Frequently Asked Questions

Below you will find the most asked questions at The Airbrush Grotto, along with a few things to consider when you are ready to place an order.

Q: What services do you offer?

Q: What are you able to airbrush on?

Q: What items do we NOT airbrush on?

Q: What are your hours?

A: All forms of communication will be addressed during business hours. Our business hours are:
Sunday & Monday: Closed
Tuesday-Friday: 10am-7pm
Saturday: 10am-1pm

Q: Where are you located?

A: We no longer have a physical location. We meet at a safe location in Concord, NC to drop-off your own items or to pick-up completed orders. Shipping is also an option. Be sure to check out our drop-off/pick-up and shipping policies for more information.

Q: Why don’t you have a public location?

A: The short answer is: cost. Leasing and other overhead costs for small businesses are very high. We did that for almost 11 years. When the pandemic hit, it just wasn’t right for us anymore since we had no idea when things would be “normal” again. Once the last lease ended, we changed to operating online with some variances included. It has served us well, and we plan to continue this way of operating so that we can keep prices lower. 

Q: Can you give me a price over the phone?

A: We no longer discuss order information over the phone. From years of experience, phone conversations tend to be forgotten. For this reason we keep all order information between email and texting. This protects us and you as the customer. To get started on an order, please fill out one of our online forms on the home page. Once it is submitted, we will be in touch with more information.

Q: Can you paint a batting helmet, and what if it is used or already painted?

A: We can paint batting helmets, with the exception of the new rubbery matte helmets. Paint does not stick to those, so we no longer airbrush on that type. As with anything, brand new helmets work best, but we understand if you want to give an old or previously painted helmet a face-lift. Just remember that we are not responsible if the final clear coat wrinkles once our artwork is done. Old helmets come in contact with different environments/paint processes and we have no way of knowing how it may react once we are ready to complete the helmet. If you are unsure, definitely get a new helmet because fresh surfaces turn out great 99% of the time.

Q: Can you paint football helmets?

A: At this time, we are not able to paint football helmets.

Q: Can you paint a motorcycle helmet?

A: No. We stopped accepting these in 2017.

Q: How long does it take once you place your order?

A: Due to our growing number of customers, we are unable to provide same-day service. Most orders need to be scheduled a couple days up to two weeks in advance depending on the degree of difficulty and the number of orders ahead of yours. We can give you an accurate turnaround time once one of our online forms is submitted with a detailed order description. The forms can be found on the home page.

Q: Do you price by the letter?

A: No, we price everything by the difficulty of the design, and how long it takes to paint/produce it. When needed material cost is also included in the price.

Q: Do you screen print?

A: No we do not. We offer iron on heat transfers and vinyl lettering/designs instead (while supplies last).

Q: Can you mass-produce for my new clothing line?

A: We can produce any number of items you would like if our schedule has the availability (which may be difficult for a very large order), however we do not offer wholesale pricing. Each item will be the same price, and discounts are not offered as the quantity is increased. If you feel you can sell anything we make, feel free to do so.

Q: Can you give a discount if I get more than 1 shirt?

A: We do not offer discounts for a multi shirt/item order, even if they are all the same. Each shirt or product takes the same amount of time and supplies to make, so our costs do not go down the more you get. There are no discounts on vinyl orders because we charge based on the amount of vinyl used. Typically screen printing (which we do not offer) is a better way to go if you want your costs to be lower for a large order.

Q: Do you go off-site to paint for little league teams, parties, or fundraisers?

A: We do not. In order for an event to be successful, we need lots of electrical outlets. In most cases, we trip breakers because it can not sustain the power needed for our equipment. We also keep our schedule full, so going off-site would not be able to fit in with other orders.

Q: Can you special order a specific style/color/size of shirts?

A: At this time we do not offer this service.

Q: Can you put photos on a shirt?

A: Yes, we use a special iron-on heat transfer process to do that. It can not be any bigger than a standard 8.5" x 11" size. Lettering and other designs can be added around the photo. We can also airbrush portraits, but those take longer and usually cost more.

Q: Can you make family reunion shirts?

A: Yes. The shirts could either be airbrushed or use our new print-on-demand option. Contact us for an estimate and to determine which option is best for you. Either option could take 4 weeks or more depending on our schedule.

Q: Can you make shirts for a deceased family member or friend on short notice?

A: We realize that you can not predict death, so waiting last minute is the only option. Funeral arrangements are usually made right away, so please get your shirt orders to us as well so we can accommodate. If you expect everyone in your family/group would be interested in a shirt, we recommend that one person take everyone's order. That one person would be in charge of placing, paying for, and picking up the order. Payment will be required up front. It also speeds up the process if shirts are similar or exactly alike. A multi-shirt order with different photos or lettering will decrease the amount we can finish before it is needed. 

Q: Can you design a logo for my business?

A: This is not our area of expertise, we suggest looking into a graphic designer/company. If you plan to have us do any type of work with the logo you have made, be sure to get a vector file from the designer.

Q: Why does airbrush art cost more on colored shirts?

A: Anytime a design is airbrushed on anything EXCEPT white, we have to put down a white base first so your design looks nice and bright once complete. This results in the design having to be painted 3+ times on the same shirt. For this reason, we have to charge more because of the amount of work/time/paint involved. The cost increase is determined by the difficulty of the design.