# Labels (tag or tagless)



## EngBulldog

I received some sample labels from clothinglabels4u, one of the sites sponsor. The labels were very nice and I was impressed. I have also looked into Lucky Labels as well. My original plan was to remove the Gildan label and leave the size and care instructions label in the shirt. Well, I realized yesterday that they are the same label only folded (duh I know). 

This kind of throws a wrench into my plan because now I would need to have custom labels made with the different sizes on it, which I really don't want to do because I want to keep inventory, etc. as simple as possible.

Okay, my new plan is to make plastisol transfers and heat press them in the shirts, thus having tagless labels. This is pretty popular right now and I wanted to see if anyone else out there does this. It would definately cost less and would allow for more customization and different style labels. So, I will remove all the current labels on the shirt and then press our name, care, and size labels in. If anyone has any suggestions or advice I would totally appreciate it.


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## Rodney

My suggestion would be to use a different brand of t-shirt 

All the other t-shirt brands I've seen have a SEPARATE size/care instructions tag and a separate brand tag (Hanes, AltAp, AA, M &O, etc).

I'd just use a brand that has a separate brand/size tag to make things a lot easier. 

Although I could be saying that because I'm no big fan of Gildan (although many people are )


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## Comin'OutSwingin

Also you could just by size tabs and have them sewn in with your new label!

They are very inexpensive.

I get mine from www.nwtag.com

So get your labels with your name/logo AND care instructions, and just add a size tab!


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## T-BOT

hummm, 
plastisol transfers to be used as required content and wash labels may not work too good because very/very/small text usually used in content/wash labels. 

Here in Canada, i think the minimum allowed gov-law for content label durability is something like 5 washes. With a Brand we do work for that uses Gildan shirts, they re-label the shirts with paper-type labels that are within gov-regulation. These paper labels a very affordable.

You can then make your Brand/Logo Plastisol labels, for durability purposes keep any label text at about 30 points or more if possible. 

The best is to have a solid ink shape and make your logo or text in the label clear so that it's color becomes the color of your shirt.....just a few ideas to try to help you out. Good luck.


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## EngBulldog

Thanks everbody for your suggestions. I didn't even think about a separate size label. Rodney, are you sure about the two labels with the other brands. After looking at the Gildan (which I always thought were 2 labels by the way they looked). I checked out some other brands that I had hanging in my closet. They were all one label too that just had the fold where the seam is. I think one was an Anvil but can't remember for sure. 

Also, after thinking about doing transfer labels I kind of got excited. We have several different designs and themes, so I was thinking I would customize about 5 different labels, each showing our company name with a different theme (i.e. dog paw for dog shirts, fish-hook for fishing and boating shirts, cute girlie lettering for our baby boll shirts). I guess I will keep thinking about it and thanks again for the info.


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## Comin'OutSwingin

If you can make it work, that sounds like a good idea.

Let us know what you decide!


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## Rodney

> Rodney, are you sure about the two labels with the other brands. After looking at the Gildan (which I always thought were 2 labels by the way they looked). I checked out some other brands that I had hanging in my closet. They were all one label too that just had the fold where the seam is. I think one was an Anvil but can't remember for sure.


Yep, I'm sure because I've had many brands relabeled and the size tag is sitting right there  I have 2 on my desk right now from Hanes and Bella. Both have separate size tags.

It's probably not the case with all brands though. I'm actually surprised that Gildan's is not separate.



> Also, after thinking about doing transfer labels I kind of got excited. We have several different designs and themes, so I was thinking I would customize about 5 different labels, each showing our company name with a different theme (i.e. dog paw for dog shirts, fish-hook for fishing and boating shirts, cute girlie lettering for our baby boll shirts).


Sounds like a neat idea!


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## monkeylantern

We do as Greg suggested...

Whip everything off, and institch our own label and a size tag like this one:










Although ours are silver on black....I think it looks snazzy...


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## Solmu

LucyRoberts said:


> Here in Canada, i think the minimum allowed gov-law for content label durability is something like 5 washes.


In the US and Australia it has to last the useful life of the garment, so that wouldn't fly.


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## hongkongdmz

Do labels add much to t-shirt production cost if they also had your name/brand/url on them?

Nick.

HKDMZ


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## Comin'OutSwingin

You can get 1,000 labels for $250.

You can get them sewn in for as little as 25 cents per label/shirt.

That's a total of 50 cents for the label and the sewing. Plus all the shipping and stuff.


