What is Spoilage (Misprint) Allowance?
Technical definition, shop floor implications, and pricing strategies for commercial apparel decorators.
The accepted industry percentage tolerance (typically 1.5% to 3.0%) for misprinted or damaged garments that occur during setup, registration, or machine jams.
Deep Dive & Practical Application
In apparel decorating, mechanical errors (screen pinholes, needle thread breaks, registration shifts, heat press jams) are an inherent reality of manufacturing.
Standard shop policies specify a 2% to 3% spoilage allowance per print location on customer-supplied blanks, with a 5% allowance on complex multi-location or foil jobs.
Shops either order extra blanks ("buffer shirts") from suppliers (SanMar, S&S, AlphaBroder) or clearly state in quote terms that shortages within the spoilage percentage will be refunded rather than reprinted.
Shop Floor & Profitability Impact
Including standard spoilage terms in your automated quotes protects your shop from expensive single-shirt re-setup costs when minor misprints occur.
The Print Life Shop Operations & Pricing Operating System
Related Industry Terms:
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