DTG vs screen-print: a craft argument.
Every printed hoodie on the market uses one of two techniques: direct-to-garment (DTG) or screen-print. They produce different objects. The brand you're buying from has already decided which one you're holding — usually based on the order volume, not the craft.
Here's how each one actually works, where they win, and why GOOSEBUMP runs DTG on every piece.
Screen-print, briefly
A separate mesh screen is cut for each colour in the design. Ink is pushed through that screen onto the garment with a squeegee. You repeat for each colour. The result is a flat layer of plastisol ink sitting on top of the fabric. It cures under heat.
Screen wins on volume. Once the screen exists, the marginal cost per garment is tiny — pennies of ink. It also wins on opacity: solid block-colour areas come out punchy without the fabric showing through. It is the technique behind most concert t-shirts and supplier-house bulk runs.
DTG, briefly
A specialised inkjet printer lays water-based dye directly into the cotton fibres. No screens. No setup per design. The ink soaks in rather than sitting on top — the result feels like part of the fabric instead of a sticker.
DTG wins on detail and on one-off runs. Every piece can be different. Colour gradients and small text reproduce cleanly. The setup cost is zero per design, but the per-garment ink cost is several times screen.
· 50–300 pieces: roughly even, depends on colour count.
· Above 300 pieces: screen-print wins on per-unit cost.
· GOOSEBUMP runs: one at a time. DTG every time.
The hand feel
This is the difference you can feel without thinking about it. A screen-print sits on the surface — run your thumb across it and you hit a raised plastic-y patch. After fifty washes that patch starts to crack at the edges and the cotton underneath becomes visible.
A DTG print sits inside the cotton. There is no surface to crack because there is no surface. The image dyes the fibres instead of coating them. The garment ages as one piece — the print fades at the same rate as the cloth around it.
Where DTG loses
Two real limitations. One: deep block colour on dark cotton. DTG on a black hoodie needs a white-ink underbase before the design colour can register. The underbase adds opacity but also adds the only step where DTG starts to feel printer-on-fabric rather than print-in-fabric. We choose designs where the colour palette plays to the fabric instead of against it.
Two: production rate.A screen-print run moves 300 pieces in an hour once the screens are set up. A DTG printer moves one piece every 90 to 180 seconds. This is why you wait 7–10 days for an order: the queue upstream of you is real production time, not warehouse shuffling.
Why we picked DTG anyway
Because the brand is made-to-order, the volume crossover never happens. We never have a single design at 300+ orders per run. The made-to-order model self-selects into the regime where DTG is the right tool: small batches, more colours, lower setup overhead, better fabric integration.
If we ran a fixed catalogue of bulk-printed concert-tier tees, we'd use screen. Because we run a hand-printed piece-per-order shop, we use DTG. The technique follows the business model.
The summary
Screen-print is the right tool for volume. DTG is the right tool for craft. We picked the craft side, accepted the cost and the wait, and ship every piece on a print bed instead of off a pallet.