advice on polo shirts for vinyl application?

[spongerobinson]

Hi Folks,

i've been asked to price up a job for putting vinyl logos onto polo shirts. I've only ever done t-shirts before so not sure what brands of polo shirts would be best to go for? Would anyone have any experience with this, and can recommend me any brands? I usually use Gildan t-shirts so would Gildan polos be the best way to go?

I have an account with Ralawise, so can order anything from them...any advice would be much appreciated!

Cheers,

Kevin

[Jason]

Hi Kevin,

Personally although I really like Gildan T Shirts, I'm not a fan of their polo shirts and sizes are very different depending on the style you go for. Ralawise offer a massive choice of Polo shirts, I suspect price and colour might be the deciding factor, but take a look at Fruit of the Loom, Henbury, Kustom Kit, and Russell to name a few.

[spongerobinson]

Hi Kevin,

Personally although I really like Gildan T Shirts, I'm not a fan of their polo shirts and sizes are very different depending on the style you go for. Ralawise offer a massive choice of Polo shirts, I suspect price and colour might be the deciding factor, but take a look at Fruit of the Loom, Henbury, Kustom Kit, and Russell to name a few.

thanks for that jason! i'll bare that in mind about the Gildan ones and stay away from them for now! can i ask, have you any experience with vinyl on pique or jersey knit polos? Been researching online and finding a few places saying to stay away from putting vinyl on pique knit shirts, as they have a bit of a texture to them. Usually use Hotflex from MDP and have no problems on t-shirts, but polos may be a different story!

[Jason]

Hi Kevin,

I have produced a few :wink:, I do find that some vinyls work better than others as they bed into the weave of the shirt better, the vinyl I use is also a hot peel and I don't have any issues.

I can't comment on the MDP vinyl as I haven't used it but I see no reason as to why this wont' work just fine, don't forgot not to put the buttons of the polo shirt under the heat press.

[spongerobinson]

thanks jason. think i'll try get a sample shirt to try out before going ahead with the big order just to be on the safe side!

[printgarments]

You'll be absolutely fine putting vinyl on polo shirts, FOTL ones are great (and cheap)

[Dave271069]

most polos will be fine, i use MDP vinyl hot and they come out fine, i prefer Gilden then FOTL but look at Russel etc.

[Renniwano]

I have used MDP vinyl and done heaps of Polo Shirts.. I do use a few Guildan ones as I like their moisture wicking range.. but have also used others no problem :)

[NikGrey]

I bought some Gildan Tee's but they weren't exactly uniform in shape, My last batch were FOTL and they are much better in terms of quality.

I also have some FOTL Polo's here ready for a job (waiting for my replacement press) and they look like good quality also, as for the Transfers I always sub that job out to a fella who knows what I am using them for so he always gives me the best materials for the job.

From my limited experience though FOTL is the better option.

I use BTC Activeware (http://www.btcactivewear.co.uk/).
But also have access to a ralawise account.

[mr-gobby]

visiting this post, I thought Jersey Polos were the way to go when using vinyl not Pique so did a couple Jerseys this morning with Siser PU. I used some 6mm silicone rubber/foam inside the shirt and then hung the buttons off the side of the Adkins maxi press for doing the breast, used grease proof paper then flipped it, inserted the silicone foam/rubber inside and di a larger one across the back. Seemed to work, I used two layers of greaseproof on first press and dont think I had enough pressure and decal lifted on edge so repressed it with higher pressure. Fiddle so wondered what other techniques people use for polo's and if pique ones stand up to the test of time with vinyl

Mark

[KathG]

We have been using Gildan 50/50 poly cotton and the 65/35 poly cotton polo shirts that we are part of an ongoing order for a running club. We bought the smaller 8"x8" platen for our Adkins beta maxi to do the Logos with. The edges of the foam on the platen are quite sharp so we use a small Teflon pillow. This allows for the buttons and collar to hang of the side and we don't get any sharp edge marks on the Polo.
We are using TMT 123 premium flex with their settings of 120C and 20 seconds with a quick second press with a grip flex pad we bought from Target Transfers. The only thing I might of done different would have been to buy the 6"x6" platen instead.

[mr-gobby]

is that pique or jersey style? I might try a cotton pique with siser pu

Mark

[KathG]

Hi Mark that is the pique style, though I've only used the poly cotton mix, have not tried a100% cotton yet.

[mags1892]

Ive just done some FOTL polos lady fit 65/35 ones for a client, with a two colour logo in a printed vinyl they came out really well, im not a FOTL fan to be fair but these impressed me .