Racesafe, a manufacturer of equestrian silks in the UK and Europe, plans to explore new business avenues and offer a more tailored service to its customers following the installation of an HP Stitch S300 dye sublimation printer.
Racesafe, which sells its range of clothing, accessories and safety products to a network of around 200 retailers, first moved into dye-sub printing 10 years ago. ‘Weight is a big factor in horse racing,’ explained director James How. ‘Dye sublimation allows us to print onto lightweight fabrics like polyester-based satin for the jockeys’ jacket and cap silks. We produce one-off products customised for each rider, so digital dye-sublimation printing is an obvious choice.’
However, after a decade in use Racesafe’s original sublimation printer was struggling to meet customer demands for accurately matched colours. ‘Riders have their own designs and colours for their silks and, increasingly, also want branding and sponsors’ logos,’ Mr How continued. ‘Matching registered shades on our old machine was fine for regularly produced colours but not for any new or unique designs – often it was done by hand. We needed a new printer that made accurate colour-matching faster and more straightforward.’
Racesafe’s first point of call was HP reseller RA Smart, who recommeded the S300. ‘They understood that we had to hit these colour matches and gave us an impressive demonstration of the printer running different applications at The Print Show in September 2019,’ Mr How said.
The HP Stitch S300, the smallest model in the Stitch range, is designed to achieve accurate colour matches predictably, quickly and simply. As a multi-functional solution it can print on transfer paper and direct-to-fabric for maximum efficiency and versatility, while its front-loading design reduces the necessary floorspace. The Racesafe team is still considering new ways to further utilise the HP Stitch, but has already run trials to produce custom clothing and accessories for golfers such as head covers and towels.
