What Is TPU Personalisation? A New Premium Way to Brand Workwear & Clothing

Embroidery and heat-applied transfers have long been popular choices for personalised workwear and uniforms. TPU personalisation adds a completely different option — giving company logos and branding more depth, texture and visual impact.

At Forefront Branding, TPU decoration is available in three distinctive finishes: Silicone 3D, StitchFX and Gloss+. There is no minimum quantity, and larger orders benefit from reduced unit pricing.

What is TPU personalisation?

TPU stands for thermoplastic polyurethane. Instead of simply printing a logo directly onto a garment, your design is produced as a flexible badge with its own surface, texture and depth before being professionally applied to the clothing.

This makes TPU particularly useful when you want your branding to become a more noticeable feature of the garment rather than simply another printed logo.

Three TPU finishes to choose from

TPU vs embroidery vs heat transfer

There isn't one decoration method that is right for every garment or every logo. The best option depends on the appearance you want, the garment being personalised and the artwork itself.

You don't have to use the same decoration method across an entire clothing range. For example, a company might use TPU on jackets, embroidery on polo shirts and heat transfer for larger back branding.

How much does TPU personalisation cost?

For TPU badges measuring up to 75mm, our current decoration pricing is:

Larger TPU badges are available with pricing on application.

A new TPU design also has a one-time £30 setup charge to prepare the artwork for production. Once the design has been set up, the same setup does not need to be repeated each time you reorder the same approved artwork.

Is there a minimum order?

No. There is no minimum quantity.

This means you can order a small number of garments when required. However, TPU becomes significantly more cost-effective at larger quantities, which is particularly useful for businesses ordering staff uniforms, workwear or repeat clothing requirements.

How long does TPU personalisation take?

Our typical TPU turnaround time is approximately 4–7 days.

Turnaround can vary depending on garment availability, order quantity, artwork requirements, badge size and the complexity of the design.

If your clothing is required for a particular staff start date, event or deadline, let us know when ordering so we can advise you.

Can my existing logo be made into a TPU badge?

In many cases, yes.

However, artwork that works perfectly on a website or printed document does not always translate directly into a small raised badge. Very fine text, extremely small details or complicated shapes may need to be adjusted to produce the best finished result.

Your design is therefore prepared specifically for the TPU production process as part of the initial setup.

What size should my TPU badge be?

For many left-chest company logos, sizes up to approximately 75mm provide a good balance between visibility and proportion.

The best size depends on:

• The shape of your logo
• The amount of detail within the artwork
• The garment being personalised
• The decoration position
• How prominent you want the branding to appear

Larger badge sizes are also available and can be quoted separately.

Which TPU finish should I choose?

If you're unsure, we can advise which finish best suits your logo, garment and intended use.

Can TPU be combined with other decoration methods?

Absolutely. Different garments and decoration positions can benefit from different techniques.

For example:

• TPU badge on the front of a jacket
• Embroidery on polo shirts
• Heat transfer for larger rear branding
• TPU on the chest with printed information elsewhere on the garment

The decoration method should be selected according to the garment, logo, position and desired appearance rather than forcing one method across every item in your uniform range.

How does the ordering process work?

TPU Personalisation FAQs