Hello, Brand new to this embroidery thing, I have a question what is the best hat to embroider on. Trucker foam, standard toppers high or low profile? Fitted? what I need help going is circles here got thirty hats to choose from don't got a clue.
Hate to sound generic, but it depends who you are going to sell them too. I find most women and girls like a lowprofile hat while we sell a lot of flexfit to fire and police departments. Personally I hate trucker hats but there is a specific market for them as well. Older men, don't mean to offend anyone, like the foam hats with the mesh and the plastic snaps. I like to find one or two brands I like in each style hat and just go with those when someone wants some done.
Only 30 to choose from??? Otto has about 145 pages to choose from We all have our own choices and I have done just about all kinds out there. My preference is the medium crown, structured. I've never had any problem doing any of them from structured to stretch. As Matt said, women prefer the low/medium crown unstructured, older guys prefer the full crown structured, and a lot of businesses are going to the flexi's. Markets and people are different, that's why they make so many kinds. I find it is better to only offer a half dozen kinds though as customers do get confused easily unless they have something specific in mind. I, personally, don't like to keep that much inventory or order small quantities regularly.
I always ask my customer what is their favorite cap and order that brand. If it is a generic label that doesn't tell me the manufacturer then I try to match the style with something from Otto Cap.
If you are just wanting to get some caps to have as samples to show then look at the first page of Otto's website and order whatever they show as their best sellers.
Tastes vary greatly. I prefer styles that fit my cap frames. Low profile, unstructured hats tend to work but a taller logo will work better (have greater visibility) on a higher profile hat. When purchasing a new style I order at least one extra so I can show it to a customer if I think that style embroiders well.
We run everything under the sun but, I have to say no brand embroiders better than Richardson. Hands down the easiest cap with the best results every time on our Tajimas.
We run everything under the sun but, I have to say no brand embroiders better than Richardson. Hands down the easiest cap with the best results every time on our Tajimas.
Richardson does make a nice cap but it is very difficult to get an account with Richardson unless you are a really large account or you are located in an area that has no other Richardson dealer close by.
Barudan is better on raised emb,and Tajima is better on small letters ? on hats small details I'd like to use Tajima
I'd match my Barudan against any Tajima on small lettering. When I was shopping for my machine I was specifically looking for one that did small lettering really well. Barudan's small letter, to me, was much better than Tajima.
Far too many other variables involved with small lettering than machine brand. Digitizing and garment type have a lot more to do with quality small lettering. Ditto on 3D embroidery, digitizing is far more critical.
Far too many other variables involved with small lettering than machine brand. Digitizing and garment type have a lot more to do with quality small lettering. Ditto on 3D embroidery, digitizing is far more critical.
I agree but machine brand can make a difference also.
What hat do you prefer for embroidery 
We all have our own choices and I have done just about all kinds out there. My preference is the medium crown, structured. I've never had any problem doing any of them from structured to stretch. As Matt said, women prefer the low/medium crown unstructured, older guys prefer the full crown structured, and a lot of businesses are going to the flexi's. Markets and people are different, that's why they make so many kinds. I find it is better to only offer a half dozen kinds though as customers do get confused easily unless they have something specific in mind. I, personally, don't like to keep that much inventory or order small quantities regularly.
