Jersey with or without flock? Which is better?

Flocking is a process used to finish textiles. In this process, flock fibres are incorporated into an adhesive and then applied to the textile or jersey by brushing, spraying or rolling. Flock fibres are fibres with a length of between 0.1 and 10 mm, which can have different raw materials as a starting point and are cut by machine in the first step of processing. The fibres depend on the raw material and are very different in terms of length, diameter, hardness, shape and bendability, which equally results in differentiated surface properties. To achieve a good result in jersey flocking, the work process is divided into different steps.

1. Pre-treatment: The jersey is usually cleaned or pre-treated to prevent possible adhesion problems between flock fibres, adhesive and textile. 
2. Adhesive application: The flock adhesive is applied by brushing, rolling or spraying, whereby the areas to be flocked are coated with adhesive. Stencils or adhesive tapes are often used to protect areas that are not to be flocked. 
3. Flocking: The actual flocking is then done manually or with a semi- or fully-automatic flocking machine. 
4. Drying: After flocking, the textiles are dried in the air. The temperature and humidity naturally influence the drying process. 
5. Refinement: Finally, excess flock fibres are removed with small brushes or suction cups.
   

The flock is very often also called direct flock and is frequently seen in practice on tracksuits or club jerseys. It is still a popular variant for visualising club names or logos on the jersey. Here are the advantages of jersey flocking at a glance:

• Availability: Whether you are looking for a retailer, an online shop or a print shop to flock your jerseys, you will quickly find what you are looking for. However, flocking jerseys is a very time-consuming process, which means that production and delivery times of several weeks are to be expected. 
• Costs for single items or low print runs: Especially for single items or low print runs, jersey flocking is often offered at a low price. As soon as several flocking components come into play or jerseys are needed for several teams, the costs increase. 
• Customisable: Jersey flocking allows for individual design. However, the flocking process quickly reaches its limits with multi-coloured logos or graphics.

Although the flocking process has some advantages, it also reaches its limits at some crucial points. First and foremost, it is a comparatively complex process that can only be carried out with sufficient manpower and thus incurs corresponding costs, especially with several flock components and large print runs. In addition, the visual result for small, multi-coloured logos with fine lines often leaves a lot to be desired. And probably the most annoying thing about jersey flocking for all sportspeople? At some point, the flock will come off the jersey and the colours will fade. No matter how much effort you put into caring for your sports jersey, after a while the flocked jersey just doesn't look nice any more. We are happy to summarise the disadvantages of jersey flocking for you:

• Pricing: Most suppliers charge extra for each individual flock component. This makes jersey flocking very expensive, especially for large runs with several visualisation elements (name, logo, sponsor, number, initials). 
• Durability: Flocking affects the material properties (e.g. breathability). After a certain period of wear, the textile no longer fulfils all its intended purposes during sporting activities. 
• Freedom of design: Often small, multi-coloured logos or coats of arms cannot be implemented in jersey flocking. This is particularly annoying when a sponsor insists that a colourful or multi-coloured company logo be visualised in the original shades and sizes. 
• Quality: A sports jersey is exposed to sweat and various weather conditions, which inevitably involves washing. At some point, washing and regular wear will cause the flock to come off the jersey. The result: the sports textile no longer looks good and is also no longer usable in terms of functionality.

If classic jersey flocking has decisive disadvantages, the question arises whether there is not a cost-effective and at the same time high-quality alternative. The answer: yes, the sublimation printing process! Sublimation printing is completely digital, so that additional flock components or elaborate designs do not require an additional charge. Especially for large print runs, this is financially advantageous. In addition, the material properties are not damaged by adhesives, which extends the durability enormously. In terms of quality, the sublimation printing process also beats the classic jersey flock: the colours are vapourised in the textile and do not fade even after numerous washes. Logically, with evaporated visualisation elements, there is also no flock that will detach from the jersey at some point. In summary, the sublimation printing process has the following advantages over classic jersey flocking:

• Motifs, logos and coats of arms are easily produced in very high quality. No printing process can match this. 
• The high print quality gives you complete freedom of design. Photographs, multi-coloured graphics or complex patterns can be printed on the jersey with maximum colour intensity.
• The textile fully retains its material properties because no coating is left on the jersey. 
• Sublimation printing is also superior in terms of durability - you can continue to enjoy high colour intensity after numerous washes. 
• Sublimation printing is a digital printing process, which allows for efficient production and fast delivery times. 
• It requires no binders or solvents during production. The use of water-based inks is a much more environmentally friendly alternative. 
• The production effort is identical regardless of the number of visualisation elements. When it comes to pricing, we are happy to pass this advantage back to you. In concrete terms, this means that all your desired visualisation elements (name, logo, coat of arms, numbers, etc.) are included. At spized, additional print components are not charged!

The main differences between traditional jersey flocking and sublimation printing are quality, durability, pricing and design options. The traditional flocking process is certainly suitable if you need jerseys in small quantities that are not worn very often. However, if you want your jerseys to last a long time and you want them to be customised in a high-quality (or complex) way, the sublimation printing process is definitely the better choice. As far as the price is concerned, sublimation printing is not always the cheaper option. At this point, the number of pieces and the required printing components are decisive. Basically, the higher the order quantity and the customisation components, the more worthwhile the sublimation printing process is in financial terms. You are not sure whether the jersey with or without flock is better for you? Then try our new price calculator. Our tool calculates which variant is more favourable for you personally based on your needs.