Homebrew club needs shirts: is Zazzle any good?

[Windigstadt]

Hey guys-

My homebrew club is ready to order some new shirts, and while I have plenty of experience working with local silkscreeners, I like the flexibility that Zazzle.com offers (both in terms of no minimum order AND being able to go with different shirt styles). I'm concerned about the quality, however. Five or six years ago my wife ordered a shirt from cafepress.com and you could see a faint, opaque rectangle overlying the design. There's a thread on here from '08 where people seemed pretty happy with Zazzle, and somebody posted a picture of the final product that looked to be comparable to silkscreen quality though it was a digital print. That being said, I'm curious to know how they hold up. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

~Russ

 

[Bobby_M]

Zazzle uses digital printing and they'll only be good for like 5 washings. Go with a silkscreen, you'll be much happier. How many colors are there in the logo? I recently used wholesalescreenprinting.com with 7 colors on the front and one on the back. There were a few initial quality control issues but they fixed them promptly.

 

[doctorRobert]

Diyshirts.com is who I'd use. They use only the best shirts. They can also use any shirts you want, theyll order it. They don't do silk screen, which I like, they print right on the shirt, even on black (most printers can't do that). Shirts will hold up, as good as any silk screen but looks cleaner. I know the owner, he is meticulous and make it right if something goes wrong. I go to him every time.

Unless you order a ton it'll be hard to find an economical silk screen. They do make inks that print on shirts and will hold up to the washer. Unlike what the previous poster said, high quality inks do exist, and that is what I prefer.

 

[MBasile]

I don't know how the quality of product is, but I know those Zazzle people know how to party, but don't know how to handle their booze!

 

[Bobby_M]

Ok, I'll clarify, places like DIYshirts.com uses inks that will hold up but places like cafepress, zazzle, and many other direct to garment and bubblejet transfer places do not. Of course, if you're ordering one-offs or just a few shirts, screening doesn't really make sense.

It really depends on how many colors you have in the logo. If you can live with 1-2 colors, screening can be a lot cheaper.