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## BangBangT-Shirts

Solmu said:


> In the US and Australia it has to last the useful life of the garment, so that wouldn't fly.


Depends how often people wash!


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## Buechee

This is some more good reading. I needed to know some of this info, keep it coming.


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## T-BOT

why not leave the Gildan Label on the t-shirt and print your logo/brand on the shirt ?

one good thing about leaving the Gildan t-shirt label on the shirt is that peeps know the Brand is good quality and places like the Big-Chain stores like Wal-Mark do not sell them (last time i looked), where they may sell fruit or hanes and this puts independent newbie t-shirts at that quality/price range.


Below is a sample of a Screen Stars paper-type label ( well, they feel like paper but must be some other substance since they are washable ). This label is on an original Guns and Roses t-shirt from the day. Also notice that the Brand that sold these shirts printed their Brand name on the sleeve and left the Screen Stars label on the shirt.


--------------------
Another paper-type label used a lot by manufacturers, again..du-no what they are called, i think they come on sheets pre-printed with wash/care symbols etc. and the garment manufacturers print these labels themselfs with a lazer black/white printer with the proper content required like the fabric content, item#, cut# etc... according to what garments/t-shirts they are manufacturing.

*I know i've seen these in the USA/Canada.... *

*has anyone here seen these paper-type labels ? or know what they are called or who makes them ?*

With this type label is another way the poster can solve the Gildan re-Label problem.

But the first example may be better.


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## T-BOT

...this is the 2nd. paper-type-label example.


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## Comin'OutSwingin

Branding is the reason for taking the Gildan label out. If one is trying to establish their own brand, leaving the original label is self-defeating.

That's the whole reason for his thread. He wants his own label. Not the Gildan.


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## EngBulldog

Thanks again everyone for all of this information. And yes branding is the exact answer. I have screen-printed our logo on most of our designs in the past and have always left the Gildan label in the shirt. However, we are trying to take it to the next level and want the customers to only see our name in the shirts............along with our site address, etc. I am still looking into all of the label options, but again I think I am almost sold on the screen-printed transfer labels. I know they probably will fade a little but it would be so much less expensive since I can do it myself. It also allows for more customization and is somewhat mainstream and acceptable at the time.


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## Solmu

LucyRoberts said:


> one good thing about leaving the Gildan t-shirt label on the shirt is that peeps know the Brand is good quality




That's extremely subjective. Personally I tend to think of Gildan as the minimum acceptable quantity (i.e. it's not particularly good, but it is good enough).




LucyRoberts said:


> and places like the Big-Chain stores like Wal-Mark do not sell them (last time i looked), where they may sell fruit or hanes




K-mart here sell Gildan blanks and various chauvinist slogans printed on Gildan. The only other two brands they have are Bonds (blank only) and their home brand. Personally I don't think it helps or harms (in Australia anyway). Bonds are regarded as a quality brand for example, despite being sold at K-mart.

As for the FoTL/Hanes comparison... again, very subjective. I think of both Fruit and Hanes as being better quality than Gildan.

Objectively Gildan, Hanes and Fruit of the Loom are all at very similar levels (i.e. similar price, similar fabric weight, readily available, similar size and colour range, etc.). You could rank them on sales volume or personal preference, but I don't think there's any (even semi-) objective measure of their relative worth.


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## T-BOT

Solmu, yes opinions are fine.......

not very good photos....sorry, the Brand name printed on the sleeve of the Guns & Roses original licensed t-shirt are not small potatoes..... why would they not remove the screen stars label ? 

The other paper type Label, again, soooo sorry for the bad photo quality. They are used/sewed on side seams, neck binding etc.... they are not the type you print your brand name on mind you.

*Solmu, have you seen these paper type labels ? or know what they are called or who makes them ?????*

Sharing this with me would make make day.* *


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## Solmu

LucyRoberts said:


> the Brand name printed on the sleeve of the Guns & Roses original licensed t-shirt are not small potatoes..... why would they not remove the screen stars label ?


Obviously I'm speculating, but an arguement could be made that printing "Guns N Roses" on the front of a shirt brands it so completely that anything else would be redundant, so you might as well save 20c a shirt.



LucyRoberts said:


> *Solmu, have you seen these paper type labels ? or know what they are called or who makes them ?????*


I've seen them, though I don't personally like them (I like things to be more permanent). I don't know what they're called sorry. They're pretty much standard for suits too (inside the pocket), so they're definitely in wide use.


