Screen printing, pad printing or laser engraving: which logo method to use
Getting a logo onto a bottle is easy. Getting one that survives a dishwasher, a gym bag and forty days in a container is a production decision.
Screen printing
Ink is pushed through a mesh stencil onto the bottle. One screen per colour, so cost scales with colour count, not with quantity. It gives strong, opaque colour and is the standard for promotional drinkware.
Limits: fine gradients and photographic images do not reproduce well, and each additional colour adds a set-up. Two or three flat spot colours is the sweet spot. Curved and tapered surfaces need the artwork distorted to print straight.
Pad printing
A silicone pad picks up ink from an etched plate and presses it onto the part. Because the pad deforms, it reaches recessed and irregular surfaces that screen printing cannot — lid tops, textured grips, small curved areas.
It handles finer detail than screen printing but lays down a thinner ink film, so solid coverage on dark bottles is weaker. Best for small marks and detailed line work rather than large blocks of colour.
Laser engraving
A laser removes or discolours the surface layer. There is no ink, so nothing can rub off — the mark lasts as long as the part. On most plastics it produces a tonal contrast rather than a colour, which reads as understated and premium.
It cannot produce brand colours. If your identity depends on a specific Pantone, laser is the wrong tool. It is also slower per piece than printing, which shows up at high volumes.
Practical guidance
Send vector artwork — AI, EPS, PDF or SVG — with fonts converted to outlines. A JPEG pulled from a website will need redrawing, which costs time.
Ask for a print sample before mass production, and ask specifically for an adhesion test. We rub the print, tape-test it and run it through a dishwasher cycle before releasing a batch, because a logo that fails in transit turns into a returned container and a lost customer.