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	<title>InkHead Knowledge Base &#187; Aprons</title>
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		<title>Aprons Buying Guide</title>
		<link>http://www.inkhead.com/kb/promotional-aprons-buying-guide/</link>
		<comments>http://www.inkhead.com/kb/promotional-aprons-buying-guide/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Mar 2011 21:05:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mollinger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Apparel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aprons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Buying Guides by Category]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[broder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[brookstone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restaurants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sanmar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Workwear]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inkhead.com/kb/?p=2196</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Aprons, when used as part of a corporate uniform, will turn your employees into cohesive unit. Read more about buying them in our Aprons Buying Guide.  <a href="http://www.inkhead.com/kb/promotional-aprons-buying-guide/">Read More <span class="meta-nav">&#187;</span></a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.inkhead.com/kb/wp-content/uploads/aprons_buying_guides.jpg" alt="Aprons Buying Guide" width="710" height="280" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4669" /></p>
<p><strong>Looking for Promotional Aprons?</strong> <a class="ihb ihbp" title="Promotional Aprons" href="/aprons/"> Shop Aprons »</a></p>
<p><strong>Contents</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="#why">Why Buy Promotional Aprons?</a></li>
<li><a href="#who">Who Should Buy Custom Aprons?</a></li>
<li><a href="#type">Types of Promotional Aprons</a></li>
<li><a href="#how">How to Buy Personalized Aprons</a></li>
</ul>
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<p><a name="why"></a></p>
<h2 class="font17 bold">Why Buy Promotional Aprons?</h2>
<p><a title="Personalized Aprons" href="/aprons/">Personalized aprons</a>, when used as part of a corporate uniform, will turn your employees into a cohesive unit. What’s more, customized aprons mirror the sincere service offered by your company while also keeping the rest of your employees’ uniforms clean. Finally, embroidered or screen-printed aprons make great gifts for either your customers or workers who like to cook. Giving them a useful present such as a promotional apron will keep your brand on their minds while also filling an important need. Combined with a <a title="Custom Knives" href="/knives/">custom knife set</a> or <a title="BBQ Grill Sets" href="/bbq-grill-sets/">BBQ grill kit</a>, an imprinted apron may turn your loudest critics into some of your biggest fans.</p>
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<p><a name="who"></a></p>
<h2 class="font17 bold">Who Should Buy Custom Aprons?</h2>
<p>Custom aprons from InkHead would serve as invaluable promotional items for a number of industries, but the following business sectors would benefit the most from them:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Restaurants</strong>: If you own a restaurant, you should strongly consider ordering promotional aprons for your wait and kitchen staffs. The kitchen team will appreciate the added layer of fabric to protect their clothes from stains and spills. By outfitting your team of servers with aprons, you will differentiate them from patrons of your restaurant, so diners will know who to summon for assistance.</li>
<li><strong>Bars</strong>: Depending on the image you want to convey with your bar, a custom apron may be just the thing needed to bring a touch of class to your establishment. A solid black waist apron will give your bartenders and cocktail waitresses a place to keep their corkscrews, wine keys, or bottle openers and other items necessary for their job.</li>
<li><strong>Catering Services</strong>: Like bars and restaurants, catering companies could benefit from the added air of elegance that stems from a promotional apron. Additionally, an apron could serve as the basic uniform for your catering company’s staff, which is especially important if your company works private parties or weddings. That way, guests will know who are the caterers and who are the other party guests.</li>
<li><strong>Arts &amp; Crafts Classes</strong>: If you teach arts or crafts classes (either privately or through a college or community center), custom aprons are also very useful in that they will protect your students’ street-clothes while also giving them a place to keep paint brushes, pastels, or pens and pencils.</li>
<li><strong>Construction &amp; Carpentry</strong>: The pockets on aprons can be used for things other than art supplies. A sturdy cotton canvas waist apron is invaluable to a carpenter or someone working a trade because in addition to giving him or her a place to keep tools, the apron is also protecting the body from stains, sparks, and other messes.</li>
<li><strong>Nursing and Doctors’ Offices</strong>: Mess-protection also makes promotional aprons useful to nurses and other people working at doctors’ offices.</li>
