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education lapel pins

Soft Enamel Pins vs. Hard Enamel: What’s the Difference?

A common question when designing a custom lapel pin is what’s the difference between soft enamel pins and hard enamel? The answer is in the details of the pin.

Have you been noticing all of these cool lapel pins and might want to get some for yourself? Wondering how you get started and what you need to know? You’ve come to the right place.

With lapel pins making a comeback, you have a lot of options that you can choose from to customize and make the pin everything you imagined it to be.

One of the decisions you have to make is between soft enamel pins and hard enamel pins. What does that mean? For someone that hasn’t gotten lapel pins before, those terms probably don’t mean much.

If you’d like to find out more about lapel pins and what you need to consider when you are creating them, keep reading to learn the difference between soft enamel and hard enamel pins.

How to Create a Soft Enamel Pin

Soft enamel is a very popular type of pin. It gives the pin a raised texture look which also feels a little different than hard enamel pins when they are finished.

The image you want gets stamped into the metal and then cut down to the right size. This can be anywhere from a small pin, such as 0.5″, to a large 4″ pin.

The soft enamel metal plating process, such as with gold or nickel, has to happen before the enamel gets filled. Because of this, only some of the metal finishes that you may like can actually be done with soft enamel.

For a pin to become plated with a colorful metal, such as black or another custom color, you can only use soft enamel. The enamel gets added in after the plating process to the recessed areas.

When finished and the enamel is dry, you may notice that the enamel has a soft and bumpy feel to it. If you would like, epoxy resin can coat the soft enamel if desired. This helps to flatten the enamel a little more and also give it more protection.

How to Make Hard Enamel Pins

These types of pins are more durable and sturdy than soft enamel pins. A lot of people will choose this pin instead because it has a very clean look.

Hard enamel pins become filled with the color enamel after the image is stamped in and cut out. Each color is cured in the oven one at a time, which can add to the expense of this pin because it takes a lot more time.

The pin is then polished down to be smooth and flat with the metal die lines. Because the grinding process is crucial, not all metal finishes work with the hard enamel pins. Gold or silver metal plating are some common options that you may use with a hard enamel pin.

After the colors are added and the pin has been polished, it is electroplated and polished one more time. This completes the pin.

The polishing process is done multiple times and it makes it a little harder to get specific detail in hard enamel, such as thin lines or small engravings.

Hard vs. Soft Enamel Pins: Which is Better?

The truth is that most designs that you may want, whether it is an image or a drawing, can likely be done with either option. A big part of the decision will come from your own preference on which you like better.

The way that both of these types of pins look are way different from each other. Hard enamel is much more refined and smooth while soft enamel is a little more quirky and unique. Another difference is that soft enamel can really get all of those minute details onto the pin while hard enamel is going to look a little bit more specific each time.

A big part of the decision may be the price. Soft enamel is notoriously cheaper than hard enamel because it does not involve such an intense process to make. Hard enamel pins have to be polished and cured several times to achieve their look.

You may decide that one type is better for certain occasions while the other type is more suitable for other occasions. For example, military lapel pins can be made from hard enamel because it may look more professional and classic.

The great news is that you can easily make custom lapel pins that work with either soft enamel or hard enamel. If you have an event coming up or just want to make some pins for fun, you may want to experiment with both options to see which you like better.

One of the great things about being able to make these types of pins is that you can be creative! The sky is the limit and you can make pins that showcase exactly what you were hoping for.

Choosing the Best Lapel Pin for You

When you are deciding between soft enamel pins and hard enamel pins, it comes down to what you like the best and what you plan to do with the pin.

Remember that hard enamel pins are more durable, but they also cost a little more to make. A soft enamel pin is a little less scratch-resistant, but it can have a unique look about it that is hard to find elsewhere.

If you want to get some information about our lapel pins and how you can order them, check out our website to learn more. We have plenty of options to choose from!

So Pinnable! Here’s Why Your School Needs Education Pins for Its Next Event

Reasons to Use Education Pins at Your Next School Event

Whether for a graduation ceremony, a school dance, or an academic event, education pins are a great way to remember your great times. Here’s why.

