Not every brand mark is a damask label. Sportswear, kidswear and underwear often want a badge that sits on the cloth: heat-transfer, screen print, or a silicone part that is printed, transferred or pre-made then pressed. They are different processes. They share one risk: the edge peels after wash if the adhesive and the fabric never met in a sample.
Printed badges are accessory knowledge on a growing platform. TrimGem University teaches them next to woven labels because buyers mix sew-in and no-sew identity on one BOM. The Guangzhou one-stop catalogue will keep adding badge routes; the bond line still fails first.
Three silicone routes (they are not the same)
Silicone screen (direct) — silicone paste printed on the garment, built in layers for height. Efficient at volume, less friendly for tiny runs.
Silicone transfer — the motif is printed on a release film, then heat-pressed onto the garment. Better for smaller marks and for keeping the print shop off the sewing floor.
Silicone badge (烫标) — a finished 3D piece, moulded or liquid-silicone, then pressed on. Highest unit cost, cleanest “rubber” logo, flexible for samples. Moulded badges hold tight tolerances and effects (matt, glitter, glow, reflective). Liquid silicone is the soft, skin-close story for underwear and infant.
TPU care-label transfers sit in the same press family: no sew, low profile.
Typical press talk in mills is on the order of ~160 °C / ~15 s — always confirm on the actual fabric. Silicone as a material is heat- and wash-tolerant; the bond line is what fails.
Screen versus transfer versus badge
| Screen | Transfer | Pre-made badge | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made | on the garment | on film, then press | off-garment, then press |
| Best at | large areas, volume | mid/small logos | small brand marks |
| Feel | can be thick | film + adhesive | rubber part |
Ordinary screen-print ink (including reflective inks) remains the cheap large-area mark. High-build silicone screen is the raised-ink cousin of a badge.
Where it belongs
T-shirt logos, kids’ 3D marks, no-sew underwear labels, bag and cap badges, workwear function marks (FR, anti-sublimation — extra chemistry, extra tests). Cotton, poly-cotton, stretch sports and oxford generally take a press; slick film bags often do not.
OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 on the badge or ink is a chemistry screen, not a wash-life certificate. Wash life is a bonded-sample test.
Sublimation on polyester sportswear can ghost through a thin badge if the dye is not blocked — ask for an anti-migration layer on light colours over dark poly. FR and glow effects are extra chemistries; they inherit the same RSL as any print.
Price usually runs screen (volume) < transfer < pre-made badge. Sample on the bulk fabric, including elastane and DWR finishes that starve adhesives.
TrimGem samples the process, not a JPEG of a logo thickness.