Can Embroidered Logos Be Removed? The (Nearly) Impossible Task

Recently we had a woman come in with a hoodie she loved. It was comfortable and warm but she had purchased it when working for a previous employer and desired to no longer be associated with the logo embroidered on it.

“Is there anything you or I can do to cover up or change this logo?” she asked. Unfortunately there wasn’t much that we could do. The garment had been embroidered by someone else and had been washed many times, making this task nearly impossible.

We suggested to this woman that if she really wanted to change this hoodie that her best bet was finding something at her local crafts store to iron on it. This was not the perfect solution, but it was the only real suggestion we could give her aside from helping her pick out a new garment similar to the one she was attached to.

So can an embroidered logo be removed?

The truth is it it’s possible, but very difficult. The situation with the woman is one of two common scenarios we run into. The second scenario is along the lines of a company who recently changed their logo or company name. Rather than buying all new garments, perhaps in an effort to be more cost effective, they would like us to remove the original logo and replace it with a new one.

Sounds simple right? Cut out and remove the old logo and stitch a new one on. Unfortunately it’s not as easy as it sounds.  There is a misconception that the logo rests on top of the shirt, similar to screen printing, but if you look inside an embroidered garment you will realize this is not the case. We, as well as many other companies, use a method called direct embroidery. This means that when sewn in, the embroidered logo actually becomes part of the garment.

As mentioned above, removal of an embroidered logo can be done. However, there are several factors involved that determine whether it can be done with causing damage to the garment.

One factor to consider is the design of the logo. If the logo is pretty generic without a whole lot of detail or text, it is less likely to be damaged during the removal process.

Another factor to consider is the material that the garments are made of. Different materials have varying stability of holding up through the removal process. For example, with shirts cotton knit and twill are easier to work with than polyester knit.

Then there is all the time it takes to remove the logos. Imagine if you have 20 shirts that you need to remove the logo from, depending on skill level and tools available can create a wide range of variety in how it can take to remove the logos. When a company has new orders coming in everyday, a task such as this can really slow down production which makes it not worthwhile to take on. At Johnny Battle we don’t even have a price for this kind of service because it’s really not something we do.

Let’s say a garment is assessed for all these factors and the logo is removed undamaged. There are still thousands of holes left behind from when the embroidery was originally done. Putting a new logo over the area will cover up the holes, but in turn will create thousands more holes making it possible that this whole long process of removing the logo without causing damage could be all for nothing.

No matter the design, material, sleight of hand, skill, tools, or allotted time, any garment going through this process is subject to damage and it is a risk customers need to accept before the process begins. There is no way for us to really guarantee these garments will go through the removal process undamaged which is why we often turn these clients away.

Our recommendation? Just buy a new garment. You may love it just as much as the one you had before, maybe you’ll love it even more!