About Custom Drops
Most printers won't take an order for one.
We will. Custom Drops is a small London operation printing and embroidering to order — so a single shirt goes through the same steps as a fifty-piece team kit, and costs you no setup fee either way. One piece is a real order.
- Based
- London
- Minimum
- One piece
- Setup fee
- None
- Proof
- Free, before we make it
- Turnaround
- 3 to 5 working days
- Delivery
- Tracked, free over £69.99
Two ways to put a design on a garment.
They are not interchangeable, and the wrong one costs you money. Here is the honest difference so you can pick properly.
DTF print
Pressed onto the fabric
- Looks like
- Full colour with photo detail. Gradients, shading and fine colour all come through.
- Best for
- Big graphics, photos, anything with more than a few colours.
- On dark fabric
- Yes. White is laid down underneath so the colours stay true.
- Washing
- Needs looking after. 30°C inside out, no tumble dryer. Boil wash it and it will crack eventually.
For tees, hoodies and one-offs where the artwork is the point.
Embroidery
Stitched into the fabric
- Looks like
- Raised thread with some weight to it. No gradients or photographic detail.
- Best for
- Logos, names, small marks. Left chest, cap fronts, cuffs.
- On dark fabric
- Yes, and it reads well on any colour.
- Washing
- Sewn in, so no special care. It outlives the garment.
For workwear, uniforms and anything washed hard every week.
How an order runs.
Nothing gets made until you have seen it and said yes.
Send the artwork
Upload it, use the studio, or send a photo of a sketch from your phone. We work with what you have.
We send a proof
You see the design on the actual garment at the actual size. Nothing is made until you reply yes.
We make it
Printed or stitched here, then looked at by hand before it is folded and bagged.
It goes out
Royal Mail Tracked, usually 3 to 5 working days. Free over £69.99.
What we tell people about washing a print
Rather than let you find out later: a DTF print is a layer pressed onto the cloth, not dye soaked into it. Treated properly it lasts a long time. Treated badly it lifts and cracks, and that goes for anyone doing DTF, not just us.
- Inside out, 30°C, with like colours.
- Skip the tumble dryer. Heat does the damage, not water.
- Keep the iron off the print. Turn it inside out if it needs pressing.
If a design is going to get hammered — work uniforms, kitchen kit, school jumpers — we will say so and suggest stitching it instead. Rather point you at the right one than sell you the wrong one twice.
Start with one.
No minimum, no setup fee, and a proof before anything is made. See how it comes out, then order the rest.