Marking a bag, a backpack or a cap

Flock, vinyl: what are we talking about

In everyday use, “flock printing” or “vinyl printing” covers anything applied with a heat press. Strictly speaking, flock is a film of fibres with a velvet feel, and flex is a smooth vinyl, both cut colour by colour. We do neither.

What you expect from them, a logo, a name or a design pressed onto the piece, we do as a DTF transfer: printed in full colour, with no limit on colours, from a single piece. And where the press is not suitable, we embroider.

Tote bags and canvas bags

This is the simple case. Cotton canvas is flat, withstands the heat of the press and offers a large side: a DTF transfer goes on up to 30 × 30 cm, on one side or on both, each side counting as one placement.

One thing to watch: the design must stay clear of the seams, the hems and the point where the handles are attached, where the press no longer presses flat.

Embroidery remains possible on a heavy canvas bag, for a compact logo. It is priced on quote.

Backpacks and sports bags

Here everything depends on how the bag is built. A press needs a flat surface it can clamp between its two plates; an embroidery machine needs to stretch the fabric in a hoop. A zipped pocket, foam padding, a sewn-in lining or a badly placed strap gets in the way of both.

Before ordering a series, send us the bag's reference or a photo of the side to be marked: we will tell you where the marking holds, and with which technique.

• The area that can be marked is generally the front panel or the flap, if it lies flat.
• Polyester: a DTF transfer bonds to it as it does to a garment. Thin nylon and water-repellent fabric: the bond is less certain, and a test is needed.
• Coated canvas, imitation leather and leather: our equipment does not handle them, neither with the press nor with the needle.
• Waterproof or membrane bags: no embroidery, since every stitch pierces the material.

Caps

On a cap, we recommend embroidery. The front panel is stiff and curved: it stretches well under the needle, whereas a transfer pressed onto a curved surface ages badly and ends up lifting along the ridge.

Three areas can be marked: the front panel, the side and the back, each in small format, up to 10 × 10 cm. In practice a front logo is rarely more than 7 cm wide; beyond that, it runs onto the side panels.

Construction matters. A six-panel cap has a seam down the middle of the front, which a wide logo straddles; a five-panel cap offers a continuous front. A structured cap keeps the embroidery taut, an unstructured one lets it sag with the cap.

DTF transfer is still offered on caps, as a second choice: for a gradient or a photo, which thread cannot render.

What sets the limits, in every case

Four things, whatever the piece.

• Seams, zips, rivets and reinforcements: neither the press nor the embroidery hoop goes over them.
• Details: in embroidery, no gradients and no text under 4 mm high. On a cap, space runs out even sooner.
• Sizes: 10 × 10 cm on a small placement, 30 × 30 cm on a large one. Beyond that, on quote.
• Materials we did not supply: on a bag you bring us, one test piece before the series.

Which technique on which piece