The best fabric for your bespoke printed textiles?

Sourcing custom printed fabric allows you to bring your designs to life across a range of textiles, from garments to accessories to home decor. However sourcing printed fabrics for the first time can be a bit intimidating and it’s often hard to know what fabric will work best for each end product, so to help you, we’ve created a short guide!

1. The best fabric for oven gloves

Oven gloves have one critical job – protecting someone’s skin from burns or scalds when cooking or dealing with hot objects – and so there’s quite a few requirements your chosen material needs to meet. It needs to be heat resistant, offer sturdy grip and be flexible enough to easily take on and off. This means synthetic materials are not good choices. Instead, you should opt for natural fibres such as cotton or silicon.

Our double side oven gloves are made from 100% cotton Panama, making them a heat-resistant, comfortable and durable choice for adding that personal touch when handling hot plates and pans.

2. The best fabric for tea towels

Digitally printed tea towels are not only practical, but they allow you to add colour, patterns, or texture to kitchens with your vibrant designs; but what’s the best fabric material to use? Tea towels need to be made from absorbent materials, so it’s best to give man-made fibres like polyester a miss and opt for using natural fibres like linen, and cotton instead.

Linen tends to be stronger and more absorbent, but cotton is often much cheaper. And it’s worth bearing in mind the tighter the weave of the fabric, the more absorbent the fabric will be.

At Magic Textiles, we opt for combed yarn cotton as opposed to carded (Combing is an extra step take takes place after carding the cotton to eliminate the short fibres, thus helping to remove all its imperfections).

This process results in a smoother the yarn that gives improved printing results, greater resistance to wear and tear over time, makes the textile softer to the touch and ensures consistent production quality. It is a much cleaner form of cotton.

Our 100% cotton tea towels are very absorbent and because they’re made in the same material as our oven gloves, they’re also heat-tolerant and durable enough to handle hot cookware.

 

3. The best fabric for custom aprons

Gone are the days when aprons were simply a sign of hygiene and something to keep your clothes clean. Custom printed aprons are great for adding vibrancy to a kitchen theme, make a special bespoke gift or form essential workwear for many.

Popular apron fabrics vary from cotton and muslins to rubber/Nylon, leather, and plastics and all offer up their own benefits. Cotton (one of your options when ordering bespoke aprons from Magic Textiles) is probably the most popular. Its affordable, durable, machine washable and comes in various colours with no printing restrictions, meaning your designs will never be restricted by your material.

Although cotton aprons are machine washable, they’re not waterproof or water resistant so they’re often not ideal for the extra messy jobs when users might be likely to get wet or extra dirty. That’s why aprons are also available from us in oilcloth. Oilcloth is a tightly woven fabric, usually cotton or linen, which is then treated on one side to give it a waterproof finish.

Oilcloth offers water resistance and provides a more comfortable and eco-friendly solution compared to plastics and heavier rubbers.

 

4. The best fabric for tote and wash bags

Tote bags or wash bags are another product that often benefit from a waterproof finish – especially the lining! That’s why the best fabric for our custom bags is often oilcloth coated cotton too.

Our bespoke tote bags and make-up bags are available in 100% cotton or oilcloth, with the option to change materials for the outer materials and the lining, so you can have the best of both worlds!

 

5. The best fabric for cushion covers

There’s a huge range of fabrics available for custom textiles now a days, and one of the most common textiles we get asked to manufacture are custom cushion covers! The best fabric for your cushion covers may vary depending on their use and where they’ll live – if it’s a comfy sofa in a home or a window seat in a restaurant, your choices will probably be very different.

Cotton and linen mix fabrics can be a good choice for use around the home and commercial and hospitality environments. They’re washable and hard wearing, and the natural fibres mean they’re also kinder to sensitive skins or in hotter temperatures. Cotton also makes your cushions suitable for outdoor use as long as they are not exposed to the elements but beware of sun bleaching and colour fading if used extensively outside or in direct sunlight.

Other options for cushion fabrics include leather, polyester, silk or velvet. In addition to 100% cotton, we offer custom printed cushions in poly-velvet. Poly-velvet is a great choice for busy family homes as they can offer a soft, cosy and luxurious look and feel alongside increased resistance to crushing or spills.

Finding the best fabric for your bespoke printed textiles is easy when you know what you are going to need it for and the options available to you. If you take the time to determine what fabric is right for you and your custom textiles, it becomes much easier.

Printed fabrics manufactured by Magic Textiles

Below is a list of printed fabrics we are able to offer for custom textile printing and their suggested end use.

FABRIC CODE	COMPOSITION	FABRIC TYPE	WEIGHT (GSM)	WIDTH (CM)	COMMENTS	SUGGESTED END USE
Q2803B	100% Cotton	Half Panama – Bleached	275	150	Non Optic	Household (Tea towels, Napkins, Table runners, Aprons..) and Cushions
Q2803N	100% Cotton	Half Panama – Natural	275	150	Natural	Household (Tea towels, Napkins, Table runners, Aprons..) and Cushions
Q2803OB	100% Organic Cotton	Organic Half Panama – Bleached	275	150	Non Optic	Household (Tea towels, Napkins, Table runners, Aprons..) and Cushions
Q2203ON	100% Organic Cotton	Organic Half Panama – Natural	275	150	Natural	Household (Tea towels, Napkins, Table runners, Aprons..) and Cushions
Q3014O	100% Organic Cotton	Organic Warp Satin	245	150	Optic	Cushions and Curtains
Q3007	100% Cotton	Lawn	75	140	Non Optic	Scarves, Blouses and Bandanas
Q2347	100% Organic Cotton	Organic Poplin	130	150	Non Optic	Shirting, Dressmaking and Bedding
QV820	100% Viscose	Taffeta	80	135	Non Optic	Lining
Q3179	Cotton Linen Union	Wexford	250	140	Natural & Bleached	Household Textiles
Q3175	Cotton Linen Union	Kilary	350	140	Natural & Bleached	Household Textiles

If you require other fabrics such as velvet and other polyesters etc. or more information on sourcing your own custom fabrics, then please contact us for more information.

Alternatively, if you know the fabric you need, you can order your custom printed textiles online with us today.