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## T-BOT

thanks Australia Solmu, 

yeah, the paper-type labels are used on a gazzilion manufactured garments, t-shirts included... in the USA and Canada i know for sure. 

So they must meet all the Gov-Requirements IN usa/Canada. I THINK. 
They come pre-printed on printer paper type sheets with the wash symbols and other info. You can then feed these sheets thru a lazer printer and print the content etc.... yourself. 

But boy are they UGLY. 

I agree with the fact that if you design t-shirts and want to add your own label, why not spend a few cents on some NICE looking labels.


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## Solmu

LucyRoberts said:


> So they must meet all the Gov-Requirements IN usa/Canada. I THINK.


Maybe, maybe not. I've bought plenty of garments in Australia that don't meet our labelling laws. I've bought some stuff from the US that doesn't meet US requirements.

I guess it would come down to a court decision. Personally I don't feel they meet US or Australian requirements, but even if I'm right (and it is an if) that doesn't mean anyone would ever get fined over it.

It's possible that the regulations statement of "useful life", "permanent", etc. and the court's interpretation of just what that means differs.


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## LaMamaHen

Hi all. I have read this thread and too many others to count on tagless Ts and the head, she spins.

Bear with me as I work my way to the questions:

I sell a boutique line of baby tees. The tees are from a private label manufacturer. They sewed in a custom woven label for me (20 dozen required)

We are now branching into women's tees and do not want to buy 20 dozen. But, we also do not want to use the manufacturer's care label either. (Branding).

So, from reading posts looks like we have to do:

- a heat press label, but would need equipment for.
- some sort of inexpensive hand-iron sort of thing, which really wouldn't work...correct?
- have small run of inexpensive printed silk labels made and pay someone to sew them in. (Any company suggestions?)

Do print shops do heat press on contract?

Many thanks!

Carrie


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## Rodney

> Do print shops do heat press on contract?


Yes, some do. It would just be a matter of calling around to a few in your area.


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## EngBulldog

Well I have been playing around some more. Looks like I will definately have to re-sew the neck seam after taking the Gildan label out. I thought it could be done neatly with a razor or simply by unstitching the label, oh well.

Also, I prefer Gildan because of the price. Several of our shirts are white and I like the quality of the Gildan 6.1 ounce. I am going to order some Anvil and Jerzees to compare with the Gildan. If anyone has other suggestions or preferences in a similiar price range I would appreciate it. Thanks


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## Comin'OutSwingin

Do you have a seam ripper?

About $2!

It has a curved blade, and is made for "ripping seams"!

Try any place that sells sewing supplies. I've done labels like this before. It works wonders.


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## Solmu

LaMamaHen said:


> So, from reading posts looks like we have to do:
> [snip]
> - have small run of inexpensive printed silk labels made and pay someone to sew them in. (Any company suggestions?)


One other option is to screenprint them yourself (either directly into the garment, or onto fabric that is sewn into the garment). Since we're talking about a very simple one colour print, you wouldn't need a lot of equipment and it wouldn't be difficult to do.

You may prefer to outsource these kind of jobs, but if not that is another option.


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## LaMamaHen

Solmu said:


> One other option is to screenprint them yourself (either directly into the garment, or onto fabric that is sewn into the garment). Since we're talking about a very simple one colour print, you wouldn't need a lot of equipment and it wouldn't be difficult to do.
> 
> You may prefer to outsource these kind of jobs, but if not that is another option.


I so had not even considered doing the screenprinting myself, but I will look into it. 

Any site suggestions for reading and supplies?

Thank you!


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## Solmu

LaMamaHen said:


> I so had not even considered doing the screenprinting myself, but I will look into it.
> 
> Any site suggestions for reading and supplies?


Normally internet resources are what people look for (myself included), but in this case if a local friend asked me that question I'd direct them to one of the short screenprinting courses I know of (1 day, weekend, etc.) and give them the address of my screenprint supplier.

So my generic advice (since I can't recommend a specific course in your area, etc.) would be to look into a local short course (google may be of some help, or you could try your local community college or adult learning centre, or some screenprinting shops offer day courses), and to check the Yellow Pages (or similar) for a screen print supply shop.

Screenprinters.net (there's a link in the t-shirt sites list in the sidebar) has a lot of information in theory so you could try that, but personally I don't actually find the site very useful all that often (the biggest problem is that it's too poorly organised). Your mileage may vary, as some people love the site.


