Hi vis printing tips

[paul 44]

Hi guys,

Just a quick question, I have a customer who is looking to have a load of hi vis vests printed but I haven't printed on hi vis clothing as yet and was wondering if there are any tips on printing vinyl onto these.

It looks like just a company name and possibly also an individuals name.

Tips on press time and heat settings and i'd also like to know whether the hi vis material can take the heat from the press as I will be using MDP FLEX vinyl.

cheers

[socialgiraffe]

Firstly, if you are just printing black then sublimate them, its a better finish.

I am printing about 500 a week and press them for 45-50 seconds at 185 degrees but its worth pointing out that I am using the cheapest ink possible and Tesco printer paper (£2.50 a ream!). Obviously you could a reputable ink and a decent release paper and it will work just as well, but I am not sure what the times will be with them. I only use the cheapest possible as method I do so many.

If its a colour logo then it might be possible (with a bit of playing) to get close with sublimation, but that depends on the colour you need to achieve. If not then vinyl is the option and you will have no problems pressing.

Lastly, if you want to PM me I can probably supply your vests cheaper than anywhere else as I buy mine in bulk at 5000 vests at a time ;-)

S>

[paul 44]

HI,

these will be provided for me as they have already bought their own hV's, i'm just hoping there is no reflective banding across the center of the back as this may end up scorching.

Paul

[danny1]

Hi Paul,

As long as you put a teflon sheet over them it will be fine. I use vinyl to do my hi-vis vest and it works a treat.

Let us know how you get on.

Danny

[socialgiraffe]

As long as its not the cheap plastic stuff then they will not scorch.

[paul 44]

Well she got them off ebay so yes they are probably cheap, she was quoted just over £5.00 to get printed ones but decided to get blank HV's, she wanted 10 doing so I quoted £5.00 to print each vest with a logo on the front and wording on the back on each vest in vinyl, she thinks that is too expensive!

As far as teflon goes, i have always used the normal baking paper you get from supermarkets, seems to do the job, reading up on it it seems like they are both more or less the same stuff but I always check temperatures that the sheet can handle, I just wasn't sure of the material that HV's are made of as I don't want to turn them into liquid HV's lol

Thanks again

Paul

[calvinabc]

some people want everything for nothing. unless you are in our industry they dont realise the time/effort it takes to do something. i charge people £5 per location if bringing stuff in. what are others charging/doing? brought in products?

[logobear]

i wouldn't do 10 items front and back for £5 each......

[danny1]

agree with calvinabc, Everyone wants something for nothing. i doubt they could get them cheaper in a shop! the main thing is you dont feel pressured into dropping your price and then essentially doing the job for free. Done that on many occasions. it will always be a lose/lose situation if you go down that route as the customer will still not be happy and you wont be happy doing the work.

[paul 44]

Ive decided that I won't b doing the vests, may as well do them for nothing as has been said, it is for a church. Not gonna spend a few hours on those when i could be designing something.

[socialgiraffe]

Wish I could turn down work that pays £100.00 per hour....

[paul 44]

they want it for almost nothing

[socialgiraffe]

Sorry, I miss read. I though you were charging £5.00 each and then decided to turn it down :-)

[KathG]

So as a matter of interest what would be the going rate for printing front and back logo. Right now we are doing a batch of winter tops with reflective HTV for my sons running club and are charging £5.50 a top. On this occasion they are supplying the tops. With being relatively new to this business we do find it hard setting what we think are fair prices to us and the customers.
We have been lucky and have had a lot of work from my Sons running club, but one example which I'm sure plenty of you have experienced. A runner form the club asked my son what our prices for slates are. She wanted the biggest we had which was 12"X 7.5 and we quoted £15.00 which seems to be about average of what people charge. Well their has been a dealing silence after telling her the price :wink:

[paul 44]

I advised that I would charge £5.00 per top with a logo on front and wording on the back in black vinyl, they said they wouldn't pay that so they are looking at getting them printed for maybe £2.00 each possibly £3.00, they supply the vests. 10 tops at £5.00 each seemed reasonable to me but I don't think I would do them for less than that as I thought it was a very reasonable price to pay.

Paul

[KathG]

Hi Paul, in my mind I agree with you that, that is a fair price. Sadly customers do not realize the work involved. I agree the heat pressing one shirt does not take that long, but you have to possibly create the file cut the out the HTV and weed, as well as the other costs involved like electricity.
We have been lucky though as the running club have not had a problem with our prices.

[paul 44]

Hi Kath,

I thought that price was pretty fair also, I agree with what you say on customers not knowing whats involved in it, takes time to cut and weed the material as you rightly said and sometimes weeding takes longer depending on logos, size, complexity etc.
Vinyl costs also mount up when doing jobs on the cheap, I don't mind helping people out and doing a few jobs here and there that don't really make me much money as it get's your name out there, on the other hand they think your cheap, double edged sword so I tend not to do to many but depends on the customer I suppose and the audience who see's the end result, if it is worth it and there is a chance of some free promotion (I had a job like that last week) then I'd gladly do it cheaper than usual as would most I suspect.

Paul

[mr-gobby]

If they can get it done for £2-£3 elsewhere that's about 50% less than what you were happy with and sods law being that if there's any problem it could wipe out any margin.

Mark

[KathG]

Again very true to help people out does get your name out there. We my son and myself are only a small concern. His running club has really helped us get a foot on the ladder so to speak, but at the same time I have given more of my free time than they the club maybe realize( have the time now being a pensioner :wink: ) designing their logos etc. But from that has come other orders. It will be a while before we break even but slowly getting there.
Now I just need some tips to market my Christmas mugs. Getting a bit late now. Again got local interest till they asked the price. :rolleyes:

[jonna]

sadly people spend to much time on ebay and think that everywhere should charge absolute minimum for their work. If you work out the cost of material, wear and tear on machinery, time spent weeding, electricity costs, a margin for any returns and then profit you would be crazy to do it for any less than £5. This is the formula I show anybody who tries to barter on price.

[paul 44]

Jonna,

Totally agree with you. I was on ebay the other day and I have sold a few tees on there but I have seen tshirts going for 99p printed, just madness. My minimum price for a tshirt is £7.50 which is not a lot of profit, vinyl is a bit more expensive due to, like you said, weeding and time etc. People want everything for nothing these days, it's all well and good cutting your costs to sell but at the same time a profit needs to be made, thats why I do it and because I also love doing it.

[jonna]

I use a price chart ie 1-5 items £X 6-10 items £X 10-20 items £x

[Pinksmiler]

@ social giraffe. How much do you charge for your hi viz vests? Do you have a minimum order? I have done 1 in colour and it seems to be okay, although I may try cutting round the logo as it seems to darken the yellow where the paper ends. What do you charge for a printed one?

[paul 44]

HI,

I was going to charge £5.00 per vest but they weren't interested as they wanted it on the cheap so I decided I wasn't going to do them for more or less nothing.

[jonnyp100]

Hi, probably way to late to this conversation as only just joined but at MSP print and Design we specialise in high vis workwear printing.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk