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Welcome to Spoonflower: The Print-on-Demand Difference

Welcome to Spoonflower!  Here at Spoonflower, you can shop thousands of unique designs, all available made-to-order on a range of high-quality fabrics, wallpapers, and home decor. Our unique print on demand process allows us to keep thousands of designs in our Marketplace without warehousing physical stock of each design and give customers the ability to upload their own custom designs.  We print any design onto any product in our inventory – fabric, wallpaper, and home decor – all while honoring our commitment to sustainability. If this is your first time purchasing from us, this article explains how Spoonflower works – from the moment you place the order to when it arrives at your door.  
 

diagram of print on demand steps
  1. You Place Your Order

    You can choose to have any design printed on over 50 different products. Our design library features thousands of designs created by independent designers from across the world. Each item is made to order just for you! Every time you make a purchase from our Marketplace, you’re supporting an independent artist who earns a 10% royalty on every sale. And every design for sale is essentially always “in stock,” since we physically create it when you order it!
     
  2. We Print Your Order

    Your specific items will be made to order with care right here in the USA by our expert team.  You can order a single swatch without having to commit to larger quantities and Spoonflower’s printing methods create very little by-products. We employ both direct-to-fabric printing for natural fabrics with water-based ink and dye-sublimation for polyester fabrics with water-based dispersed dyes.
    • Natural Fabrics: For our natural fiber fabrics, we use a direct-to-fabric print process that mixes colors on the fly in response to the design information being sent to the printer. Compared to rotary screen, reactive dyes and other comparable print methods, our printers use non-toxic pigment inks that account for 95.63% less water and emit 83% less carbon (CO2e).  
    • Polyester Fabrics: For our sublimation process, your design is printed onto a special transfer paper that is then overlaid onto the polyester fabric. With the application of pressure and heat, the ink of the design sublimates into a gas that penetrates and bonds into the fabric. This often translates to longer color fastness and impressive color representation.  
    • Home Decor: In addition to our fabric by the yard, we also offer our digitally printed fabric as finished Home Decor items! From table linens to bedding to curtains, these products are available with any design in our Marketplace. Many of our Home Decor products come with a choice of multiple fabrics bases to have your product made from. These products are sewn to order which means we don’t end up with excess wasted inventory – we make just what is ordered! All Home Decor items are sewn in the USA.  
    • Wallpaper: Just like our fabric and Home Decor options, we also offer Wallpaper that is printed on demand. Spoonflower Wallpaper is printed with non-toxic, Greenguard Gold certified inks. This means that our inks have been tested for over 15,000 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) known to pollute the air, and confirms they have low chemical emissions. We have both traditional wallpaper and DIY options to meet the needs of all types of projects! Our DIY papers come in a variety of roll lengths – which means we can print just what you need, whether it’s for a small craft project or an entire room.   
       
  3. We Inspect Your Order

    Every order goes through automated and manual quality assurance procedures before it is shipped to you. We have a strong color management system used to limit color variation from order to order.  Learn more about color here.
     
  4. We Ship Your Order

    Once your items are completed in our US-based facilities, we’ll ship them to you! Choose from one of our three different shipping options to meet your specific project needs.  We even have expedited options with guaranteed delivery dates if you’re working under a tight deadline! Tracking is available under the order history in your account and will be sent to you via email after an order has shipped. Learn more about our shipping options here.
     
  5. You Receive Your Order

    Lastly, your custom printed order will arrive at your doorstep! Inspect your order upon arrival, as you have 30 days from when your order has been shipped from our factories to let us know if there’s an issue. Check your order promptly after you receive it to avoid missing the window. Learn more about our Happiness Guarantee, here. 

     

 

 

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