Collection: How to Care for Embroidered Clothing (So It Looks Great for Years)

You invested in custom embroidered apparel for your company, and that was a smart move. Stitching your logo into a garment gives it a finished, professional look that holds up to a lot more than a printed design ever could. But even the best embroidery needs a little help staying that way.

A bit of care goes a long way toward keeping your logo crisp, your thread colors vibrant, and your team's gear looking as sharp as the day it arrived. Below, we'll walk through the wash-and-wear basics, then get into something a lot of people ask us about before they even order: how embroidery actually compares to screen printing, and which one makes sense for your next project.

Quick Care Tips for Embroidered Apparel

Short on time? Here's the cheat sheet:

• Turn garments inside out before tossing them in the wash.

• Stick to cold water on a gentle cycle.

• Use a mild detergent and skip the bleach.

• Keep embroidered pieces away from anything with zippers, hooks, or rough hardware.

• Air dry when you can, or tumble dry on low heat if you're in a hurry.

• Iron from the reverse side, or lay a pressing cloth over the design.

Now let's get into why each of these actually matters, plus a few things worth knowing before your next order.

Screen Printing vs. Embroidery: What's the Difference?

Before you can take care of decorated apparel, it helps to know what you're actually caring for. Embroidery and screen printing are the two most common ways to put a logo on company gear, and they behave differently in the wash, on the shelf, and over the life of the garment.

What Is Embroidery?

Embroidery stitches your logo directly into the fabric using colored thread, so the design becomes part of the garment rather than sitting on top of it. At Threadfellows, we can stitch designs with a huge range of detail using a library of more than 400 Madeira thread colors, which means your logo gets matched closely to your actual brand palette rather than the nearest thing on a swatch card. It has a raised, textured feel you can see and touch, and because the thread is woven into the material, it resists cracking, peeling, and fading in ways that printed ink simply can't.

What Is Screen Printing?

Screen printing applies ink to the surface of the fabric through a stenciled screen, one color layer at a time. It's the go-to method when a design needs to cover a lot of ground, whether that's a full front graphic, a giveaway shirt for two hundred people, or artwork with more colors than embroidery thread could realistically capture. Because the ink sits on top of the fibers instead of being stitched through them, it can crack or fade over time with heavy washing, though a well-printed shirt with proper care can still last for years of regular wear.

When to Choose Embroidery

Embroidery tends to be the better call when:

• You're decorating polos, outerwear, or anything that gets worn in front of clients, since the raised stitching reads as more polished and put together.

• The logo is going on headwear, where embroidery is practically the industry standard because of how well it holds up to shape and repeated wear.

• Your artwork is a low-stitch-count logo or wordmark rather than a busy, multi-layered graphic.

• The garment is a technical or textured fabric, like fleece or performance knit, where printed ink doesn't always sit well.

• You want the decoration to last as long as the garment itself. Threadfellows applies up to 10,000 stitches at no charge on the first application, so most standard logos are covered without an upcharge.

Good candidates from our own lineup include the Nike Dri-FIT Vertical Mesh Polo, just about anything in our headwear collection, and the fleece and quarter-zip styles in layering.

When to Choose Screen Printing

Screen printing usually wins out when:

• You need a large-format graphic, like a full back design or an oversized front logo.

• You're outfitting a big group for an event or giveaway and cost per piece matters more than texture.

• The order is for t-shirts or other lightweight cotton pieces, where thread embroidery can feel heavy or stiff against thinner fabric.

• Your design uses full-color artwork, gradients, or photographic detail that would be tough to translate into thread.

• You're working with a tighter per-unit budget on a bulk order.

Here's a quick side-by-side if you're still deciding:

If your project has a foot in both camps, that's normal. Plenty of companies use embroidery for their polos and headwear and screen printing for their event t-shirts, all from the same logo file.

Caring for Embroidered Apparel, Step by Step

Once your gear is stitched and shipped, keeping it looking good comes down to a handful of habits.

Wash Inside Out

Turning embroidered apparel inside out before washing protects the stitched design from rubbing against zippers, buttons, and other garments in the load. Less friction means less wear, so your embroidery stays smooth and vibrant for longer.

