Building Printing Partnerships

How the Right Print Partner Can Elevate Every Apparel Decorating Business

The art of apparel decorating comes down to honed techniques. Creating eye-catching, value-add products starts with a strong grasp of technical printing skills. From understanding the nuances that lead to a beautiful screen-printed item to executing a soft digital print that stands the test of time, nothing is more crucial to an apparel decorating business’s success than confidence in the printing technique.

That includes knowing their printing partners also value the same emphasis on technical prowess. The team at Bandanna Warehouse offers six different in-house printing options, and each one has been fine-tuned to meet even the highest of printing standards. When decorators partner with Bandanna Warehouse, they know they’re working with the highest level of technical excellence.

Precision Cutting Changes Everything

The biggest evolution for the company isn’t just how it prints — it’s how fabric is engineered. The company is putting the spotlight on digital cutting, which allows it to move beyond standard shapes and into the realm of true customization.

“We can precisely cut custom sizes, shapes, and patterns on demand — without the delays or costs of traditional dies,” says Thackston. “For apparel decorators, this opens the door to unique finished goods like custom bandannas, pet wear, and functional textiles that can’t be easily replicated overseas.”

This offers multiple advantages when working with Bandanna as a partner:

· Faster prototyping and sampling mean quicker presentation to your customers

· No tooling costs for custom shapes, saving you those hard-earned profits

· Ability to support large and short-run orders as well as test programs quickly

· Increased creative freedom for decorators and their clients building branding and custom programs

To really grasp the full capabilities that digital cutting offers, take a look at the technical specs. Bandanna runs the G3 digital cutter, which can cut up to 10’ wide. All fabrics can be cut by either engineered patterns on the art or in a continuous layout.

Couple that with the company’s engraving machine capabilities, and you elevate custom to a new level. It enables the team to provide repeat sizes in 22″, 25″, 27″, 32″, and 36″. This will allow for any size bandanna with both engineered patterns and all-over print (which will allow edge to edge).

The question isn’t why you should partner with Bandanna, it’s why are you waiting. “Customization today isn’t just about decoration — it’s about control, speed, and creativity,” believes Thackston. “By combining multiple print methods, embroidery, and digital cutting under one roof, Bandanna Warehouse gives decorators the ability to build truly one-of-a-kind products. From print technique and fabric choice to final shape and finish, every element can be tailored to the end customer’s vision.”

Building a Modern Printing Partnership

Most apparel decorating shop owners know that adding a new printing partner is just one piece of running a successful business. Let’s look at the numbers.

According to the Summer 2025 State of the Decorated Apparel (SODA) survey, hosted by Apparelist and PRINTING United Alliance, many decorators outsource at least one printing technology. For example, 81.4% of participants offer screen printing in-house, and 24.3% outsource it. Looking at those that offer heat printing, 74.3% of participants offer it in-house while 11.4% outsource it.

With many decorators looking for partners, evaluating those such as Bandanna Warehouse comes with multiple considerations. Included in that is what techniques are offered as well as how fine-tuned those skills are. Bandanna Warehouse meets the highest standards in both camps.

“By offering six in-house imprinting techniques — digital printing, silkscreen, embroidery, heat transfer, rotary printing, and duplex printing — Bandanna Warehouse removes complexity for apparel decorators,” explains Scott Thackston, director of marketing and product development. “Instead of managing multiple vendors, decorators gain a single U.S.-based partner that can match the right decorating method to the product, quantity, and design intent. This flexibility protects margins, shortens lead times, and ensures consistent quality from sampling through full production.”

Today’s decorators need smooth workflows and consistent prints. They know that end-users on are on the hunt for:

· Custom designs

· Quick turnarounds

· Unique blank products

· Premium items and fair prices

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Thackston says that Bandanna Warehouse’s six imprinting methods meet each of these needs, and then some:

· Low MOQs (as low as 50 pieces on several processes) reduce risk for decorators working with Bandanna Warehouse

· Multiple print methods allow decorators to say “yes” to more client requests

· In-house control means fewer handoffs, tighter quality standards, and faster turns

· Made-in-USA production supports compliance, reliability, and brand storytelling

In addition, Bandanna Warehouse is an all-in-one-stop shop, providing turnkey custom packaging, fulfillment, warehousing to shipping, and 3PL offerings. The kitting/assembly department has skilled professional that can adapt to any type of packaging, further promoting its partnership capabilities.

6 Imprinting Methods

Previously, Bandanna Warehouse brought four imprinting methods to the partnership table. Now that there’s six, apparel decorators can rest assured that any customer request can be met.

1. Digital

FULL COLOR TO PHOTOGRAPHIC

Low 50pc Minimum!

Full color designs, photography or edge-to-edge step & repeat logo impact!

2. SILKSCREEN

3. Heat transfer

FULL COLOR DECAL

Low 50pc Minimum!

Up to 5″ x 5″ size full color to photographic transfer for added brand design on solid colors or novelty pattern bandannas!

4. EMBROIDERY

PESONALIZED IMPACT

Low 50pc Minimum!

Big 18″ x 18″ custom logo and design print area to tell a brand story.

5. ROTARY

LOWEST COST PRINT PROCESS

3,000pc Minimum!

More colors, faster production, for a softer feel bandanna printed with water based, pms matched pigment dyes.

6. DUPLEX

EXCLUSIVE 2 SIDED PRINT PROCESS

3,000pc Minimum!

Innovative printing, 100% saturation on both sides using water based 1-2/c pigment dyes.

ROTARY

Fast production times – Up to 8 Colors

We use the rotary printing process to print your bandannas. Rotary printing creates a softer bandanna because the eco-friendly, water-based pigment dyes are absorbed into the cloth. Your design is printed on white cloth so colors stay true. Initial screens are included in pricing.

SCREEN PRINT

1 – 4 COLORS – LOW MINIMUMS – ECONOMICAL

In silkscreen printing, the imprint color is laid down on a dyed piece of cloth. Note that silkscreen printing doesn’t allow for edge-to-edge printing; all designs must have a border (for example, when starting with a blank 22” bandanna, the imprint size will be 18” x 18”).

DUPLEX

Innovative printing (two sides with pigment dyes)

The process is a lost art on fabrics of today. The fabric is printed on both sides in Duplex Printing. Thus in this method a clear outline is produced on both sides of the fabric. The design is applied so skillfully by the printing cylinders that the result may be mistaken for a woven design.

DIGITAL

FULL COLOR TO PHOTOGRAPHIC

This versatile printing process involves printing an image directly from a computer-generated design file onto fabric substrates by way of a large-format inkjet printer. Custom Digital Bandannas are created starting with a white cloth before full-color graphics are printed on the front (the back is left solid white).