Screens are not colour standards
Every monitor renders differently, and no two are calibrated the same. A colour approved from a screenshot has not really been approved.
Getting the colour right.
The most common complaint about teamwear is not price or lead time — it is that the reorder did not match. Here is how colour actually gets agreed, and why it drifts when it is not recorded.
Why Colour Drifts
Four reasons a second order comes back a different shade. Only one of them is really about dyeing.
Fabric changes the colour
The same dye recipe looks different on open mesh, smooth interlock and brushed fleece, because each reflects light differently. A kit with mixed fabrics needs each one dipped.
Dye lots vary
Any dyeing process has tolerance. Without a recorded recipe and a retained reference, each run drifts a little further from the last.
Nobody wrote it down
The most common cause by far. Colour is matched by eye each time, so there is nothing to reproduce from six months later.
How We Match It
- 1
You send a reference
A Pantone number, or better, a physical garment. A screenshot or a hex code is a starting point, not a standard.
- 2
We produce a lab dip
A small piece of your actual fabric dyed to the reference, because the same recipe reads differently on mesh than on interlock.
- 3
You approve it physically
Approve the dipped fabric in daylight, not a photo of it. This is the only point where colour is genuinely agreed.
- 4
The recipe is recorded
The approved dye recipe is logged against your account with your pattern and decoration files.
- 5
Reorders run from the record
A restock is dyed from the recorded recipe rather than matched by eye, which is what keeps season two matching season one.
What We Work To
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Preferred reference | Pantone TCX (textile) — TPG/TPX are for print and read differently on cloth |
| Also accepted | A physical garment or fabric swatch to match against |
| Not a standard | Hex codes, screenshots, photographs, printed sheets |
| Lab dip | Produced on your actual fabric before bulk dyeing |
| Approval | Physical, assessed in daylight |
| Tolerance | Commercial match — a small variance is inherent to dyeing |
| Record kept | Approved recipe held against your account for reorders |
| Sublimation note | Sublimated colour is printed, not dyed — matched by profile rather than dye recipe |
Send a physical sample if you have one
A garment we can hold beats every digital reference. If you are replacing kit from another supplier, post us a shirt — we will match to the cloth rather than to your memory of what the colour is supposed to be.
Colour Matching FAQs
Can you match any colour exactly?
We match to a commercial standard, which is what the industry works to — a small variance is inherent to dyeing textiles and no manufacturer who tells you otherwise is being straight. What we can guarantee is that your reorder matches your original, because both run from the same recorded recipe.
Is a hex code enough?
No. A hex code describes light on a screen, not dye in a fibre, and there is no reliable conversion. Send a Pantone TCX reference or a physical sample. If all you have is a hex code we will dip our closest interpretation and you approve or adjust it.
Which Pantone system should we use?
TCX, the textile system, dyed on cotton. TPG and TPX are printed paper references intended for graphics, and a colour that looks right on paper frequently reads differently once it is dye in cloth.
What is a lab dip?
A small piece of your actual fabric dyed to your reference, sent to you for approval before we dye the bulk. It is the difference between agreeing a colour and hoping about one.
Why does our jersey look different to our shorts?
Almost always fabric, not error. The same recipe on open mesh and on smooth tricot reflects light differently. Where a kit mixes fabrics we dip each one and you approve them together, side by side.
How does this work for sublimated kit?
Sublimated colour is printed rather than dyed, so it is controlled by our printer profile instead of a dye recipe. The principle is identical: we proof against your reference, you approve a physical print, and the profile is recorded for reorders.
Will next season match this season?
That is the entire point of recording the recipe. Your approved lab dip and recipe are held with your pattern and artwork files, so a run twelve months later starts from the same reference rather than someone matching by eye.
Can you match a competitor or a brand colour?
We can match a colour you supply as a reference. We will not reproduce another brand’s protected marks or trade dress — matching a shade is fine, copying an identity is not.
Matching an existing kit?
Send us a Pantone reference or post us a garment. We will produce a lab dip on your actual fabric before anything goes into bulk.