Polos, work shirts, jackets, hoodies, caps, beanies, corporate apparel, heavy-duty workwear.
Stitched thread rather than printed ink, so it has a texture and depth that printing can't really replicate.
It's the option most people picture when they think "company uniform," and for good reason.
It holds up to years of wear and washing without the logo looking tired.
Where embroidery struggles a bit is with large designs or anything with fine gradients.
Past a certain size, and past a certain level of detail, it starts to lose the crispness. It also carries a digitising cost upfront, which is a one-off but worth knowing about if you're only ordering a handful of garments.

Advantages: premium look and feel, very durable, holds up to industrial laundering on most fabrics, great for chest/sleeve logos.
Considerations: not suited to large full-back designs; fine detail and gradients get simplified; digitising adds setup cost.
Longevity: ★★★★★ - Generally lasts the life of the garment.

Cotton tees, hi-vis shirts, workwear, hoodies, event apparel, promotional clothing, large-quantity orders.
This is the old reliable of garment decoration. Each colour gets its own screen, ink is pushed through, and you end up with bold, consistent colour that doesn't fade quickly.
It's the method most large uniform and event runs still default to, because per-garment cost drops fast as quantity goes up.
The catch is the setup: every colour needs a new screen, so small orders don't make much financial sense, and photographic or highly detailed artwork doesn't translate as cleanly as a flat-colour logo does.

Advantages: cost-effective at scale, strong colour opacity, durable finish, well suited to large back prints.
Considerations: setup cost makes small runs expensive; multi-colour designs need multiple screens; not ideal for photo-realistic artwork.
Longevity: ★★★★☆ - holds up well with proper washing.

Corporate uniforms, retail apparel, small production runs, multi-coloured logos, fine detail artwork, names and numbering, mixed garment orders.
This is our upgraded film transfer process: a softer, more premium film than standard DTF, built for logos with a lot going on: gradients, fine linework, multiple colours in a small space.
If your artwork is intricate and you don't want to compromise on how it reproduces, this is usually the one we'd point you toward.
It sits at a higher price point than standard transfers, and once you're into genuinely large production runs, screen printing usually becomes the more sensible option cost-wise. But for smaller or mixed orders where quality matters most, it's hard to beat.

Advantages: excellent colour accuracy, soft hand feel, good stretch, no minimum order quantity, handles detailed and photographic artwork well.
Considerations: costs more than standard transfer methods; less economical than screen printing for very large runs.
Longevity: ★★★★★ - strong wash resistance, built for everyday uniform use.

Workwear, cotton garments, polyester garments, mixed fabric uniforms, promotional apparel, one-off pieces, short production runs.
DTF is the flexible option: full colour, applied to almost any fabric, without the setup costs that come with screen printing.
If you need a handful of garments across a few different fabric types, or you're not sure yet what you'll need down the track, this is usually the easiest starting point.
The finish is a touch thicker than screen printing and not quite as soft-handed as our premium Supa Colour transfer, but it's a solid, reliable middle ground.

Advantages: full-colour printing, good detail, no setup cost, works across a wide range of fabrics.
Considerations: thicker finish than screen printing; less soft feel than premium film transfer.
Longevity: ★★★★☆ - good durability with correct washing.

Polyester sportswear, fishing shirts, teamwear, activewear, cycling apparel, polyester hospitality uniforms.
Sublimation doesn't sit on top of the fabric. It dyes it, so there's genuinely nothing to crack, peel or flake off over time, and no added weight or stiffness.
That's what makes it the standard choice for all-over sports designs and teamwear, where the whole garment is part of the artwork rather than just a logo in one spot.
The trade-off is that it only works on polyester (or polyester-heavy blends), and it needs a light-coloured base fabric to show colour properly, so it's not a fit for cotton workwear or dark garments.

Advantages: permanent, won't crack or peel, unlimited colours, lightweight and breathable, suited to full-garment designs.
Considerations: polyester only; works best on white or light fabrics; not compatible with cotton.
Longevity: ★★★★★ - becomes part of the fabric itself.

That's normal. Most people don't know the trade-offs between these methods going in, and honestly the right call often depends on details that are easier to talk through than to write down.
Get in touch and we'll figure out what suits your garments, your artwork and how the uniforms will actually be used day to day.

Contact the Thorny Devil team and we'll talk it through.