Most “my logo is cracking” complaints are laundry problems, not printing problems. Here are the few habits that protect a decoration — and a care sheet you can hand to your staff or team.
We can print a logo correctly and still get it back on a warranty conversation a year later, because the shirt spent that year in a hot wash and a hotter dryer. Decoration is a layer of ink, film or thread on a fabric, and heat, friction and harsh chemistry are what wear all three out. The good news: the rules are short, they are mostly the same for every method, and you can put them on one card.
Two caveats before we start. First, the garment’s own care label always wins — if a jacket says “do not tumble dry,” a printed logo doesn’t change that. Second, we’re giving general shop guidance here, not lab-tested wash counts; for how the methods compare on longevity, see our decoration durability guide.
Washing a printed or embroidered garment inside out keeps the decoration from rubbing against other clothes and the drum. Friction is the main thing that scuffs ink and fuzzes thread, so this single habit does more than any other.
Cold or cool water is easier on ink, film adhesive and coloured thread, and it also helps dark garments keep their colour. Heavy, hot cycles are what make a print look tired early.
Bleach attacks colour in both the fabric and the decoration. Fabric softener leaves a coating that can dull prints and, on performance fabrics, ruins moisture-wicking. Plain detergent is enough.
Heat is the enemy of anything that sits on top of the fabric — DTF film, screen-print ink and DTG ink can all soften, wrinkle or crack under repeated high heat. Air-drying is best; a low-heat tumble is the compromise. Embroidery is more forgiving, but high heat still shrinks garments and can pucker the stitching area.
If a garment needs pressing, iron it inside out or put a pressing cloth between the iron and the logo. Direct heat on a print can melt or smear it, and pressing over embroidery flattens the thread.
| Method | What wears it out | Extra care tip |
|---|---|---|
| Screen print | Heat and abrasion | Wash inside out, avoid hot dryers; don’t stretch the print when pulling the shirt on and off |
| DTG | Harsh detergents, bleach, friction | Ink is absorbed by the fibre, so it fades before it cracks — cool wash and no bleach are the biggest wins |
| DTF | Dryer heat, ironing, pressure | Sits on top of the fabric — keep heat low and never iron the film directly |
| Embroidery | Snagging, hot ironing | Avoid washing with zippers or Velcro; press inside out over a towel |
A cotton tee and a polyester performance shirt want different treatment even with the same logo. Polyester and blends dislike high dryer heat (it can distort the fabric and, with a printed decoration, cause dye from the fabric to show through), and performance fabrics lose their wicking finish when softener coats the fibres. Cotton shrinks with heat, which can stress a print that doesn’t move with it. If you’re choosing garments for a program, our fabric guide covers what each one does under a print.
Restaurants, clinics and crews that launder uniforms in bulk are the hardest case: hot water, strong detergent and industrial dryers all at once. If your uniforms go through a commercial laundry, tell us before the order. We’ll steer you toward embroidery or the method best suited to that wash, and you can ask your laundry service to run these garments inside out on a lower-heat setting.
For team and event apparel that staff take home, the care sheet below does the job. Print it, tape it in the staff room, or send it with the delivery.
If a logo starts to lift, crack or fade, tell us what the garment’s wash history looks like — how often, how hot, machine or commercial laundry. That answer usually points straight at the cause, and it tells us whether the fix is a reprint, a different method on the reorder, or a change to how the uniforms are laundered. Send it along with your order number when you get in touch.
Tell us the garment, the decoration and how it will be laundered. We’ll recommend the right method and give you care instructions to hand out with the order.
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