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## T-BOT

LaMamaHen said:


> I sell a boutique line of baby tees. The tees are from a private label manufacturer. They sewed in a custom woven label for me (20 dozen required)
> 
> We are now branching into women's tees and do not want to buy 20 dozen. But, we also do not want to use the manufacturer's care label either. (Branding).
> Carrie


Carrie, from what i know, it is not a big deal to add a few dozen to the run as they are being made for someone else. Have you asked the manufacturer about this ? 

i mean, to add a few more dozen to a run all it takes is laying out a few extra fabric layers on the cutting table. 

May be they can do you a few dozen this way......


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## EngBulldog

Thanks for the info about the seam ripper (definately will check into that). Yesterday, after responding on the different brands of shirts, I decided to order several samples to try out including Hanes, Jerzees, Champion, FOL, Gildan, and a couple others. I am going to do kind of a "blind" study amoong my friends and family. I will tape over the label and get about 20 different people to tell me which ones they prefer. I have always gone with Gildan before, because personally I like their fit and quality. But I know there are several others out there in the same price range that I need to check out as well. I'll let you know how it turns out.


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## LaMamaHen

LucyRoberts said:


> Carrie, from what i know, it is not a big deal to add a few dozen to the run as they are being made for someone else. Have you asked the manufacturer about this ?
> 
> i mean, to add a few more dozen to a run all it takes is laying out a few extra fabric layers on the cutting table.
> 
> May be they can do you a few dozen this way......


My manufacturer has prepared-for-dye and garment washed white tees only. They have stock items, all in white, so I can get them easily. The catch is that to sew labels in, they require an order of 20 dozen...I just did order 20 dozen baby tees, but didn't plan for the women's tees at the same time...Next time....In any case, I just ordered samples from another company and found a local relabler.

However, I'm also going to get to the library to look up screenprinting books...Thanks for the words on screenprinting.


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## Buechee

I see a lot of tagless tees now. Most of my new tees are tagless, at least the white ones. What is the print made of? It looks like tape of some sort.


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## racerz

I have always just screen printed using a $200 toy screen print kit, since its just 1 colour and so easy, or once in a while on big orders i get plastisol transfers. I store them away for when i need them.

I personally hate tags of any kind and have never used them, i just write in all the info/care instructions in the screen print. Sometimes they are even up to a3 size big, who cares it is on the inside 

Take care


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## LaMamaHen

racerz said:


> I have always just screen printed using a $200 toy screen print kit, since its just 1 colour and so easy


What do you mean "toy'' and where would I get a simple kit?


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## T-BOT

LaMamaHen said:


> where would I get a simple kit?


all major artcraft stores have them.


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## racerz

LaMamaHen said:


> What do you mean "toy'' and where would I get a simple kit?



Its a Japanese screen printing kit made for kids, called the Print Gocco, it is quite fun actually. It uses special screens which when flashed bond to the carbon in a lazer printed or photocopied peice of paper. You make the screens in like 10 seconds, tape them to a plastic frame and then just contact print. It comes with eveything you need to make a few a3 sized screens, you can of course buy more for it. 

Just look it up online, i got mine from the local art store.

Zac


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## Buechee

And you use this small screen print for tags only? I would also like one. Do you take the tags out of the tees and then print them?


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## LaMamaHen

racerz said:


> Its a Japanese screen printing kit made for kids, called the Print Gocco, it is quite fun actually. It uses special screens which when flashed bond to the carbon in a lazer printed or photocopied peice of paper. You make the screens in like 10 seconds, tape them to a plastic frame and then just contact print. It comes with eveything you need to make a few a3 sized screens, you can of course buy more for it.
> 
> Just look it up online, i got mine from the local art store.
> 
> Zac


Fabulous little creation.
Thank you...

Now I need to look up a3.


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## Rodney

> Now I need to look up a3


a3 is like a european style of measurement. Like here in the US we have standard paper sizes like 8 1/2 x 11 or 11x17 or legal (8 1/2 x 14), over there they have sizes like a3, a4, etc


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## monkeylantern

Rodney said:


> a3 is like a european style of measurement. Like here in the US we have standard paper sizes like 8 1/2 x 11 or 11x17 or legal (8 1/2 x 14), over there they have sizes like a3, a4, etc


By "over there" you mean EVERYWHERE ELSE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD


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## monkeylantern

Also, I am extremely pro Gocco.

