FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why Embroidery Works?

Embroidery Works is all about the branding. We have a team of people who have great experience on embroidering, screenprinting, pressing, storing, dispatching, recieving and sorting your jobs.

Our mission is to Make Branding Easy – and everyday we go to work and try to do just that.

What is your normal turnaround?

Most jobs take 5 days from the approval of the job. In some cases with multiple processes this can be longer, and if you need it sooner you can request and if possible we will oblige.

What are your minimums?

Here at Embroidery Works we have no minimums.

I want to work for Embroidery Works!

We are always on the lookout for great people to come and join our team.

If you have experience or an interest in embroidery or screenprinting and you love what you do, we would love to hear from you. We are keen to train the right people.

Email your CV and your availability to Mike.

How do you get an account?

If you wish to open an account with Embroidery Works send us an email and we will get in touch.

Do you offer an art service?

Yes we do. Sometimes the branding options available can be a little overwhelming, and for this reason we have people that can help you navigate this and really end up with a special result for your client. We are specialists at combining branding options.

What if I dont have great art?

We have a comprehensive redraw service available, when you contact us tell us thats all you have and we will sort it from there.

What embroidery thread do you use?

We use Madeira threads exclusively at Embroidery Works.

We use Polyneon and Rayon, depending on what we are embroidering.

You can view the thread charts here

Madeira Classic Rayon

Madeira PolyNeon

Can you PMS colour match threads?

Yes you can – click here for a handy converer on the Maderia site. We cannot vouch for its accuracy!

We also use this spreadsheet internally to choose our colours. These are colour we have matched,
and they are pretty good. Where there are 2, the colour sits between the 2 threads chosen.

How many colours can you screenprint?

We can print up to 10 colours with our machines. Note that if on black garments there may be a white
base that is included in this.

If your design has lots of colours or details we can Supacolour it as well.

What is a Pantone or PMS colour?

Pantone PMS colours are a universal colour identification standard. All screenprinters have Pantone
PMS books like this, and when you tell us that its PMS 485, we know exactly what shade of red you
mean.

Computer monitors all show colour different, and so relying on CMYK and RGB colours can be
problematic as it will change from computer screen to computer screen.

Check our Pantone’s Wikipedia for more information about the system.

How long does screenprinting last?

A properly cured screenprint will last the life of the garment.

We have all seen prints that have cracked over time, and this is normally because the curing process
has not been sufficent. The ink needs to be held at a temperature for a time to cure the ink so it
becomes a solid.

An undercured screenprint is like a great brownie – it has a soft inside and when it gets pulled it
cracks. A properly cured screenprint is like a bad brownie, a solid teeth breaker!

Do you print on polyester garments?

We do not direct screenprint on polyester garments. We prefer to Supacolour them.

Polyester fabrics are dyed using heat, and when we cure screenprints we can activate the dye, which
then can migrate into the ink and cause the whites to take on the colour of the garment. Its a fine
balance between a properly cured screenprint and this happening.

With a Supacolour Transfer, A small area of the garment is getting a more tightly controlled heat and
so we avoid these issues, especially with multiple prints on the garment. The finish is normally better
as well.

What is CMYK colour?

CMYK is a way of printing many colours using 4 primary colours.

It stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (This is old school printer speak for black). CMYK inks are
applied in set patterns of tiny dots that appear to create a solid color – similar to the pixels on a digital
image. Layers of these dots in different amounts of ink create any shade or color.

We use CMYK to print Supacolour, Decopress when
printed and also Digital Transfers.

Exact colour matches can be problematic as you
have to work out the what combination of the 4
colours will make up the exact PMS, and some
bolours like bright oranges, Deep blues and intense
greens can be difficult to achieve.

More information here on Wikipedia.

What is Supacolour?

Supacolour is a waterbased transfer that has really simplified branding. We can print millions of
colours in a soft hand print on as few as 20 items with one setup charge.

Its a great alternative to screenprinting, especially for shorter runs with lots of colours.

Its durable too – we stopped wash testing at 70 washes.

Do you count our stock in?

We have a full inwards department, and they recipt in your stock and check it against supplier packing
slips to ensure its correct before we brand.

Click here for more information on our inwards process.

Do you use your van to deliver to my customers?

Sorry we dont. Our van is used exclusively to go around our suppliers and collect your stock and bring
it back to Embroidery Works.

We use NZ Couriers and Castle Parcels to ship locally and nationwide.

Do you have a 1 hour courier service?

Yes we do on request. Please contact us if you require this.

How is my stock packaged when it leaves Embroidery Works?

In most cases, we reuse the cartons that your stock came in. Sometimes these can be a little second
hand, as they have been through 3 warehouses by the time the go through ours.

We can rebox and package on requst, and we oncharge the materials used in doing this.

Do you relabel?

Yes, we offer relabeling in house. We can supply the labels, or you can supply.

Do you fold and polybag?

Yes we do fold and polybag, anthough we encourage our clients to take garments folded and
unbagged for the environments sake.

Eveyday at Embroidery Works we strip off 2-3 compessed bales of plastic bags that the stock comes
in. Its a huge source of single use plastic that we can eliminate.

Do you split ship and drop ship?

Yes we do. Most of the work that we do ends up being dropshipped.

We can also split and dropship to multiple addresses on request.