Why Restaurants Should Invest in High-Quality Aprons
You’ve spent lots of time and money designing the perfect shirts and workwear pants for your restaurant staff. You picked extremely comfortable materials, paid extra for tailored fits, and made sure the style and silhouettes blend beautifully with your visual identity.
After all that, it’s important to ensure the quality of your apron is also up to standard.
Read on to learn why a high-quality restaurant apron is worth every penny you’ll spend on it. We’ll also go over the top-grade, battle-tested fabrics that look good and pay well in the long run, from linen to leather.
Hygiene & Safety
Aprons can be fashion statements, especially if you go for the right fabrics and cuts. They can also give your staff quick access to corkscrews, notes, and pens. Yet, that’s not why people wear an apron in the first place.
The number one reason for wearing an apron in a dining establishment is safety.
A restaurant kitchen can be a messy place, and you want an apron that will protect your staff against hot spills and splatters. So, the first point in your quality check should always be the protection potential.
Absorbent materials will soak up hot water or grease splashes long enough for the staff members to take the apron off and protect themselves. Polyester and nylon, on the other hand, aren’t super practical around heat. For the most part, you’ll want to use polyester in blends.
But considering the staff’s safety doesn’t end with reducing the damage from spills and splashes. A good apron design should also be ergonomic. Think cross-back straps that reduce neck strain significantly, even when worn for long periods.
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After considering the safety aspect, you’ll want to check the hygiene. Think of aprons as a separating layer between the staff member’s (potentially contaminated) clothes and the food they serve.
With this in mind, a high-quality choice can be worth the investment simply because it’s easier to clean. The staff members will need to start every shift with a fresh apron, after all. Bonus points if the material is antibacterial by nature.
It’s worth noting that the apron style also affects both the safety and hygiene aspects. Bib aprons, for one, provide more coverage than other many cuts and would be considered a better fit for kitchen staff.
Protect Uniform Fabric
As your aprons shield your chefs and servers from hot spills, they also protect the uniforms they’re wearing. That’s a vital point, considering how the workwear under the apron is usually more expensive and harder to clean than the apron itself.
Most aprons are pocketed as well. That’s a perk because it means that staff members won’t have to dig into their dress pants’ pockets every time they need to grab a pen, risking staining the fabric.
That said, what makes a high-quality apron stand out here is that it balances two roles. It protects the outfit underneath it without compromising the aesthetic that the uniform is supposed to reflect, which takes us to the next point: branding.
Brand Identity
Your apron should still fall in line with your brand identity.
Experienced uniform suppliers meet this requirement in a few ways, including:
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Color Matching: Choosing brand-specific colors for the apron goes a long way in creating a cohesive look.
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Logo Addition: Embroidering a logo on the apron is a subtle but effective branding technique. Watch out for poorly done pieces, though. They just look tacky and forced.
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Style Coordination: The way the apron fits your staff members can make all the difference in the overall aesthetic. Flowy smock-style aprons, for instance, tend to look cool and laid-back.
From Instagram, @braserochicago
Most importantly, high-quality aprons go under rigorous quality control checks.
Everything from the straps to the pocket stitching is inspected. While you might consider these small and maybe even insignificant details, they tell customers a lot about your restaurant’s own standards. Poor finishes reflect badly on your image.
Long-Lasting
Another major perk of buying aprons that undergo rigorous quality control is longevity.
After all, any piece of clothing has its potential failure points. So, you want a supplier who’s aware of these points and willing to give them a bit more care during the manufacturing process.
Your supplier might also recommend investing in sustainable fabrics with higher-quality construction. If they do this, it’s only to help you save money in the long run.
Sure, a polyester-heavy apron might seem like an affordable option initially. However, it usually needs to be replaced frequently, and the costs will add up quickly. Of course, it also happens to be bad for the environment.
So, in a way, not investing in your apron quality is a lose-lose situation. Both the planet and your budget will take a hit.
Side Note: To make the most of your apron, ask about the care instructions and stick to them. It’s also wise to implement a rotation system, where staff members rotate between aprons to extend the lifespan of each individual piece.
High-Quality Apron Fabrics
Which apron materials are worth the investment? Let’s check out the top picks.
1. Canvas
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Canvas is a popular choice for restaurant staff aprons because its tight-weave construction makes it suitable for heavy-duty protection. Good-quality aprons made from canvas also tend to have a degree of stain and dirt resistance.
Aesthetically, the fabric tends to look fresh and organic. This is particularly true if you choose earth-toned colors, which is what we did for our uniform project with Gemma Foods.
This handmade pasta shop nestled in West Town feels clean, modern, and warm all at once. And fern-green canvas bib aprons match the fresh and youthful vibe.
From Instagram, @stockmfgco
Eco-conscious establishments can opt for 100% organic cotton canvas, just like the ones we custom-made for Maple Hill.
From Instagram, @stockmfgco
From Instagram, @stockmfgco
Keep in mind that you can get your cotton canvas with a water-resistant treatment. We actually went down that route when we were designing sturdy aprons for Momotaro’s food runners.
