Magnetic vs Pin Name Tags: Why We Only Sell One

By Chen Deng · Founder, LAMOSE · Calgary, Alberta

A hospital's HR coordinator once told us the same nurses kept coming back for replacement badges. Same scrub top, same spot, a little hole growing wider every shift the pin went back in. Nobody had budgeted for uniform damage. That's the whole magnetic-vs-pin question in one story: a pin is free until it isn't.

The short answer.

Pin-back name tags are cheaper upfront and still make sense for a one-day event. For anything a team wears daily, magnetic backing wins: no pin holes, no lost pins, no damaged uniforms. We stopped offering pin-back entirely. Every LAMOSE name tag ships with magnetic backing standard.

Pin vs. magnetic, compared

Why we only sell one

We used to get asked for a pin-back option. We stopped offering it. Every name tag we engrave ships with magnetic backing standard: three magnets in the tag, a backing bar inside the garment, no holes in either. For a badge that goes on and off a uniform five days a week, a pin isn't a minor inconvenience. It's a slow-motion replacement bill: torn fabric, lost pins, and a badge that has to be reordered before it should.

There's one real case where a pin still wins: a single-day trade show badge, or a heavy winter coat where a magnet can't get enough grip through the fabric. If that's your situation, a two-dollar safety pin does the job, and you don't need us for that.

The other case is health, not fabric. Medtronic Canada's advice for people with a pacemaker or defibrillator is to "keep any item with a magnet at least 6 in (15 cm) away from the heart device." A name tag sits on the chest, well inside that range, so anyone on your team with a heart device should wear a pin-back tag from another seller. Ask quietly when you collect the staff list.

Salons are the clearest case for magnets: thin black work clothes that show every hole, worn five days a week. We wrote up what a stylist's tag should say, and what it has to survive, in our guide to salon name tags in Canada.

What we'd actually send

Every LAMOSE name tag is laser-engraved on two-layer acrylic engraving laminate in our Calgary workshop, in brushed-metallic or matte finishes, and ships with magnetic backing. No pin option, by design.

• Bank & Financial Services Name Tag. Advisor / Teller / Manager templates, 4 colors, 2 sizes.
• Auto Dealership Name Tag. Sales / Service / Finance templates, 13 colors, 2 sizes.

Both templates are $12.50 for a 1.5" × 3" tag and drop with volume, to $11.13 each at 51 to 100. Our plain 1" × 3" tag starts at $11.50. Paste or upload your staff list, add your logo, and we email a proof. Engraving takes 1–3 business days after you approve it, and shipping is free even on one tag.

Frequently asked

Do magnetic name tags damage clothing?
No. The magnet sandwiches the fabric between two plates instead of piercing it, so there's no hole and no wear point the way a pin creates over repeated use.

How strong are magnetic name tag backings?
We don't publish an exact rating. Magnetic-badge manufacturers don't standardize on one number the way you'd expect. What we can say from real use: the backing holds through a full shift on standard uniform-weight fabric. Very thick winter coats or heavy outerwear can reduce the grip, which is the one case where a pin still has an edge.

Are pin or magnetic name tags better for healthcare settings?
Magnetic, for daily-wear scrubs and uniforms. It avoids the repeated pin-hole damage that shows up in high-turnover environments like hospitals. Some MRI-adjacent areas restrict anything magnetic or ferrous; check your facility's specific policy before ordering for that setting.

Are magnetic name tags safe with a pacemaker?
Not on the chest. Medtronic Canada advises keeping any item with a magnet at least 6 inches (15 cm) from a heart device, so a staffer with a pacemaker or defibrillator should wear a pin-back tag.

How much do custom name tags cost in Canada?
LAMOSE engraved name tags start at $11.50 for a 1" × 3" tag and $12.50 for a 1.5" × 3" industry template, dropping with volume. Engraving, logo setup and a proof are included, and shipping is free even on one tag.

Can I order name tags in bulk for a whole team?
Yes. Upload your staff list and logo and we engrave each tag individually. For anything beyond our listed templates, or a rollout across multiple locations, get a quote and we'll price it directly.

By Chen Deng, founder of LAMOSE. We engrave every name tag ourselves in our Calgary workshop. See our guide to custom name tags and badges for the full template lineup.