Maroon

Maroon is collegiate to its core. Universities, high schools, and alumni groups with crimson-family colors drive most of the volume; churches and fall retail merch fill in. It carries the gravity of red without the shout.

Where it sells

School programs are reliable annuity business: spirit packs, booster clubs, and homecoming runs repeat every year, so lock the shade and the garment style early because reorder consistency is the whole job. Maroon also performs in autumn boutique drops next to mustard and forest.

Printing on maroon

Treat maroon like red's quieter sibling at the dryer: its dark red dyes migrate On polyester, fabric dye can bleed up into an ink layer after heat is applied, especially with light inks on dark poly. Results in a washed-out or discolored print over time. on polyester and poly blends and tint white prints pink at cure, so spec low-bleed white underbase A first layer of (usually white) ink printed under the design on dark garments. It stops the dark fabric from showing through and keeps colors bright. on 50/50s and blocker plus low-cure ink on performance poly. It's dark enough that all light art needs an underbase A first layer of (usually white) ink printed under the design on dark garments. It stops the dark fabric from showing through and keeps colors bright. regardless of fabric, and DTG needs dark pretreat A liquid sprayed onto dark garments before DTG printing. It reacts with the ink to improve adhesion and helps white ink stay bright on dark fabric. . Cotton discharge A printing technique that chemically removes the dye from a dyed fabric rather than laying ink on top. The result feels like the shirt itself, with no hand feel. results on deep reds can be uneven; strike a test print before promising a soft- hand How a fabric feels against the skin. Printers also use it to describe the tactile thickness of an ink deposit (a thick plastisol print has "high hand"). job.

Pairings and alternatives

White, athletic gold, and warm gray are the proven maroon ink colors; cream gives it a vintage athletics feel. Sell heather maroon for the retail-soft version of a school program, and show cardinal or red when a younger team wants more punch from the same color family.