Define the construction first or the rest of the spec will drift
Use precise language. In this article, face fabric means the smooth outer layer intended to receive the print. Reverse means the sherpa side: a lofty polyester or polyester-rich pile or looped sherpa construction laminated, quilted, or sewn to the face. Some buyers call the sherpa side the “face” because it is visually dominant at retail; that wording causes avoidable mistakes in artwork approval, care labeling, and print claims. Write the PO as printed side = smooth face fabric and reverse side = sherpa pile.
If the printed side is cotton-rich and the reverse is polyester sherpa, state that this is a hybrid construction, not a standard all-polyester sherpa throw. A workable example for mid-market retail is a nominal total mass of around 280-340gsm, but the split must be declared separately. For example only: face 120-160gsm cotton-rich knit or woven print base plus reverse 140-190gsm polyester sherpa. Different brushing, lamination, and pile heights will shift these ranges, so treat them as quoting references rather than defaults.
Do not rely on total GSM alone. Ask the supplier to confirm: face construction (single jersey, interlock, plain weave, peachskin, microfiber, etc.), face composition, reverse construction, reverse pile height, joining method (laminated, flame-bonded, point-bonded, or sewn), and finished width before cutting. Without those lines, two articles sold as 300gsm sherpa throws can differ materially in shrinkage, edge stability, print sharpness, and seam torque.
Where the buyer needs a simpler all-polyester route, compare with [digital-sublimation-printing-on-280gsm-flannel-fleece-artwork-moq-and-](/blog/digital-sublimation-printing-on-280gsm-flannel-fleece-artwork-moq-and-.html) or [300gsm-sherpa-to-coral-fleece-blankets-for-hotel-room-retail-moq-size-](/blog/300gsm-sherpa-to-coral-fleece-blankets-for-hotel-room-retail-moq-size-.html).
Choose the print chemistry to match the face fibre, not the product name
Reactive printing is appropriate only when the printed face fabric contains enough cellulose for the dye-fibre bond to matter commercially. That usually means cotton or viscose-rich face fabrics, or blends where cotton is still the main print carrier. If the printed face is polyester microfiber, flannel, or brushed polyester, reactive is the wrong route; use sublimation, disperse transfer, or pigment depending on handfeel, artwork type, MOQ, and wash requirement.
A practical sourcing rule is this: reactive for cotton-rich smooth faces where softness and wash durability matter; pigment for shorter programs, lower MOQ artwork, darker outlines on mixed fibres, or when the buyer accepts a slightly firmer hand; sublimation/disperse transfer for white or pale polyester faces where bright colour, fine detail, and repeat accuracy are more important than natural-fibre hand. Pigment can also be the safer route on lower-cotton blends where reactive depth becomes inconsistent lot to lot.
Do not write “reactive printed sherpa throw” unless the supplier has confirmed the printed face substrate and the actual print route. A hybrid article could be cotton-rich face + reactive print + polyester sherpa reverse. Another could be polyester face + sublimation print + polyester sherpa reverse. Both may sell as sherpa throws, but their approval standards and failure modes differ.
If the face is a blend such as 50/50 to 65/35 cotton/polyester, treat that range as an example only. The supplier must confirm the actual blend tolerance and which fibre the print is intended to colour. On a 50/50 face, reactive may leave the polyester portion visually undyed, producing a softer heathered effect rather than a solid ground. That can be acceptable, but only if the strike-off and sealed sample state it clearly. For other decoration routes, see [custom-blanket-decoration-methods](/blog/custom-blanket-decoration-methods.html).
Repeat control has to be tied to a stage of approval
Most disputes around allover print are not about whether the artwork is attractive. They are about which stage the repeat tolerance applies to. A lab dip does not establish repeat at all. A strike-off may show colour and motif clarity, but it is usually too small to confirm border alignment or cut-panel behaviour. The meaningful checkpoints are usually strike-off, pre-production sample, sealed prewash sample, sealed postwash sample, and bulk packed goods. Write the tolerance against one of those stages, not against the article in general.
