Custom Heat Transfers vs Heat Transfer Vinyl: Which is best for your business?
When starting or expanding your business it can be difficult to decide which products to choose. So today we are taking you through HTV vs Custom Transfers to help you decide what is best for you. Both Custom Heat Transfers and Heat Transfer Vinyl offer different benefits when it comes to garment decoration and what might be suitable for one business might not be suitable for another.
Things to consider when choosing your decoration type;
Investment: What is the best way to maximise your initial investment?
Your return on investment depends on how many products you sell and the profit you make per item, which is different for everybody.
With Custom Transfers, all you’ll need is a Heat Press. You can then get your transfers made as and when customers place their orders, meaning you’ll know how much profit you’ll make on each item before you even make it and you don’t have to purchase the transfers until you have secured the order.
With HTV, you will need a Heat Press, a Cutter and some HTV. This is slightly more of an initial investment as you have to purchase a cutter and a few accessories (such as we weeding tool) however the different types of HTV available can add more value to your products making it quicker to pay off your initial investment. You can easily treat HTV the same as Custom Transfers and purchase the HTV as and when your customers place their orders. Over time you will know what the most popular product is and pre-order to be prepared.
Bundles: To help you start or expand your business we have put together a variety of bundles including a range of heat presses, cutters, HTV and Custom Transfer Credit. Click HERE to browse all available bundles.
Time: How much time do you have to make your products?
Custom Heat Transfers are a very fast way to decorate a garment, especially if you are producing bulk orders. All you have to do is upload your design to Easy View (our online ordering platform), fill out the product information (size, quantity, colours, etc.), place your order and your transfers will be at your door within 2 days ready to be applied straight to a garment with a Heat Press.
Heat Transfer Vinyl can be more time consuming depending on the types of designs you’re creating. HTV must be cut and weeded before it can be applied to a t-shirt. If you’re creating a basic bold text or shape, the cutting and weeding time will be minimal however if you’re creating a more detailed design, it will take you much longer to cut and weed your HTV. This will also depend on how many garments you are producing per order. If HTV is the material you choose for your business, we have accessories that make weeding a much quicker and more accurate process.
Product: What do you want your finished product to look like?
Custom Heat Transfers, offer a smooth finish with a thin and soft touch to make the transfer feel like part of the garment. Regarding colours and effects, we have normal, metallic, shimmer and fluorescent inks available so you can achieve multiple looks with just one transfer type. All Custom Transfers have stretch and rebound as standard.
There is a wide range of Heat Transfer Vinyl to achieve different finishes however not every vinyl has stretch and rebound. The smooth, matt finish can be achieved with SportsFilm Extra (UltraWeed) HTV and added stretch with Premium Plus HTV. Glitter HTV adds texture as well as sparkle and vibrance. Flock adds a velvet texture to garments for a premium look. Silicone will give you a slightly thicker, rubber effect whilst metallic will add a subtle shine to your designs. These are just a few! Click HERE to browse Stahls’ HTV.
Quantity: How many products will you be making at one time?
With HTV, you can create one off designs and single products with ease. This is ideal if you are making personalised products or small batch orders. The only negative with this would be if you had a large order, it would take longer to cut, weed & apply the transfers than Custom Transfers would.
Custom Heat Transfers have a minimum order of 10 individual transfers. This is the lowest minimum order quantity across the UK for Custom Transfers making a job possible if a customer wants to place a smaller order. The maximum order is unlimited which is perfect for bulk orders. However, if you are creating one off / personalised items, we recommend considering HTV.
Setting up a new business? Click Here to sign up to the 7-day Business Plan where we show you how easy it is to start a clothing brand or garment decorating business. This includes coming up with an initial brand idea, your target market, the equipment, the product and how to sell your products.