Choosing Between Embroidery and Screen Printing

Choosing the right type of customization for your apparel can be tricky. We’re here to make it a little easier for you! Here’s a simple process to help you decide what works best.

What’s the Difference?

Embroidery is the process of stitching your logo or design onto a product with needle and thread. Our commercial embroidery machines use 15 needles, each loaded with a different color. We can embroider items like bags, hoodies, hats, polos, and more. For the best results with embroidery, a simple, clean logo works best.

Screen Printing is the process of pushing ink through a mesh screen to leave your design behind on the garment. Each color in your design requires its own screen. Screen printing can become more expensive with low quantities or multi-color designs, but it’s perfect for t-shirts, hoodies, and even polos!

How to Choose What’s Best for You

Here are a few key factors to consider:

1. How it Feels:
Some people prefer how one technique feels over the other. We recommend visiting our showroom so you can see and feel the difference for yourself.

2. Material Thickness:
Embroidery works best on thicker materials like hoodies, hats, etc. If you want your logo on a hat, embroidery is definitely the way to go. T-shirts, however, aren’t ideal for embroidery because the stitching can weigh down the fabric. For tees, we almost always recommend screen printing (unless it’s a thicker, heavyweight shirt).

3. Design Details:
If your design includes small or intricate details, screen printing will capture them much more cleanly than embroidery.

4. The Look You’re Going For:
Embroidery tends to feel more professional and premium, while screen printing is often used for more playful, bold, or casual designs.

Final Thoughts

Both embroidery and screen printing work well for different applications. It really comes down to whether you’re looking for a clean, lightweight feel (screen printing) or a durable, textured look (embroidery).

Still not sure? Contact the experts at Blink Threads!
📞 801.426.6533