Custom team hoodies: fabric, print and ordering guide

Custom team hoodies get more wear than almost anything else in a club order. Players pull them on for training, travel, the walk from the car park and the team photo. This guide covers the fabric, the print methods and the details worth settling before you order, using five hoodies from our current range.

What a team hoodie has to do

A team hoodie isn't match kit, but it works almost as hard. It goes over a training top on a cold evening, gets stuffed into a kit bag and goes through the wash every week. It also carries the crest in every photo taken off the pitch.

So the questions buyers ask us are practical ones. Will the colour last? Does the hood keep its shape? Can we add names to the back? Each of those has a clear answer once you know how the hoodie is made.

Fabric: what the hoodies are made of

Our sublimated team hoodies use a 180 GSM polyester and spandex blend. It's light enough to train in, it stretches with the arms and it dries quickly after a wet session. The inside is soft against the skin, and the stretch keeps cuffs and the hem from bagging out.

Some clubs want a heavier, brushed fleece for standing on the sideline in midwinter. That's a different fabric and a different print route, so mention it when you ask for a quote and we'll price it separately.

Print methods for team hoodies

Sublimation is our default. The design is dyed into the polyester, so there's no layer sitting on top of the fabric. Fades, stripes and patterns can run across the whole garment, and nothing cracks or peels in the wash.

Screen printing and heat transfer still have a place. They suit a single-colour crest on a plain hoodie, or cotton-rich fabrics that can't take sublimation dye. For anything with gradients, all-over patterns or more than a few colours, sublimation is the better route.

If players wear the hoodie on their day off, you picked the right one. Something we hear from club shops

Details that make a hoodie last

Most hoodies fail in the same places: the hood loses its shape, the cuffs stretch and the pocket seams pull. That's where we put the extra work.

Check these on the sample or mock-up

• Stitching. Reinforced double stitching on the shoulders, pocket and hem, where a kit bag pulls hardest.
• Hood. A lined hood with drawstrings that sits up without flopping over the eyes.
• Cuffs and hem. Ribbed cuffs and waistband that hold their fit after washing.
• Pocket. A full kangaroo pocket. On sublimated hoodies the pattern lines up across the pocket edge.