Go to www.nehoc.com.au 

They ship internationally. They stuff in the US is all 1980's cardboard crap, to be frank. The new stuff (avaliable at nehoc and Japan), is years beyond it. It is a superb system. With the new stuff, you can easily get pro-screenprint quality, with none of the mess or stick of real screenprint (or cost).

At one point we even considered it an option to replace our screenprinting on one spot-colours (although it isn't good at the volumes we're now into dealing with...but great for tiny runs with screenprint quality)

But (and this is a big but), it has been discontiuned. Current supplies will only last another handful of years. So not really great to build a business model around it.

(PS, as Zac is in Oz, I'm guessing he has the good stuff too, not the US stuff)


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## Solmu

racerz said:


> Its a Japanese screen printing kit made for kids, called the Print Gocco, it is quite fun actually.


It's actually not a toy, and it's not made for kids. It was originally made for adults to make greeting cards with. It does _also_ make a good kids' toy, but that's not all it is.



racerz said:


> you can of course buy more for it.


Not necessarily, since production has been discontinued. There's hope that someone else will get the rights to produce consumables for the machine, but as far as I know there hasn't been anything really said about that yet.


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## racerz

Haha yeah the funky colours and simplicity made me think it was aimed more at kids. 

I got mine from nehoc, as monkeylantern mentioned. I see heaps of consumables around, but as they are template tags, i made like 4 or 5 and that's all i need. So yuh its cool. 

There are so many ways to do lablels, why not hit ebay and grab a single arm screen print jog, get a few screens made and just screen the tag info. 

So easy, might cost not much more than the print gocco. I think there is a single arm jig going for around $100 USD from the same place all the time on ebay. 

Take care


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## Mr.4ColorProcess

Tagless labels are very popular right now and something that I have enormous experience in.

You would be surprised at how many clothing companies are using tagless heat transfer labels

-- Mr.4ColorProcess


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## T-BOT

Mr.4ColorProcess said:


> You would be surprised at how many clothing companies are using tagless heat transfer labels
> 
> -- Mr.4ColorProcess


I agree, it started about 3-4 years ago, remember when Hanes started doing it ? 
Well, there were some Newbies that were doing it before Hanes and the massive brands. 

Now it makes me wornder if this type of labeling would be the way to go if you want to be different, as new trend setters often do.


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## LaMamaHen

Mr.4ColorProcess said:


> Tagless labels are very popular right now and something that I have enormous experience in.
> 
> You would be surprised at how many clothing companies are using tagless heat transfer labels
> 
> -- Mr.4ColorProcess


When I looked into doing heat transfer labels all I found were companies in China who made the labels and told me I needed a massively hot machine to do it myself.

Not true, eh?

Do small inexpensive and easy to use heat press machines exist? (My tees are silkscreened by a contractor and my labels are sewn in. Would love to do tagless and do it myself).


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## Mr.4ColorProcess

Yes, small and inexpensive heat press machines do exist. The question is, what is inexpensive to you and your budget. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $320 will get you a very nice heat press. And the trend of heat transfer neck labels is still picking up steam. Because of the overall cost of direct printing these labels, a lot of larger companies are investing in heat press machines and exclusively using heat transfers as their means of tagless labels. This trend will continue for quite some time.


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## Mr.4ColorProcess

LucyRoberts said:


> I agree, it started about 3-4 years ago, remember when Hanes started doing it ?
> Well, there were some Newbies that were doing it before Hanes and the massive brands.
> 
> Now it makes me wornder if this type of labeling would be the way to go if you want to be different, as new trend setters often do.


In fact, just this year I was told by five or our licensed distributing customers that heat transfer neck labels are the new "way to go" ... for whatever that's worth.

-- Mr.4ColorProcess


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## DFras

LaMamaHen said:


> Do small inexpensive and easy to use heat press machines exist?


Inexpensive, not sure. But, I know two of the sponsors here have the small presses. "Heat Label Press", made for just this purpose. I think Best Blanks and Coastal Supply both have these.


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## LaMamaHen

Re: using transfers for care labels.

Can you get the type small enough yet legible? Will it stay on through several washes?

Sorry for these very newbie questions. I am just a bit fascinated about the possibilities for relabeling.

