Discuss the various finishing services that can help showcase your brand. Topics include custom neck tag labels, hang tags, garment washes, folding, bagging and even shipment/packaging options.
I know, this point has been discussed before but it never came to a satisfying answer to me. So here is my problem:
I have carefully removed the label in the neck of an American Apparel t-shirt to see how easy relabeling a t-shirt is. Indeed, taking away the label in the neck is very easy.
But inside the neck and outside the t-shirt the stitching has let loose, and will let loose more if I don’t do anything at it. What can be done (in an invisible way)?
If there is a solution for this, I can think about the next step/ choice: Let I sew an own label with brandname in the neck, or will the brandname be printed in the inside of the neck? And if I choose for printing, shall I let it screenprint or can it be done with heat transfer or another way of printing, like a stamp orso, by myself?
Next problem: The AA label also includes washing-instructions and ‘100% cotton’ information a.s.o. So if you take away the AA label, you also take away this information. It’s a whole. How do I replace this information, also in the neck together with the brandname, or by sewing in a apart label?
The best solution would be t-shirts with the same quality and fit as AA, without label. But I am afraid they can not be found.
Has anyone experiences with relabeling an American Apparel t-shirt?
Royal apparel offers relabeling services. Perhaps they would even sell you shirts with no labels in them. Give them a call. Their shirts are basicly clones of american apparel, with the same sweatshop free appeal.
try www.continentalclothing.com no label just size and wash instructions, easily as good as american apparel.
it's against E.U law to sell without wash instructions and certain manufacture details. if you're using american apparel, leave the label in and simply add yours on top, they have a strong brand identity and it will help you to sell.
if you really dont want to leave them in, get they proffesionally changed for less than 1 euro per shirt, its worth it other wise you'll have people sending back your shirts faulty.
I checked the companies: they both look good but Royal Apparel is only based in the USA, what makes the cost of transport too high (I am in Europe). Continental's minimum is 150 t-shirts per style, colour and size, and that's too much. They do relabeling but probably the minimums for that are much higher than 150.
So, if anyone knows a company:
- with t-shirts that fit like Royal Apparel, American Apparel and Continental Clothing
- with t-shirts without label in the neck
- with no high minimums
- that is based in Europe
... I would be very happy.
If not, I'll consider Theonerich's idea: leave AA's label in, and put my own label over it. Or print my brandname inside the t-shirt, just next to the AA-label. But this is not the perfect solution I think.
Sounds like a bunch adoo to me. Just print your label on opaque xfer paper, cut them up and heat press over the top of the mfgs label. Never tried it, don't worry about the mfgs. I just do a little xfer to the back of the shirt below the collar.
Sounds like a bunch adoo to me. Just print your label on opaque xfer paper, cut them up and heat press over the top of the mfgs label. Never tried it, don't worry about the mfgs. I just do a little xfer to the back of the shirt below the collar.
Damn, that could be the solution to all my labeling problems. I will try it.
3oats, I probably sound very stupid (I don't know anything about heat transfer), but I don't know the words you mean. Can you explain what you mean with 'opaque xfer paper' and 'mfgs' please? Maybe I will be as enthousiastic as aokusman about this method then.
Thanks.
jdr8271, okay, taking away the labels and printing the brandname in the neck is part of the solution. But what could be the solution for the stitching that has let loose? Repairing it yourself? I hear nobody about this, nevertheless you have to send a perfect t-shirt without loose stitching to the customer. Am I really the only one who thinks about that? And what about the washing-instructions?
And what do others think about Theonerich's idea: leave the AA's label in, and put an own label over it. Or print the brandname inside the t-shirt, next to the AA-label?
'opaque xfer paper' is opaque transfer paper, a type of transfer paper that works on darker shirts (regular transfer paper only works on the light colors). I personally would not recommend it, as from what I've seen the opaque paper is really poor quality (even what was supposed to be the best of it out there). Others have had better luck, though.
Thanks Twinge for defining the terms. It was just a thought about opaque transfer pressed over the label. I figure its probably so small it won't make a difference about the quality much. Otherwise there are the printable heat press vinyls out there. You may have to buy it by the roll or something. With a regular piment ink there may be washout issues though. Look around, the web surely has an answer. Two cents and good luck.
Well, any pigmented ink should do fine. That includes Epson's OEM Durabrite and the 3rd party Magic Mix inks, and perhaps a few others. The washout problem only happens when you are using a dye-based ink, as you'll find in most other printers such as HP. As far as I've heard, the transfered image still looks fine, it just bleeds the first time you wash it... however, even though its fine in the end, I wouldn't consider that a very professional product.
I go to midwest renewable energy association fair every year. They give out shirts to all their members every year. In 02 the shirt had a logo and washing and everything printed on the back. below the collar. A heat TRANSFER that looked great. If you have a cap press, use it. Do with the mfgs label as you like. Leave it or loose it. I leave it and use the press on label as advertising. Did I mention the printed label is on the outside where everyone can see it. Just tone it down or they might complain about it. A good art label can even improve identity.
alot of manufacturers, high street and high fashion are using a screen print in the back of the shirt as a label, and yes, done well it looks good.
as far as i'm concerned, you must always think about the quality of your shirts, you don't want to be getting them sent back and at the end of the day the better the quality, the more you can charge or to put it another way, the better you quality the stronger your brand will become.
if you're starting with an american apparel shirt dont fu*k it up by sticking heat transfer paper or some cr*p like that, without sounding too harsh, thats teribble advice!!!!!
i would suggest again to contact www.continentalclothing.com, based in london. i use their shirts, and YES they will sell you less than 20.
go to your local department store, find the shirts or other garments and you'll get a few ideas, it's the best way.
don't ruin your shirts just to save a few £££££. you'll make back what you spend when you sell, thats if your quality is good. if you sell a few and the label is some heat transfer paper and the customer rips it out anyway because it either looks terible or rubs and hurts, they wont buy another, they wont recomend you.
like i've already said before, it's all about marketing and reputation is a massive part of that.
Thanks for the comments again.
I prefer screenprinting, not heat transfer.
theonerich, we think similar about selling t-shirts: going for quality.
I will contact continental ...
i think the europeans have a different mentality when it comes to quality!!!!!
at the danger of repeating myself, i feel that the scale of your operation and the marketing oportunities available to you (by that i mean everyone, not you in particular) limit how many sales you actually make. therefore to maxamize you profit you can do only a few things, one is to get all your materials as cheap as possible, keep you production costs down and compromise quality in the hope that you sell alot of units but don't gain reputation or get repeat sales.
the other thing is to keep quality control high, maybe risk selling fewer shirts, due to cheaper competition but have a good product, at a higher price. this will result in a better reputation, repeat sales and may get you noticed by retail outlets.
i've worked in the london fashion industry for some time and it isn't as hard as you think it would be to contact buyers and send samples to shops. if you send them quality stock, and the graphics are interesting/ different then you'll get some feed back. if you send them a sh*t product, it doen't matter how it looks, they'll throw it away.
anyway, like i said, how can we see your designs? if you want to contact me you can do so through my site. Rich at www.deadbysunday.co.uk
Relabeling American Apparel t-shirt 