For throws in the 130x150 cm to 150x200 cm size range, repeat sizes around 32-64 cm are often manageable, but only as a development reference. The usable repeat depends on print method, cylinder size if rotary printed, panel cutting plan, hem depth, and motif sensitivity at the edges. Large forgiving florals can tolerate more drift than hard plaids or engineered borders. A small dense repeat may hide a 3-5 mm phase shift; a narrow stripe will not.
State the following in the PO: repeat size in mm, orientation, repeat type (straight, half-drop, mirror, engineered), reference datum from finished edge, and whether approval is to the strike-off, PPS, or sealed postwash sample. If the design has a border, specify border width from the finished sewn edge, not from greige width or cut edge.
Typical buyer-side tolerances that are commercially workable are: repeat alignment within +/-3 mm on sealed PPS for border or geometric layouts, corner drift not over 5 mm on bulk finished goods, and finished size tolerance +/-2% after the nominated laundering sequence. These are not universal pass levels; they are reasonable reference points for a PO and should be confirmed during sampling. The responsible party should also be written: supplier confirms print repeat capability before strike-off; buyer signs repeat at PPS; final bulk inspected to sealed sample.
Wash and crocking claims need a complete test basis
Write wash fastness and crocking as full test instructions, not as a standard number alone. For wash fastness, ISO 105-C06 must include the method variant, temperature, detergent system, and assessment point. A usable line for home-textile retail is: ISO 105-C06 A2S, 40C, assessed after 1 cycle and after 5 repeated cycles on the printed face fabric, with colour change and multifibre staining reported separately. If the retailer requires tumble drying, that sequence should be written into the protocol rather than discussed informally later.
For reactive-printed cotton-rich faces, ask the lab report to show at minimum: specimen description, face composition, wash protocol, number of cycles, colour change grade, and staining by fibre stripe. A common acceptance target is grade 4 minimum for colour change and 3-4 to 4 for staining after the nominated cycle count, but darker reds, navies, and blacks may need a realistic buyer-approved concession if the artwork demands them.
For rubbing fastness, specify ISO 105-X12 with dry and wet crocking, and require the report to identify whether the specimen was tested before laundering and after the nominated wash sequence. That matters because a print that passes on an unwashed panel can drop after first wash-off defects, residual unfixed dye, or surface fibrillation. A practical PO wording is: ISO 105-X12 dry and wet on printed face, tested after 1x ISO 105-C06 A2S wash; target dry grade 4 min, wet grade 3-4 min unless otherwise approved per artwork.
If the supplier is testing dimensional stability separately, add ISO 5077 or the retailer's own wash-shrink method and state whether measurement is taken on the whole throw or on the face fabric panel. For laundering procedure detail, [iso-6330-home-laundering-protocols-for-240gsm-polyester-flannel-throws](/blog/iso-6330-home-laundering-protocols-for-240gsm-polyester-flannel-throws.html) and [blanket-care-washing-guide](/blog/blanket-care-washing-guide.html) are useful companion references.
Most print distortion appears after joining, sewing, folding, and compression
The press is only one source of registration drift. In hybrid sherpa throws, lamination tension, pile drag during cutting, differential shrinkage between face and reverse, and edge feeding during sewing create more bulk complaints than printhead tolerance alone. A face fabric can relax by around 1.5-2.5% through wet processing and still be saleable, but if the reverse shrinks differently the border will torque or the corners will pull off-square.
State the seam construction. Common options are 4-thread overlock, folded hem plus lockstitch, or bound edge. For medium-weight sherpa throws, workable reference settings are often 10-12 SPI equivalent on overlock seams, 10-15 mm seam allowance, and if bound, 20-25 mm binding cut width yielding about 10-12 mm finished visible binding. Exact settings depend on pile bulk, thread ticket, and edge curl, so the supplier should confirm machine setup against the sealed sample.
If seam integrity matters, ask for a seam-strength check such as [astm-d5034-seam-strength-targets-for-300gsm-fleece-stadium-blankets-wi](/blog/astm-d5034-seam-strength-targets-for-300gsm-fleece-stadium-blankets-wi.html) as a reference method for stitched blanket edges. For dimensional control and edge appearance, keep the acceptance statement simple: finished size after wash, squareness tolerance, edge waviness not visually obvious at 1 m viewing distance, and print border alignment to sealed postwash sample.