One of our biggest achievements in life is graduating from school, therefore many people take pride in the school or university they go to. People love to support their university and what they did there, by buying apparel. They buy shirts, hats, sweatpants and even backpacks to show their school spirit.

But there should be a different and unique way for people to show their school pride and have an item that can enclose all their memories.

A lapel pin!

Getting education pins for big events such as graduation ceremonies, school dances academic events will give everyone a little reminder of the great times they had.

Keep reading to find why you should get lapel pins for your next event.

What Events Deserve Education Pins?

You can get education pins for almost any school event you can think of. If there isn’t already a design for your event or you want to make it your own there are even custom school pins that can be made with your help.

See the list of education pins that are already made and ready for you to purchase.

1. Academic Excellence Pins

Education is very important and continuously getting good grades in school deserves to be recognized. Education pins are a great way to show a student that what they do is important.

2. Attendance Pins

Besides getting good grades it is also very important for students to show up to school every single day. Perfect attendance is important for students success. Getting to class every day is difficult so it’s a great way to show your support for how dedicated students are.

3. Band Pins

Joining the school band is another activity that deserves great recognition. It takes a lot of practice and hard work to be in a school band so these students deserve some appreciation.

4. Fraternity Pledge Pins

It is a huge accomplishment to be accepted into a fraternity and people who are in fraternities love to represent and show off where they belong. You can customize these to show off your specific fraternity to everyone at school.

5. Graduation Pins

Obviously, the number one accomplishment at any school is passing all of your classes and graduating. A graduation pin can show off all the student’s hard work throughout the years. All graduates would be happy to receive graduation pins and be recognized for their accomplishments.

6. Honor Roll Pins

A pin for students who continue to get good grades and are put on the honor roll is a great way to appreciate their accomplishments. This could also be a huge tool for other students to get motivated to get good grades consistently. Being on the honor roll means that the student has reached their highest potential and that’s a great reason for recognition.

7. Mascot Pins

Like you’ve read earlier, people love to show off what school or university they went to so a mascot pin would be great for any student. The mascot pin is a classic and would be great for any occasion.

8. Math Pins

Another good academic pin would be for when students excel in math. Math is a very hard subject to master so if they did good on a test or turned in all their assignments a math pin would be a great way to show how good of a job they’re doing.

9. Science Pins

There are many different types of science classes which means many different types of science pins. This is another way to show students that what they’re learning is very important and to keep up the good work.

10. Sorority Pin

Much like the fraternity pin, a sorority pin is a great way to show the bond between sisters in a sorority. A sorority pin would be a great element to sport around campus to show off which sorority you belong to.

11. Student Council Pins

Student leaders are an important aspect of every school or university. A student council pin would be a great way to recognize these students who go above and beyond for their organizations. These pins can also be customized specifically for your needs.

12. Varsity Pins

Student-athletes are also a very important aspect of every single school. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to be in a sport while also studying for school. These pins can be customized for each specific sport and will be a great way to show off your student-athletes accomplishments.

Recognition and Motivation

Now that you’ve read about all the different types of award pins for students we can discuss why students deserve these pins. The number one reason why you should get school pins is to show students recognition.

Students go to school their whole lives and have to learn new things every day. Recognizing their hard work and accomplishments will push them to work even harder. Having them work towards getting academic pins will make them better students and give them motivation by getting a reward.

All students need some type of motivation to graduate and getting them a pin will make them feel even more appreciated for their hard work.

Collectible and Memorable

Introducing award pins for students will be a fun social element to add to your school or university. These pins are collectible and students will want to try and get as many pins as they possibly can.

Like mentioned above students can get pins for pretty much anything and they should!

After students collect all of their academic lapel pins they will have a fun way to remember all of the hard work they did in school. An academic pin is very classy so students can wear them long after they’ve graduated and moved onto different things.

Now you’ve learned about all the different kinds of pins and all the reasons you should give academic pins you should buy them all for your students.

With the metal promo, you can customize or even create your own pins the exact why you want to. You can add glitter, crystals or even have your pins glow. They are all super different and easy to customize.

Pins take about 2-3.5 weeks to make and send to you so make sure to order them in advance.

What are you waiting for? Go buy education pins for all the students you know and show them the recognition they deserve.

 


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