bring a simplified and more user-friendly approach to the embroidered apparel buying process. For example, gone is pricing based on stitch-counts (which only the industry understands).

Jeff has written numerous articles for an industry trade magazine and given presentations for industry professionals. In March of 2010, he was selected to be the keynote speaker at the National Network of Embroidery Professionals annual conference and trade show.

He has also presented to marketing professionals at two Marketing Sherpa events in the fall of 2009.

Yet he stills values everyday customer contact as a way to stay in touch with customer needs. So don’t be surprised if you call Thread Logic and he answers the phone.

Thread Logic is located in Jordan, MN, an outer-ring suburb southwest of downtown Minneapolis.

You can contact him at jeff@thread-logic.com or 800-347-1612 for any reason.

Embroidered Logo Apparel is All We Do

One way we fulfill our mission is with a focus that few other companies offer today. Embroidered logo apparel is all we do. We don’t sell magnets, pens or coffee mugs. That would distract us from fulfilling our mission.

We focus on logo embroidered apparel because it is what we know and what we are good at doing.

No embroidered item leaves our shop until it passes our stringent inspection process. Few embroidery companies have standards as high as ours.

Free Embroidery

Your time is valuable. Who needs the extra hassle of trying to figure out complicated pricing schemes? Most of those pricing models are based on stitch counts (the number of stitches it takes to create an image in embroidery).

How many stitches are in your logo? Exactly.

At Thread Logic, we have created a pricing model that includes the embroidery of your logo no matter how many stitches it takes to create it. Simple, up-front pricing with no need for a quote, that’s as easy as anyone can make it.

Quantity Discounts

Most companies offer a quantity discount; that is not new. But what makes our quantity discount different is that we include everything you purchase to calculate the discount.

That means every style of shirt, jacket, hat or bag along with every color and every size. All of it is included.

We Own the Equipment

We own and operate state-of-the-art embroidery machines and the best software to run it all. In doing so, we have total control of the quality of our products and the turnaround time of customer orders.

In addition, our production runs much smoother, faster and more efficiently, keeping our costs as low as possible.

Many of our competitors depend on other companies to do the embroidery work for them. They are just brokers who sell something they probably don’t know much about or completely understand.

When you work with Thread Logic, you are working with embroidery logo apparel experts who work to understand your needs, the available products and how to make your logo look the best it can in embroidery. It really does make a difference.

How hard is it to remove an embroidered logo from a shirt?

This is another question that gets asked of us often.  There are a couple scenarios where this question comes up.  The two most common are people who have a shirt they love, but it has a logo on it that they really don’t care for.

The second scenario is a company already has some logo embroidered shirts but now they have changed the name of their business or logo and want to put the new image on shirts they already have without buying new ones.

In both of those cases, it is logical to assume one option would be to remove the undesirable logo and/or replace it with a different one.

Well, as is true with many things, it is not always as easy as it may appear.

Most logos are embroidered onto shirts using a method called direct embroidery.  With the direct embroidery method, the logo is actually sewn into the material of the shirt.  The embroidered logo becomes part of the shirt or the item it is applied to.

The goal is to remove the logo without damaging the shirt or item.

Therefore removing a logo cleanly can be problematic.

This is not to say removing a logo cannot be done, it can.  But the definition of how successful one can be in removing a logo is based on a number of factors.  The first is the stability of the shirt material it is sewn onto.  Cotton knit and twill shirts work better than polyester knit shirts for example.  The second factor is the logo design itself.  If it is an image with a lot of small text and details, it is less likely the logo can be removed without damaging the shirt.

The next problem is related to the fact that thousands of holes were created in the shirt material when that logo was embroidered.  Depending on the shirt material, those holes will remain in the material after the embroidery is removed.

If you were planning on embroidering another logo onto that shirt, that certainly helps.  Now you have a chance of covering up those holes.  But if you were just going to remove that logo, chances are really good you will be able to see those holes left by the embroidery of the first logo.

Finally, it can be very time consuming to sit and pick out an embroidered logo.  How long it takes can depend on your skill level and the tools you have available.  But there is a good chance you could spend some significant time doing it and still ruin the shirt to the point where it is not wearable.

As you can see, it is really not very easy to remove an embroidered logo.  It can be done, but it is not easy and there is a good chance you will ruin the shirt in the process.  Our best advice, don’t try it.

What is “Pique” and how is it pronounced?

It happens almost on a daily basis.  A customer calls with a question about a polo shirt they want to use for their embroidered logo.  Invariably the shirt has the word “pique” in it and they stumble trying to pronounce it.

That is really easy to understand.  It’s one of those words that have no obvious pronunciation.  When I first started in the business I didn’t know how to pronounce it correctly either.

It seems like a small thing, but being able to pronounce a particular word properly is a basic part of having a conversation with someone.  It makes communication between two people easier and improves the chances that both parties completely understand each other.

We have heard a lot of different attempts from people who try and pronounce it.  Most often the attempts center around two variations, they are “peak” and “pick”.

Webster’s dictionary lists the pronunciation as “\pi-ˈkā, ˈpē-\”.  As in “pi-kay” or “pee-kay”.

Pique refers to a weaving style, normally used with cotton yarn, which is characterized by raised parallel cords or fine ribbing.  It creates a fine textured surface that appears similar to a waffle weave.  Commonly used for polo shirts.

This is a detailed picture of a pique knit weave.  You can see the parallel cords and who it give the weave a 3 dimensional quality.

A vast majority of golf or polo shirts sold on the market today feature a pique weave.  It has proven very popular in style and durability for decades.

Over the years the logo embroidered golf polo shirt has become a favorite giveaway in many corporate events, and is a fashion style that can be worn with jeans, shorts and slacks.

So now you can dazzle your friends with a Cliff Clavin moment the next time you get into a conversation with them about pique knit polo shirts.