(I just bought a Gocco and will try my hand at that for care labeling)


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## Mr.4ColorProcess

Very good question. Small lettering isn't a problem if we back the transfer with a clear coat. However, the larger name clothing lines do not like the clear coating. They want the tag to last about 6 washes. Depending on the artwork and how heat transfer friendly it is, you'll get about 10-20 washes out of it before you see a degrading effect. But the kind of garment you apply it to has a lot to do with the longevity, as well. Cheap cotton = wack transfer longevity.


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## Buechee

I think I will just go with putting biz cards in with the t-shirt.


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## NathanAnderson

There are machines that will apply tags roll to roll, these are only really cost effective for very large volumes. For mid-range (1,000 to 50,000 tags) there are "pick and place" machines that will actually keep a stack of transfer tags in the hopper and place them on each garment. Price range here is about $3,500 to $6000. 

There are a lot of companies jumping on the tagless train, unfortunately they are not all created equal. Walk through the mall and give them the tug test, some of them will explode off the shirt. Some are tremendous, very durable, very detailed print on the text and no longer have a clear backer. 

I recommend getting as many samples as you can from suppliers and testing it out yourself. It's time consuming, but its less time consuming than rebuilding a relationship with a disappointed customer.


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## Jasonda

Buechee said:


> I think I will just go with putting biz cards in with the t-shirt.


_Instead_ of a tag or label in the collar of the shirt? That won't be legal.


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## JonWye

With regard to the first post about sizing variations on tags 



> This kind of throws a wrench into my plan because now I would need to have custom labels made with the different sizes on it, which I really don't want to do because I want to keep inventory, etc. as simple as possible.


If you ask nicely the company Global Trim (ask for Tami) will get you woven tags with small batches of different sizing variations, ie order 1000 tags, and they can get you 250 Small, 250 med, etc...

Hope that helps.


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## Buechee

Jasonda said:


> _Instead_ of a tag or label in the collar of the shirt? That won't be legal.


 
Sorry, wrong thread. I had to go back and read the first page.


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## cancelledbyrequest

clothinglabels4u is way too expensive


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## emjay777

i just cut(cleancut as possible)the Gildan logo and leave the material and washing info and i put a glossy cardboard tag with my logo and website


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## Binary01

theres a few distributors that will relabel before they ship u the blank shirts.... i was doing screenprinting tags...but i still had to cut the gilden tag out...not cool.... i did the math and the cost for the tag and relabel was about the same as the cost for the screenprint tag..... so i'm switching to tags...looks more professional i think and i dont have to cut tags when i ship/display...

cost for tag was about $.45usd....cost to relabel per shirt was $.30 so $.75 per shirt...

screenprint was $.85 per shirt

figure that out

b


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## WILLIAMS

Hey,
Since Gildens labels are attached, alot of my customers use their woven labels and I cut the Gilden name off and still use the care and content with the size on it with their label. When it's sewn in no one can tell that they didn't have their own care and content label made. It saves them alot of money in the end and their happy with that.


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## Amberlynn

I'm about to launch a new brand and I want the shirt relabeled. 

I have a vendor, who isn't good at returning my calls, located in So. CA that says they can open the seam, remove the label and insert mine.

I would like to find a vendor closer to home in the Seattle area. Anyone know of one. Or, barring one closer to home, how about one that returns my phone calls. 

Also, for those of you that seem to have experience in ordering shirts from a manufacturer with our label already sewn in, what kind of minimum do you usually see (I saw one person say 20 dozen) and what manufacturers do this?

Thanks


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## EJR

question what would be the better choice tag or tagless?

also which is cheaper? 

are there any pic here with tagless.


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## Solmu

EJR said:


> question what would be the better choice tag or tagless?


Depends on your brand and your preferences. I prefer a woven label, but others prefer a tagless print.



EJR said:


> also which is cheaper?


It's much of a muchness most of the time, but if you drive them both down to their bottom cost a printed tag will most likely be cheaper.



EJR said:


> are there any pic here with tagless.


There are some kicking around the forum somewhere. Threadless have done their shirts that way from almost the beginning (try a Google images search maybe). Any retail store that sells t-shirts will have some that are done this way.


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## EJR

Solmu said:


> Depends on your brand and your preferences. I prefer a woven label, but others prefer a tagless print.
> 
> 
> 
> It's much of a muchness most of the time, but if you drive them both down to their bottom cost a printed tag will most likely be cheaper.
> 
> 
> 
> There are some kicking around the forum somewhere. Threadless have done their shirts that way from almost the beginning (try a Google images search maybe). Any retail store that sells t-shirts will have some that are done this way.


thanks lewis.


