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Piece-Dyed vs Printed Cotton — Which to Order?
Piece-dyeing puts one solid colour through the whole cloth after weaving, so the shade is even front and back and colour-fastness is easy to hit. Printing lays a pattern or colour on the face only, so the back stays paler and each additional colour adds cost and a registration tolerance. Order piece-dyed for solids and blocks of colour; order printed when you need a pattern, artwork or more than a couple of colours placed.
| Piece-dyed | Printed | |
|---|---|---|
| Colour placement | Solid, all the way through | On the face; back is paler |
| Number of colours | One per lot | One to many; cost rises per colour |
| Minimum | 1,000 m per colour | Screen: higher setup; digital: lower, dearer per metre |
| Fastness | Straightforward to certify | Depends on ink system and coverage |
| Best for | Solids, workwear, bag bodies, upholstery grounds | Patterns, branding, home textiles, artwork |
Choose Piece-dyed
You need a solid shade, the deepest fastness, or the lowest cost per metre at volume.
Choose Printed
You need a pattern, placed artwork, or several colours — and can accept a registration tolerance.
Common questions
Can you print onto a piece-dyed ground?
Yes — a print on a dyed ground is common for home textiles and gives depth a print on white cannot. It adds the dye lot cost plus the print, and the ground shade is locked once dyed.
Screen print or digital print for cotton?
Screen is cheaper per metre at volume and gives the strongest hand-feel and opacity, but each colour is a screen and a setup. Digital has almost no setup and unlimited colours, suits short runs and photographic artwork, and costs more per metre.
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Not sure which fits your spec? Send us the end use and we will recommend one.