Custom Clothing Printing in Kendal
By The Velocity Wear Team
Kendal's custom clothing question is really a fabric question. As the gateway to the Lakes, the town's businesses are outdoor retailers, guiding and instruction operators, accommodation and hospitality, and event organisers, and their garments are polyester, softshell and waterproof rather than plain cotton. That rules some decoration methods straight out, most importantly embroidery on anything with a waterproof membrane.
A Town That Buys Technical Fabric
Kendal has manufactured and sold outdoor goods for a long time, and the grey limestone town at the foot of the Lakes is still where a great deal of that trade is organised. Add the visitor economy, a mountain culture that fills the town for its film and literature festivals, and the guiding, instruction and activity businesses working out towards Windermere and the fells, and you get a customer base whose default garment is not a cotton tee. It is a wicking polyester layer, a softshell, or a shell jacket.
Never Put a Needle Through a Waterproof
This is the single most useful thing on this page. A waterproof jacket keeps water out because it has a membrane or coating, and because the seams are taped so the needle holes made in construction cannot leak. Embroidery drives hundreds of needle holes through that membrane in an untaped area. The jacket will still look right. It will leak, and there is no repair that puts it back.
So brand shells another way. A well specified heat applied transfer bonds to the surface without perforating it, though the fabric has to tolerate the heat involved, which is a conversation to have before you buy the jackets. Alternatively, put the branding on the garments underneath, the fleece, softshell or mid-layer, and let the shell stay unbranded. Plenty of outdoor businesses do exactly that, and nobody has ever been confused by it.
What Actually Works on Polyester
Fabric decides method, and the rules are firm. DTG works on cotton only, so it is out for wicking tops and technical layers. Sublimation works on polyester only and on light bases only, but where it does apply it is superb, since the colour goes into the fibre with no surface layer to trap sweat or crack. DTF works across cotton, blends and polyester without per colour setup, which makes it the flexible choice for mixed ranges and short runs. Screen printing remains the cheapest at volume, though polyester bases need handling properly to stop the garment dye affecting pale inks, so raise the fabric at the enquiry stage rather than after the proof.
Choosing a Method by Fabric
A short reference for the garments this town actually buys.
- Waterproof shell: surface transfer only, or leave it unbranded and mark the layer beneath instead. Never embroidery.
- Softshell and fleece: embroidery, which is durable and looks appropriate on a technical mid-layer.
- Wicking polyester tee: sublimation on a light base, or DTF where the base is dark or the design is detailed.
- Cotton tee and hoodie: screen printing at volume, DTF for detail and short runs, DTG for a soft handle on cotton.
- Caps and beanies: embroidery, with the design simplified for the small area and the curve of the panel.
“"Settle what the fabric is before you argue about what the logo should look like. Round here the fabric has already made half your decisions."”
Guides, Instructors and Being Seen From Behind
If you lead groups, your customers spend the day looking at your back. That inverts the usual placement logic. A chest logo is for the moment you meet at the minibus, and it is invisible for the following six hours. Put the identifiable mark high on the back where a group can pick you out at distance, and choose a colour that separates you from a hillside and from the group's own gear. It is a small decision that makes a real difference on a busy fell path in poor visibility.
Retail Stock and the Temptation to Overprint
Shops and accommodation businesses in Kendal often want their own printed stock to sell, and the standard mistake is committing to a large run of one design because the unit price looked good. Retail demand is a guess until you have sold something. DTF has no per colour setup, so several small runs cost far less to start than one big screen printed commitment, and the design that sells is rarely the one you expected. Once something proves itself, screen printing becomes the sensible way to scale it.
Ordering, Proofing and Seasonal Timing
Everything runs online, which suits businesses whose staff are out on the hill all day. Use the free Design Studio to see the mark at real size on the garment, and the instant price calculator before you commit to quantities. The minimum is 20 pieces per order with sizes mixed freely, bulk pricing improves up to around 40% as quantities rise, and production starts at artwork approval, not order placement. Screen printing and embroidery typically run around 10 to 15 working days from approval, sublimation and complex jobs nearer 15 to 20, plus 2 to 5 working days for tracked UK delivery. If you want kit for Easter, order it in winter.