From Instagram, @stockmfgco
Interestingly, there’s a lot more that says “high-quality” than just the spill-resistant treatment. Every detail here is well-thought-out.
For one, the aprons feature a cross-back strap design. The straps aren’t fabric, though. Instead, we picked naturally braided cotton in a light color to create a bold contrast against the grey shirt.
Where the rope straps cross, there’s a leather cord stopper with a fine laser engraving of the restaurant’s logo.
From Instagram, @stockmfgco
Waxed Canvas
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If you liked the water-resistant feature in Momotaro’s canvas aprons, you might want to consider picking waxed canvas from the get-go.
To make a high-quality waxed apron, manufacturers pick a sturdy canvas fabric with a tight construction. Then, they add wax (usually paraffin-based or oil-based) on top and set it in with heat.
As the fabric heats, the waxy substance seeps into the fabric and gets into the tiny spaces between the threads. This treatment creates a sealant layer on top that repels spills, dirt, and even wind to some extent.
That’s why a waxed canvas apron would be a good choice for the colder months.
From Instagram, @stockmfgco
Because waxed canvas turns normal wear and tear into a patina, each server will have a unique pattern on their apron soon. The faster-paced your restaurant is, the quicker you get that nice patina.
For a more rustic look, consider adding leather trims to your waxed canvas aprons.
Duck Canvas
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If you’d like a fabric that’s even more tightly woven than standard (plain) canvas, premium cotton duck canvas might be the way to go.
Duck canvas is dense enough to resist tears and snags, making it ideal for servers who have to rush around the dining area. In this case, you’ll likely want a short waist apron that won’t get in the way as much as a bib-style or a knee-length apron.
2. Cotton Twill
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Twill-weave aprons are a go-to for good reason. This no-nonsense material balances function and style.
The diagonally twill weaving technique makes the fabric quite tough. And since the weave is more visible, it adds a nice visual balance to the uniform. The rougher texture also happens to hide stains a bit better than smoother fabrics.
Twill works well for both monochrome designs and color pops.
For instance, our black-on-black twill apron looks quite sleek and sophisticated. On the other hand, we used maroon waist aprons to add a much-needed visual break from all the nautical blues in Lure Fishbar’s uniforms.
From Instagram, @lurefishbar
If sustainability is high on your restaurant’s priority list, you might want to consider twill derived from recycled materials. Our waiter aprons made with recycled PET bottles are proof that going green doesn’t mean sacrificing quality and style.
3. Raw Denim
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Denim is yet another twill-weave fabric you’ll see on high-quality aprons. Because of its heavy, tight construction, a restaurant server’s apron made from denim handles abuse quite well.
Over time, good-quality denim will conform to the wearer’s body and mold to their shape. Keep in mind that if you choose a raw (dry) material rather than a prewashed one, the apron will develop unique creasing patterns as it ages.
For our collaboration with Land and Sea Dept., we wanted a no-frills apron that still carried the brand’s identity.
We went with Cone Mills dry selvage denim, particularly because of how well it ages. It feels and wears differently from your regular denim. As a result, the patina adds that much more character to the already iconic design as time passes.
The contrast of red cotton herringbone tape ties against the dark denim made the design even more special.
Speaking of herringbone, our denim collection also includes herringbone bib and waist aprons for those who’d like something patterned (perhaps to break the monotony of a solid uniform).
From Instagram, @stockmfgco
Of course, it’s possible to go for something more basic and timeless, like our indigo denim bib and waist aprons. They’re 100% raw denim with natural cotton webbing ties and adjustable metal slides (for the bib aprons).
From Instagram, @stockmfgco
Note that premium raw denim looks equally good in black.
4. Linen
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Linen aprons are a hit with chefs. The material is sturdy, lightweight, hypoallergenic, and antibacterial.
It keeps the staff comfortable even when it gets hot in the kitchen. In fact, linen is one of the best fabrics for summer uniforms in general, not just aprons.
Besides keeping the staff cool, linen pieces look cool. Take, for instance, the smock-style apron we designed for the Korean-American fusion restaurant, Parachute. Its flowy cut and dual jean-style pockets create a laid-back vibe, while the crossback straps reduce strain.
5. Leather
From Instagram, @stockmfgco
Leather adds a luxurious touch to any uniform. Plus, a high-quality leather apron will develop a unique patina over time.
The main drawback is that breathability can be a concern. Some people worry that an all-leather apron will cause overheating and discomfort, especially for kitchen staff.
In this case, it helps to go with a breathable base and keep the leather limited to the accents. That’s exactly what we did for our collaboration with CB2.
This high-end chef apron is handmade and features a comfortable waxed cotton body with cotton webbing ties. The two pockets, however, are Horween leather. To match the luxury angle, we went for a black-on-black design.
The result is an incredibly functional, durable, and stylish apron.
High-Quality Custom Aprons With StockMFG
Choosing high-quality aprons is a long-lasting investment. And that’s not only because they handle abuse better. This is also an investment in your brand identity, reputation, hygiene, main uniform budget, and staff confidence.
At Stock, we understand that every detail matters, from the fabric choice to the pocket stitching. Contact Stock today to customize the perfect apron for your restaurant!