Print Custom Sliders for Summer Festival Season
Print Custom Sliders in time for Summer Festival Season
The market for custom printed sliders is enormous. Favoured across all generations, sliders (otherwise known as sandals) are easy to slip on last minute when you need to go outside. Many opt to wear them as a fashion choice but mostly, sliders are worn for convenience.
Some of the largest markets to sell sliders into include Streetwear and Sports. Rugby, Football, Tennis, Dance, Swim and Gymnastics already buy custom athleisure and sportswear so why wouldn't they purchase custom printed sliders from you too?
We're going to explore the streetwear side of the market in this blog today; specifically printing sliders for the summer festival season.
And no, we're not recommending that you pay a fortune for a stall at Glastonbury to sell your fashion-inspired retail garments. What we mean, is that summer festival season can be an extremely profitable time of year for shopping, and you should theme a product range around this to make sure you get in on it.
Summer festival trends:
Summer festival trends change every year but there are always common themes within the festival fashion:
- Sparkle - This could be glitter, rhinestones, holographic or sequins.
- Textures - Think feather boas, sheepskin fur, uniquely textured tops, rips or distressed
- Colour - Rainbows, tie-dye fabrics, and vibrancy.
Most importantly, comfort is the key theme for summer festival apparel. With the heat bearing down and a sea of human bodies surrounding you, there is nothing better than being able to keep your body temperature even. Feet are the temperature regulators for the human body and in a summer heatwave, sliders are the optimal choice of footwear for festival punters.
So, how do you print summer sliders?
First up, you'll need blank sliders as well as a method of decoration.
The JC092 sliders from AWDis Just Cool come in white and black and are 100% printable with a heat press. Available in sizes 3 up to size 11, they're an extremely popular blank for slider printing.
Secondly, your method of decoration is completely up to you. The fabric band is made of 100% polyester but from experience, it isn't overly heat-sensitive.
Choose from:
1-5 Colour Screen Printed Heat Transfers - Get a traditional single colour feel but access to eye-catching metallics and neon inks.
UltraColour Heat Transfers - The lowest temperature heat transfer on the market. Economical when ordering large quantities.
UltraColour Max DTF Heat Transfers - Perfect for short trial runs or personalised products.
Next up, you need the right equipment to print them.
Because of how thick the sole of the slider is, placing it on the platen of your heat press is going to cause a couple of problems.
First of all, you risk melting sole of the shoe by printing it this way. Made of EVA injection, the melting point for this material is around 90 °C which is significantly lower than any heat applied decoration on the market.
Secondly, you'd need to lighten the pressure on your heat press to the furthest setting to allow for it to clamp down without breaking the press. If your heat press does not have pressure adjustment, this is a massive problem.
And finally, by placing your slider onto the platen, you will be completely unable to achieve accurate pressure because of the raised areas of the sole moulding to the underside of the printable band.
Equipment:
The solution to the above issues, is to isolate the printable strap on the sliders.
The Hotronix Interchangeable platen range is compatible with Hotronix Heat Presses and offers over 15 platens for your heat press.
The Can Cooler Platen is compatible with 40x50cm Hotronix heat presses and fits 8 sliders on for printing at once. This means you can print 4 pairs of sliders at one time which is a huge efficiency gain. By sliding the strap onto the platen, you can isolate it and create a completely flat print space. By creating a flat unobstructed print space, you're ensuring that your decoration applies reliably and you're providing your customer with a high-quality product.
