Has anyone had success (or failure) screen printing a left chest logo on the pique polo shirts? I could have a very large order and I know screen printing would be a lot cheaper than embroidery, but I'm not sure how the print would look on the textured surface of the pique polos.
Main issue is filling the pique weave with ink yet it can be done. if printing manually you may want to use a 5X5 tile to help with the off contact issues due to the buttons.
I personally hate printing on polo's, its like adding neon lights to a BMW.
I feel that way about hats too. Either get them embroidered or just forget about it. It just always ends up looking cheap.
Agreed, it looks cheap compared to embroidery. But that's because it IS cheap compared to embroidery . When you have an order for 200 school uniforms and the screen printed polos are priced at $7 and the embroidered ones are priced at $14, that's a HUGE price difference.
I will probably end up having them embroidered, but just wanted to check into screen printing since its so much cheaper. Thanks for the input.
If you've got a pique shirt laying around, give it a try. I tried it and didn't like it because the texture of the shirt is so pronounced. I've read where some claim to be able to do a good job of it, and maybe if the design were such that you could fill in the low spots of the weave with enough plastisol that it would sort of flatten things out, it might look pretty fair, who knows? I'm kind of picky, and when I print something, I look at it really closely – sometimes closer than I should. Funny thing is, if you look at embroidery really closely, it isn't perfect either as far as edges of type and shapes go, but I think it gets a pass because the surface is smooth, and the thread seems to go more naturally with the woven shirt. You can try and steer 'em towards jersey polos, which print well, or some of the other tighter weave styles of polos by some of the distributors that would look better screenprinted.
If you've got a pique shirt laying around, give it a try. I tried it and didn't like it because the texture of the shirt is so pronounced. I've read where some claim to be able to do a good job of it, and maybe if the design were such that you could fill in the low spots of the weave with enough plastisol that it would sort of flatten things out, it might look pretty fair, who knows? I'm kind of picky, and when I print something, I look at it really closely – sometimes closer than I should. Funny thing is, if you look at embroidery really closely, it isn't perfect either as far as edges of type and shapes go, but I think it gets a pass because the surface is smooth, and the thread seems to go more naturally with the woven shirt. You can try and steer 'em towards jersey polos, which print well, or some of the other tighter weave styles of polos by some of the distributors that would look better screenprinted.
Yeah, I agree with you. Jersey knit polos would print much better, and are even cheaper, but will have to see if the customer is happy with it. And yes, I've seen a lot of embroidery (especially the ones on these current school uniforms) that just looks terrible. Much of it looks like somebody tried to sew it by hand, and the letters are hard to read if you don't already know what it's says. I don't know much about embroidery, but I'm guessing that's indication of poor quality work or just cheap embroidery.
Just make sure the end use of the polo shirt e.g if you are selling to cafes etc. who need to wash it every day then don't use cheap printing option and go for embroidery since your customers will come back that the printing is coming off...!! you will loose the customer as well
Printing on Pique Polos? 
. When you have an order for 200 school uniforms and the screen printed polos are priced at $7 and the embroidered ones are priced at $14, that's a HUGE price difference.