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## Roly

237am said:


> theres a few distributors that will relabel before they ship u the blank shirts.... i was doing screenprinting tags...but i still had to cut the gilden tag out...not cool.... i did the math and the cost for the tag and relabel was about the same as the cost for the screenprint tag..... so i'm switching to tags...looks more professional i think and i dont have to cut tags when i ship/display...
> 
> cost for tag was about $.45usd....cost to relabel per shirt was $.30 so $.75 per shirt...
> 
> screenprint was $.85 per shirt
> 
> figure that out
> 
> b


Yeah this is where it gets tricky. My screen printer will print my inside label / caretag AND remove the existing Gildan's for a whopping .50 cents! Great! But it's FOUR different screens; they all have the exact same information but one for S, M, L, XL. It's $20 setup PER SCREEN. So it's prohibitively expensive until you do a lot. If I do 4 dozen. It's 50 cents each, PLUS $80 in setups divided by 48 shirts. It ends up being $2.16/shirt! Dealbreaker. But if I wait and do say 250 shirts at a time it works out to .82/shirt.

My business is only big enough right now that I print 4-8 dozen of any 1 shirt at a time. That's NOT enough for the inside label. So I end up shipping some out not branded as I would like. When I have about 250 or so, I bring them BACK to my screener and have them all relabeled. Not the best solution, but I don't know what else to do. There's no cheap solution I can find for relabeling when doing less than 250 or so shirts.

...the other argument is I should just focus on growing my business, until I'm never having less than 250 shirts printed at one time. Then it's a non-issue.


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## muneca

man, am i glad i found this thread again. good info...that i need! i'll keep checking back on this one. i too am struggling w/the screen printed label and an actual tag. initially, i wanted to do the printed version. but, after seeing lady umbrella's label...I LOVE IT! and i've been researching tags all day. keeping in mind that the tag has to be comfy. that's the whole reason for the tagless trend. i think lady umbrella's tag looks a little silky/smooth. i would be most interested in that type or that faux suede look/feel.

thanks again guys for the info.


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## muneca

i used to be crazy about gildan shirts. primarily because i liked the weight/thickness. initially, they have a good finished look. but, after a while they start to get a rough feel and look worn. i have tons of 'em...'cause they looked so good @ first when i was on the retail end. but, after the 1st year of washings...i'm not as big a fan. now, i think i would only use 'em for my low-end customers. (18-24 ages range) they are the ones that have limited budgets...but, still want to look good until the next trend rolls around. my older customers want quality, creativity & and something that's going to last a few years...and they are willing to pay a little more for it. oh, & did i mention they appreciate quality and the attention to detail???!!!


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## madmoto

The DC shirt I'm wearing is tagless and the express shirt I wore yesterday was tagless.

I'd like to do my tagless also, but I'm weighing the costs.


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## IdyaGurl

Solmu said:


> One other option is to screenprint them yourself (either directly into the garment, or onto fabric that is sewn into the garment). Since we're talking about a very simple one colour print, you wouldn't need a lot of equipment and it wouldn't be difficult to do.
> 
> You may prefer to outsource these kind of jobs, but if not that is another option.



I was wondering when someone would suggest this cause this is the option I want to do - personally I dont like tags(too itchy even with the modern ones) 
I have been checking on the required info before I design it.
Thanks everyone for the posts


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## Hatter & Company

IdyaGurl said:


> I was wondering when someone would suggest this cause this is the option I want to do - personally I dont like tags(too itchy even with the modern ones)
> I have been checking on the required info before I design it.
> Thanks everyone for the posts


I prefer tagless labels screen printed on the shirt. I don't like how tags can be itchy and bothersome. There are screen printers that offer tag removal and tag printing services. Just do some research and you'll find them...good luck!


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## movement_rizo

T-BOT said:


> Here in Canada, i think the minimum allowed gov-law for content label durability is something like 5 washes. With a Brand we do work for that uses Gildan shirts, they re-label the shirts with paper-type labels that are within gov-regulation.
> 
> I see that this is a super old thread but I wanted to say thanks for all the great info you provide in the forums and add for us brand noobs that the Textile labeling act in Canada requires that the "disclosure label" be applied in a "permanent" fashion.
> 
> The standards outlined for "permanent" require the label be legible after 10 washes. 10 Dry cleans are mentioned.
> 
> All in all, a little unclear, but its 10 washes in Canada. Eh.


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