Choose Cold Water and a Gentle Cycle

Hot water can shrink fabric and shorten the life of both the garment and the stitching. Cold water on a gentle cycle is the safer bet, especially for embroidered polos, sweatshirts, jackets, and performance fabrics. If your logo uses bright or contrasting thread colors, cold water also cuts down on the risk of color bleeding.

Keep Rough Laundry Separate

Jeans with heavy rivets, jackets with metal zippers, or anything with big buttons can snag embroidered stitches mid-wash. Whenever you can, wash embroidered pieces with similarly soft fabrics, or drop them in a mesh laundry bag for extra protection.

Use a Mild Detergent

Harsh detergents, bleach, and heavy-duty stain removers can wear down fabric fibers and dull thread colors over time. A mild detergent gets the job done without being too aggressive on the stitching.

Air Dry When You Can

Air drying, like cold water washing, helps avoid the excess heat that shrinks fabric and shortens a garment's life. If you're pressed for time, a low-heat tumble dry works fine. Just steer clear of high heat when you can.

Iron Carefully

Wrinkles happen. When they do, don't press a hot iron directly onto the embroidery. Turn the garment inside out first, or place a pressing cloth between the iron and the stitched design. Either way, you're protecting the raised thread from getting flattened or scorched.

Shop Embroidery-Ready Apparel

If you're building out a wardrobe piece by piece, these are some of the categories and styles that take embroidery especially well and hold up to regular office, client, or event wear.

Best Sellers for Embroidered Logos (Polos, Quarter-Zips, Headwear)

• Polos: the classic embroidery canvas. Left-chest logos on a clean polo still read as the most polished option for client-facing teams, and styles like the Nike Dri-FIT Vertical Mesh Polo are built to handle repeated laundering without losing shape.

• Quarter-zips and layering pieces: fleece and knit quarter-zips, like the Under Armour Rival Fleece Quarter-Zip, give embroidery a textured surface to sit on and layer easily over a button-down for meetings or under a jacket for outdoor events.

• Headwear: caps are practically made for embroidery. Structured styles like the Richardson Sustainable Trucker Cap hold a stitched logo's shape wash after wash, which is part of why embroidery is the default decoration method for hats industry-wide.

Not sure which pieces make sense for your team? Our decoration guide breaks down embroidery, screen printing, and a few other options side by side, and you can always request a large order quote if you're outfitting a bigger group.

Your Questions, Answered

Can embroidered clothing go in the washing machine? Yes, for the most part. Always check the product tag first, but most embroidered garments are machine washable. Wash them inside out using cold water, a gentle cycle, and a mild detergent.

Can embroidered clothing go in the dryer? Yes, though low heat is best. Air drying when you have the time will help extend the life of both the garment and the embroidery itself.

Can I iron over embroidery? It's best to avoid direct heat on the stitching. If you need to iron the garment, do it from the reverse side or use a pressing cloth to protect the design.

Does embroidery fade over time? Quality embroidery is built to last. With proper washing and drying habits, thread colors stay bright and the stitching stays sharp for years, which is one of the reasons embroidery tends to outlast screen printing on garments that get heavy, regular wear.

Does screen printing wear out faster than embroidery? It can, depending on how the piece is worn and cared for. Because screen-printed ink sits on the surface of the fabric rather than being stitched through it, repeated washing and drying on high heat can eventually cause cracking or fading. Embroidery, since the thread is worked into the fabric itself, generally holds its look longer under the same conditions. That's a big reason embroidery is the more common choice for pieces meant to be worn for years rather than a single event.

Can I mix embroidery and screen printing across one order? Absolutely. It's common to embroider logos on polos, outerwear, and headwear while using screen printing for event t-shirts or giveaways from the same order. Our team can help you figure out the right split when you request a quote.

A Little Care Goes a Long Way

Custom embroidery is built to last, and now you know how to help it get there, plus how to decide when embroidery is the right call in the first place. Follow these simple care habits and your embroidered apparel will keep looking polished through countless meetings, golf outings, events, and wash cycles.

Need custom apparel for your next order? From polos and quarter-zips to hats and jackets, Threadfellows will help you pick products that look great on day one and keep looking great for years after. You'll love wearing your logo.