Compression is often ignored until the first container is opened. If the throws are banded, vacuum-compressed, or tightly carton-packed, add packed-goods criteria. A practical acceptance basis is: no permanent crease line visible at 1 m after unpacking and laying flat for 24 hours at ambient conditions; pile recovery to commercially acceptable loft within 2 hours; no delamination, strike-through shadowing, or print ghosting caused by fold pressure. If heavy compression is planned, request a packed sample trial before mass production.
A PO should contain a short technical template, not just artwork files
Most preventable disputes happen because the purchase order contains commercial terms but not a technical article definition. The buyer should put the core approval lines directly into the PO, then attach artwork and sealed sample references. That reduces arguments over whether a tolerance applied at strike-off, PPS, or ex-carton inspection.
A usable line-item template is: Article: hybrid sherpa throw; Printed face: cotton-rich knit/woven, specify construction and GSM; Reverse: polyester sherpa, specify GSM and pile height if relevant; Total mass: nominal GSM with tolerance; Print route: reactive/pigment/sublimation as confirmed for face substrate; Artwork: repeat size in mm, orientation, border width from finished edge, file format; Size: finished size before wash and after nominated wash; Sewing: seam type, seam allowance, binding width if any; Testing: ISO 105-C06, ISO 105-X12, dimensional stability method, reporting stage; Packing: fold method, insert board if any, compression ratio if any, recovery acceptance after unpacking.
Add responsibility lines. Example: Supplier to confirm face/reverse construction and print method before strike-off; supplier to submit strike-off on final greige face fabric; buyer to approve PPS and postwash sample; bulk to be inspected to AQL 2.5 unless otherwise stated; all tolerances to sealed postwash sample for visual appearance and to written spec for measured properties. For inspection structure, [aql-2-5-inspection-checklist-for-200gsm-coral-fleece-promotional-blank](/blog/aql-2-5-inspection-checklist-for-200gsm-coral-fleece-promotional-blank.html) and [blanket-quality-control-inspection](/blog/blanket-quality-control-inspection.html) are relevant references.
If the throw will be shipped FOB, FCA, or DDP, keep article definition separate from logistics. Technical acceptance should not be buried inside shipping notes. Lead-time and logistics guidance belongs in [custom-blanket-lead-times-shipping](/blog/custom-blanket-lead-times-shipping.html).
Frequently asked
Are sherpa throws normally cotton-rich? No. Most standard sherpa throws in the market are polyester or polyester-rich. If the printed side is cotton-rich and the reverse is sherpa pile, describe it as a hybrid construction. The PO should state the printed face composition separately from the sherpa reverse composition.
When is reactive printing the right choice for a sherpa throw? Use reactive printing only when the printed face fabric is cellulose-rich enough to justify it, typically cotton or viscose-rich smooth-face constructions. If the face is polyester, the better routes are usually sublimation, disperse transfer, or sometimes pigment, depending on handfeel, artwork detail, and MOQ.
What should the buyer write for wash-fastness testing? Write the full basis, not only the standard number. A practical example is ISO 105-C06 A2S at 40C, assessed after 1 cycle and after 5 cycles, with colour change and multifibre staining reported separately on the printed face fabric. If tumble drying is required, include that step in the protocol.
What crocking requirement is realistic for reactive printed face fabric? For many retail programs, dry crocking to ISO 105-X12 at grade 4 minimum and wet crocking at grade 3-4 minimum are workable targets, tested after the nominated wash sequence. Dark navy, black, and red prints may need artwork-specific agreement if the retailer accepts a different wet-crocking threshold.
How should repeat tolerance be written to avoid disputes? Tie it to a stage: strike-off, PPS, sealed postwash sample, or bulk packed goods. A common buyer-side approach is to approve artwork on strike-off, approve repeat and edge alignment on PPS or postwash sample, and inspect bulk against that sealed sample with written size and alignment tolerances.
What packed-goods acceptance criteria should be added for compressed sherpa throws? State measurable recovery criteria. For example: no permanent fold mark visible at 1 m after 24 hours flat recovery, commercially acceptable pile loft recovery within 2 hours, and no print ghosting, delamination, or reverse show-through caused by packing pressure. A packed-sample trial before bulk is recommended where carton compression is aggressive.
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