How do you do caps?

[Frog]

So, hats and caps have always presented their own parameters for decoration, often even requiring art designed specifically for the shape to be adorned. With direct printing, there are those who have devices which print on a convex surface, and those that hold them flat. Then there's heat seal of both plastisol and vinyl, and digital transfers from an inkjet or laser as well.  So, how do you do caps? No limit on number of options you choose

[aauusa]

need embroidery listed

[mimosatexas]

Added my votes.  I never direct print, and I don't have a Die cutter, but I do all the other kinds of transfers.  The finish from heat pressed plastisol transfers is much nicer than the direct print hats I have seen in person from many other shops and online places, and I find it faster usually as well.

You might add an option for sublimation as well, which is something I do on occasion as well.  Embroidery as well (as mentioned), which honestly is about half the total hats I do these days even though I outsource it.

[ffokazak]

Sublimation.

Super easy, cheap, crisp full colour graphics, and zero setups.

We run two heat presses for each employee and they can have 4-5 done per minute.

[Frog]

need embroidery listed

Probably should have,(and still might) but heck, doesn't everyone who embroiders also do hats?
Not the case with screen printers, and I was looking at the different ways of coming up with similar looking end product.

[Frog]

Sublimation.

Super easy, cheap, crisp full colour graphics, and zero setups.

We run two heat presses for each employee and they can have 4-5 done per minute.

Will add this option for at least the really light poly caps.
btw, at one place I worked, we used to screen print sublimation ink transfers on a small clamshell press, Scrapped it though, and they even sold the press,  as apparently it didn't carry it's own weight.

Now, except fot this screen printed option, sublimation really would have qualified under the inkjet transfers in my original choices. 

[Doug B]

  Gave up printing in 2001. Embroidery only. Printed a lot but it was a pain.

[Homer]

need embroidery listed

Probably should have,(and still might) but heck, doesn't everyone who embroiders also do hats?
Not the case with screen printers, and I was looking at the different ways of coming up with similar looking end product.

doesn't everyone who screen prints offer embroidery?

I refuse to screen hats. did hundreds of them once upon a time. 3 color. foam trucker hats. with puff inks... Almost got committed to the nut house.
embroidery only fella

[Frog]

Okay, I added embroidery, because I also do it sometimes (have someone do it for me), but it's rarely in the same running as the other methods.

[Shanarchy]

I voted because I wanted to see the results.

I selected direct print, flat as that is how I was doing them. I stopped printing them as the orders were usually for a dozen trucker caps, and they wanted to also print under the brim, and of course didn't want to pay a lot of money for them because they are just trucker caps. We had a high loss rate, which I'm sure we would have got the hang of, but for an order with like $50 profit it just seemed like it was more of a time suck than anything.

I am interested in seeing the results here as I have been thinking about getting a heat press for caps and doing them with some form of a transfer.

[Sbrem]

for five panel, we'll use the Livingston Hat Champ and direct print, for 6 panel, either plastisol transfers, or CAD cut vinyl, and the occasional CAD Printz from Stahl's if full color prints are needed. Mostly though, our own screen printed plastisol transfers. We send out for embroidered ones, some at the factories and some locally...

Steve

[sqslabs]

Direct print on a Caps hat press.  We keep it limited to trucker hats and single color prints.  Everything else is embroidered.

[willy35]

We use full cmyk screenprinting transfer, then heat press.

We have a company here in EU and you can order as low as 10 sheets, size from A7 to A3 and it is screenprinting, CMYK high lpi + white underbase + adhesive powder !

[Frog]

Added my votes.  I never direct print, and I don't have a Die cutter, but I do all the other kinds of transfers.  T

The die cuts I have used are merely the pre-cut letters from Stahls. In fact, way back, when I bought a hat press from them, they threw is a box of them.

[Frog]

I voted because I wanted to see the results.

I selected direct print, flat as that is how I was doing them. I stopped printing them as the orders were usually for a dozen trucker caps, and they wanted to also print under the brim, and of course didn't want to pay a lot of money for them because they are just trucker caps. We had a high loss rate, which I'm sure we would have got the hang of, but for an order with like $50 profit it just seemed like it was more of a time suck than anything.

I am interested in seeing the results here as I have been thinking about getting a heat press for caps and doing them with some form of a transfer.

Hmmmm, I have it set for showing the results to anyone, no vote required