<li><strong>Housekeeping and Maid Services</strong>: Likewise, housekeeping and maid service companies could use customized aprons as part of their uniforms to protect their employees’ clothing from cleaning agents that can bleach clothing inadvertently.</li>
<li><strong>Motels, Inns &amp; Hotels</strong>: Similar to housekeeping and maid service companies, motels and hotels could outfit their cleaning crew in personalized aprons to add a little bit of refinement to their business. Doing so would also keep the employees’ clothing clean, cutting down on personal and company laundry costs.</li>
<li><strong>Casinos</strong>: Dealers and servers at casinos could also use embroidered aprons to keep their clothes protected from stains. Also, an apron will keep a card-dealer’s clothing from possibly interfering with the shuffling or dealing of cards, something that is very important to serious poker players.</li>
<li><strong>Other companies</strong>: You can always hand out aprons as gifts to your employees and customers. Just remember that most people traditionally align aprons with cooking, so you may want to include an apron as part of a larger gift, such as a knife set or a BBQ grilling set.</li>
</ul>
<p><a name="types"></a></p>
<div class="spacer-20"></div>
<h2 class="font17 bold">Types of Promotional Aprons</h2>
<p>There are two main types of aprons: <strong>waist aprons</strong> and <strong>bib aprons</strong>. The type you choose depends on how you intend for recipients to use them.</p>
<h3 class="bold">Waist Aprons</h3>
<p>Waist aprons are the shorter of the two types, covering only one’s legs and lap. Such aprons would be good for a restaurant waitstaff or for employees of construction and carpentry firms. Because waist aprons only cover half of the body, they do not generally affect one’s mobility.</p>
<h3 class="bold">Bib Aprons</h3>
<p>While waist aprons only cover one-half of the wearer’s body, bib aprons wrap around the wearer’s neck or shoulders to cover his or her chest as well. The main trade-off with bib aprons is that some people may experience limited mobility wearing them, depending on how the upper portion of the apron is held up. Bib aprons are useful for kitchen and cooking staffs that need to protect their upper-bodies from stains and splatters.</p>
<h3 class="bold">Other Features</h3>
<p>In addition to selecting the length of your apron, you will also want to consider whether the recipients of the aprons will want <strong>pockets</strong> on them. Generally, servers will want at least one pocket on their apron, as it serves as a nice place to store pencils, dinner checks, and an ordering pad. Furthermore, craftspeople will appreciate the added convenience of pockets on their aprons.</p>
<p>In addition to pockets, you may want to consider getting <strong>reversible aprons</strong> if you expect end-users will need to use apron multiple times before they can wash it. Aprons that are reversible are often called “4-way aprons” because they offer up to 4 clean surfaces to the wearer.<a name="how"></a></p>
<div class="spacer-20"></div>
<h2 class="font17 bold">How to Buy Personalized Aprons</h2>
<h3 class="bold">Material</h3>
<p>The majority of the aprons available from InkHead are made out of <strong>cotton</strong> or <strong>cotton canvas</strong>, but we also carry some aprons that are made from <strong>poly-cotton blends</strong> as well as some made from water-resistant <strong>polypropylene</strong>. Cotton and cotton canvas are the most versatile materials to use for aprons, offering the user comfort and protection, but they are not water-resistant. That said, polypropylene aprons do not have the same air of elegance or refinement as cotton or cotton canvas aprons, so they are best used in casual or industrial conditions.</p>
<h3 class="bold">Decorating</h3>
<p>While the decoration method varies by the apron, most are imprinted through <a title="What is screen printing?" href="/kb/screen-printing/"><strong>silk screening</strong></a> or <a title="What is embroidery?" href="/kb/embroidery/"><strong>embroidery</strong></a>. Check the item description to see if any other decoration methods are available for the item that you’re considering or if there are any stipulations with the standard decoration method.<br />
To wit, some aprons require bold artwork because the imprint method used cannot render fine detail. Again, refer to the item’s description to see if this is the case with the apron you’re thinking about ordering, or give us a call at 800-554-0127 between 9 AM and 8 PM ET. Our Promotions Specialists can answers any questions you may have and make suggestions if they think your logo may pose challenges to our manufacturers.</p>
<h3 class="bold">Quantity</h3>
<p>The minimum quantity required varies by product, ranging from 24 aprons for some of our higher end items to 100 aprons for the basic model. Be sure to check the item description to determine how many aprons you’ll need to get to complete your order.<br />
<strong><em> Ready to order some <a title="Promotional Aprons" href="/aprons/">promotional aprons</a>? Have a question about these products? Please <a title="Contact Us" href="/contact-us.html">contact us</a>. We can take your order over the phone or answer any questions you may have.</em></strong></p>
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