A Fabric Square is a piece of Hanes Beefy-T fabric bonded it to a woven backing material using a custom formulated adhesive. The process used to create the Fabric Square is very specialized and not easily repeated. The fabric square must possess certain properties for it to be printed and then used as a selling tool. First, it must withstand the printing process. It must be able to be printed, flash dried when needed, and then must be able to be run through the dryer, just like a t-shirt. Because the face of the fabric square is actual t-shirt material it prints just like a t-shirt. And the specialized adhesive and unique backing allow the square to maintain it’s original dimensions after exiting the dryer. The Fabric Square we created is dimensionally stable – it does not curl when printed and dried. The backing does not delaminate from the face. It is sturdy enough to withstand repeated handling by salespeople and customers. It is an extraordinary creation.
The primary purpose of the Fabric Square is to make it possible to print a premium quality design on a dimensionally stable platform which will allow the artwork and the printing technique to be featured. Additionally, the fabric square allows a salesperson to make a presentation to a client and show the client a wide array of screen printed samples without being forced to carry in boxes of printed T-shirts. The Fabric Square is the key component in the creation of the Fabric Square Sample Set. And the Sample Set is the key to showing a client what is possible in apparel decorating in a professional manner with dozens of printing techniques, and graphic designs.
One of the best illustrations of the value of a sample set is to imagine for a moment walking in to your clients office with 40 printed t-shirts, either in a garment bag or worse, in a cardboard box. Imagine then trying to show the client all of the unique and specialized printing techniques you can offer – High Density, Gel, Simulated Process printing. To show him you hand over a shirt, and the another, and another. In no time at all your customer is buried under a pile of t-shirts.
Instead, imagine walking in to see your client with your beautiful Simulated Portfolio which holds 40 or more printed Fabric Squares. You make your presentation, handing her the fabric squares one at a time, which she can easily stack up into a nice neat pile. The focus is on selling high quality decorating. The focus is on the printed samples, not on trying to find a place for the giant pile of shirts. There is simply no comparison. A salesperson who uses a Fabric Square Sample Set is an Apparel Decorating Professional
During the development of the Sample Set one thought came up repeatedly. A sales rep cannot sell a premium quality printed apparel if there is no way to show the client what is possible through the decorating process. It was always believed that clients could be motivated to purchase better quality decorating if they could touch it, feel it, and see it, up close and personal.
The Fabric Square has made that possible.