The print failed, the supplier says you washed it wrong, and you suspect otherwise. Here is how to tell who is right.
Three washes after delivery, the logo has fine cracks across it, or the edges are lifting, or the colour has gone chalky. The shirts looked excellent when they arrived. The supplier suggests they were washed too hot. You suspect the print was wrong. One of you is right, and the garment itself will tell you which.
Cracking: fine lines through the design
The print has become brittle and is splitting as the fabric flexes. Two usual causes.
Under-cured ink. Screen print ink has to reach a specific temperature to cure properly. Not hot enough and it never fully hardens; it sits on the shirt looking perfect and fails within a few washes. This is a production fault, not a laundry one.
The temperature is higher than people guess. Plastisol, the usual ink for screen-printed shirts, is tiny PVC particles suspended in a liquid plasticiser. At about 180°C the particles absorb the plasticiser and fuse into a film, which stays flexible once it cools below 60°C. Most plastisol inks need that 180°C for full curing, so a dryer running too cool, or a belt moving too fast, gives you shirts that pass inspection on the day and crack in the first few washes.
Too much ink on a flexible fabric. A thick deposit on a stretchy garment cannot move with it. The print is fine until the shirt is stretched over a shoulder, and then it splits along the lines of most movement.
How to tell it apart from wear: cracking that appears evenly across the whole design in the first handful of washes is a curing problem. Cracking that shows only where the fabric flexes most, after 12 months of use, is ordinary life.
Peeling: edges lifting away
This is an adhesion problem and it means a transfer (heat press or DTF) did not bond properly. Not enough heat, not enough pressure, not enough time, or a fabric with a finish that resisted it.
The window is narrow. For Siser's EasyWeed heat-transfer vinyl, the distributor Stahls gives 150°C for 10 to 15 seconds at medium pressure, and notes that other presses may need different settings. A press that runs cool, or a dwell cut short, leaves the edges loose.
Polyester sportswear and anything with a water-repellent or softener treatment are the usual culprits, because the treatment is doing exactly what it was designed to do: stopping things sticking to the fabric. It is a known problem with a known answer, and a supplier who is told the fabric in advance can plan for it.
Fading and chalkiness
Different failure again. If the whole garment has faded, that is dye and sunlight and nothing to do with the print. If the print alone has gone chalky while the shirt is still strong, that is usually pigment breaking down under UV, common on anything left drying in full Kenyan sun, day after day.
And one that surprises people: white or pale areas of a print on polyester turning pink or grey over several weeks is dye migration. The garment's own dye is moving up into the print. It has nothing to do with washing, it appears after delivery, not at delivery, and it is prevented by using the right barrier at print time.
What to ask for on the reorder
- Say what the garment is for. Daily uniform and a one-off event shirt should not be printed the same way, and a supplier can only choose well if they know.
- Name the fabric. Cotton, polyester or a blend: it changes the method and it changes the risk.
- For anything worn constantly, ask about embroidery. Thread has nothing to crack, peel or fade. It is the right answer for hoodies (KSh 2,500 each, from 12) and corporate wear that gets years of use.
- Ask for a wash test. One sample garment, washed five times before the run is approved. Almost nobody does this and it catches nearly everything on this page.
The conversation to have with your supplier
When a print fails, the exchange usually becomes an argument about blame, which helps nobody and rarely ends in a reprint. A more productive opening: photograph the failure clearly, in daylight, close enough to see whether the damage is even across the design or concentrated where the fabric flexes, and say how many washes and at what temperature.
That single photograph answers most of the question. An even, early failure points at production; a localised, late one points at wear. A supplier shown clear evidence will usually tell you straight which it is, because the alternative is a customer who never returns.
What washing can and cannot excuse
Care instructions are not an excuse, but they are real. Inside out, cool, no bleach, and dry in shade, out of direct sun. On a properly cured printed shirt (KSh 450 for a round neck) that treatment adds years. On an under-cured one it delays a failure that was always coming.
That is the fair test between the two positions: a print that fails despite correct care failed at production. A print that survives correct care and dies under hot washing and full sun was fine, and the instructions were not passed on to whoever does the laundry.
Choosing a method for the next order? The comparison of the four sets out where each stops making sense. For uniforms, the count matters more than the method, and the sizing mistakes covers that.
Sources: Plastisol (Wikipedia) (read 14 Oct 2026); Stahls (Siser distributor), EasyWeed application settings (read 14 Oct 2026).
Common questions
Can a cracked print be repaired?
Not reliably. A new print can sometimes be applied over the old one where the design and position allow it, but the failed layer is still underneath and it will keep moving. On a garment worth keeping it is usually better to reprint in a different position, or to accept the shirt has reached the end of its branded life.
Which method survives washing best?
Embroidery, because there is nothing applied to the surface to fail. Among printed methods, a properly cured screen print on cotton lasts longest, then DTF, then heat press. The word "properly" is doing real work in that sentence: a badly cured screen print is the worst of the four, not the best.
Why did white parts of my print turn pink?
Dye migration from a polyester garment moving up into the print. It appears in the weeks after delivery, not at the point of printing, which is why it feels like a mystery. It is prevented at print time with a barrier layer, and it is a good reason to say what fabric you are supplying before anything is printed.
Can I get a sample washed before ordering hundreds?
Yes, and for any large or long-life order it is the sensible step. One garment printed the way the run will be printed, washed five times at home, tells you more than any specification. It costs a few days at the start and it is the single most effective way to avoid reprinting a whole order.
