You know you want stylish printed clothes for your new uniform or merch drop. You might have even decided on a design. But do you know which printing method you want to use? 

At Banana Moon, we offer three expert printing techniques: Direct-to-Film (DTF), Direct-to-Garment (DTG), and Screen Printing, ensuring you can find the best possible printing method for your design, garment type and order quantity.

To help you choose, let's outline how each of these fabric printing techniques works and which types of orders they're best suited for in this handy comparison guide.

What is Screen Printing?

Screen Printing uses wet ink that passes through mesh screens with the stencil of your design on them onto a garment. The garment is then passed through a dryer to cure (set) the ink.

What is DTG Printing?

Direct-to-Garment printing applies your design directly to your chosen clothing using inkjet technology.

What is DTF Printing? 

Direct-to-Film printing applies your custom design to a carrier film rather than the garment itself. The printed film is then applied to the garment using a heat press.

What is the Best Garment Printing Technique for Bulk Orders?

At Banana Moon, we’re no strangers to bulk garment printing orders, handling leavers hoodie prints for whole year groups, uniform printing for businesses with hundreds of employees, merch printing for huge university societies and more.

For larger orders, Screen Printing is usually the most effective choice. This is because once we’ve made the screen for your custom design the automatic screen print carousels can each print at 500 items per hour.

What is the Most Affordable Garment Printing Technique?

The affordability of printing methods depends largely on order sizes. For smaller orders, Direct-to-Film printing is typically the lowest-cost option, while Screen Printing is more cost-effective for larger orders. There are also other factors which affect the cost of garment printing, particularly the number of colours used.

See our pricing guide for more help in making the most cost-effective choice for your custom clothing. 

What is the Best Garment Printing Technique for Detailed Designs?

If your logo or design has lots of detail and effects like shading, Direct-to-Garment (DTG) printing is typically the best choice. The inkjet recreates your design with incredible precision and uses multiple colours with ease. 

If you want vibrance and colours that really ‘pop’  more than intricate lines and fine details, you might want to consider Direct-to-Film (DTF) printing instead. This is because colour saturation remains high when applied to film rather than being absorbed into the fabric. 

Which is the Best Garment Printing Technique for Unique Placements?

If you want your design in a more unconventional location - such as the sleeve or shoulder rather than the front, back or chest of the garment - DTF printing is the winner. Because the design is printed onto film rather than the garment itself, the film design can then be heat-pressed onto the clothing almost anywhere you like. 

What is the Most Environmentally Friendly Garment Printing Technique?

DTG is typically regarded as the most sustainable printing method due to minimal waste, low water use, and non-toxic inks. However, at Banana Moon, we endeavour to make all of our printing methods as eco-friendly as possible, so you can still make an environmentally conscious choice even if DTF or Screen Printing is better suited to your needs.

Our Screen Printing process usesa  Direct-to-Screen machine, eliminating the need for plastic positives and reducing waste. We also reuse the same cleaning water and chemicals for the screen for six months, limiting water waste. We also use a water filtration system for our production wastewater, and use an Easykleen tank to collect excess ink, which is then handled professionally by waste management. 

Our DTF printing is a waterless process, similar to DTG. Plus, we further reduce waste by reusing our adhesive powder and have switched to recyclable materials for our carrier film. 

Learn more about Banana Moon’s sustainability commitment and our status as a B-Corp. 

What is the Best Garment Printing Technique for Different Fabrics?

Screen printing and Direct to Film work best for all types of fabrics, whereas Direct to Garment is best suited to fully cotton or very high cotton content fabrics. DTF is the most adaptable printing method as it sits cleanly on top of the fabric rather than needing to ‘sink in’

Comparing Garment Printing Methods

Let’s round up and compare the key benefits of each of our garment printing methods. 

Screen Printing vs DTG Printing

We recommend choosing Screen Printing over DTG if:

1. You want large quantity runs, and turned around quickly

2. Your design is simpler, i.e. more flat colours or larger areas to cover

Meanwhile, we recommend choosing DTG printing over Screen Printing if:

1. You prefer a more environmentally friendly print process, which uses less water

2. You want to do smaller quantity runs of highly technical/colourful designs

3. Your design has many shades of colour, fading or other special design effects

DTG vs DTF Printing

We recommend choosing DTG printing over DTF if:

1. You generally prefer a softer feel, i.e. the print almost appears to be in the garment fabric

2. You have a particularly detailed or intricate design

3. You prefer a more vintage or faded out look to the print colours

Meanwhile, you should choose DTF over DTG printing if:

1. You are using a more moisture-wicking fabric like polyester or Lycra

2. You want high levels of colour saturation or photorealism

3. You are ordering a smaller order on polycotton or polyester fabrics

Screen Printing vs DTF Printing

Opt for Screen Printing over DTF for:

1. High volume production runs at max efficiency

2. Simple designs with a few solid colours

3. The same design across a large batch of garments

4. A highly durable, long-term print on cotton

Choose DTF instead for:

1. Lower quantity orders

2. Fabrics that don’t absorb ink as well

3. Complex artwork or photorealism

4. An order with a wider variety of garment types

5. Unique print placements

We hope this handy guide has given you a clearer idea of which printing method will work best for you. If you’re still unsure, don’t worry. We’re happy to discuss further when you contact us. 

Explore our range of print-ready tops, bottoms and accessories today.