Adhesive Vinyl Tips and Tricks Part 2!
#Vinyl101 - Tips and Tricks when working with Adhesive Vinyl Part 2!
Hello Crafters! As promised, here's part 2 of Tips and Tricks when working with Adhesive vinyl! Remember, there are ways to ease your crafting experience, and this # Vinyl101 is the key or the solution for your little mishaps or problems!
In part 1 of this article, we tackled 10 Tips and Tricks that will help you when working with Adhesive vinyl! Now, we will be giving you another ten #Vinyl101! Let's get into it!
1. Sticky Transfer Tape? Use a microfiber cloth!
Is your transfer tape too sticky, and are you having trouble releasing your decal?
I think it's safe to say that we've all been there, that's why here's the perfect trick for you! Get a clean microfiber cloth and pat or stick your transfer tape into the fabric until you've achieved the amount of stickiness you desire! This #Vinyl101 also works perfectly with a denim fabric!
2. Cutting machine can't read the cut registration lines?
Use matte scotch tape or white crayons!
This little mishap usually happens when you are working with Printable Vinyl! Some Printable types of vinyl have a glossy finish, and the cutting machine may experience difficulty reading the cut registration lines because of its 'glossiness.'
If you also experience this kind of trouble, you can use matte scotch tape and put the tape over the cut registration lines of the printable vinyl. Or, if you don't have matte scotch tape, you may also use a white crayon and trace/color the registration lines! This 2 # Vinyl101 will help you tone down the glossiness of the vinyl, allowing the cutting machine to read the cut registration lines faster and easier!
3. Peel off the transfer tape at a 45-degree angle!
This next tip is when you are picking up your adhesive vinyl and releasing them with transfer tape! When doing these specific steps when crafting, it can be a little tricky and a hassle sometimes, especially when the decal won't go with the transfer tape when you pick them up or when it won't stick to the substrate when releasing them!
Try peeling off the transfer tape at a 45-degree angle when doing these steps! After you've applied the transfer tape on the vinyl, make sure to burnish hard and then carefully peel the transfer tape away from the paper backing at a 45-degree angle! When transferring your decal onto the final substrate, do the same thing! Burnish hard, and then peel the transfer tape away from the substrate at a 45-degree angle!
4. Weed intricate and small details on your design with masking or painter's tape!
For most Crafters, weeding is one of the most satisfying and relaxing processes when crafting. But it can also get stressful, especially when dealing with small and intricate details in your design, and it can take so much of your time. Lucky you, we have a #Vinyl101 that will help you weed small and intricate designs faster and easier!
Take a little piece of masking or painter's tape and stick the little piece of the tape onto the part of the design that you wish to weed out. Gently burnish with your fingers, put a little bit of pressure, lift the tape, and voila! The tiny pieces of you design should be stuck on the tape and off your design!
Just a quick reminder, sometimes the tiny pieces you wish to weed out won't stick on the tape on your first try. If this happens, just put the tape back on the design, burn it with more pressure, and lift it up!
5. Lint rollers as transfer tape?!
Yes! You've read it right! You can use the sticky sheets of lint rollers as an alternative to transfer tape!
Just peel the sticky sheets out of your lint roller and use that to pick up and transfer your decals onto your final substrate! This trick will save you if you've run out of transfer tape in the middle of working on a project!
6. Avoid any air pockets/bubbles on your layered project!
We do layering when crafting to achieve that perfect colorful look! But sometimes, we encounter different troubles or problems when working with multiple layers of vinyl, like air pockets/bubbles that appear and ruin our perfect project or when one layer of vinyl doesn’t stick onto the other layer! It could be frustrating sometimes, but this next #Vinyl101 will help you avoid these troubles or problems!
After weeding the “base layer” of your design, clean the top of it to remove dust and oil from your hands off the vinyl! And then, ensure to wipe down the top of each layer before applying the next layer to ensure that we won’t have any air pockets or bubbles that may ruin our project!
7. Press your design onto a wooden surface with an iron!
After removing the transfer tape, place parchment paper above your decal, press the design gently using iron for 10 seconds, and seal your project!
Following this tip, you won’t have trouble applying or sticking your vinyl on a wooden surface!
8. Use HTV’s Carrier Sheet as a Transfer Tape!
Yup! You’ve read it right! You can use the sticky carrier sheet of an HTV as a transfer tape! After working on an HTV project, do not throw the carrier sheet cause you can reuse that as your transfer tape on an adhesive vinyl project!
9. Use a hair dryer to help your project stick better and longer on your substrate!
After applying the decal to the final substrate, use a hair dryer to help your vinyl stick better and longer! The heat from the hair dryer will help activate the adhesive on your decal!
But make sure that your hair dryer is not that hot to prevent your vinyl from melting! And try not to touch the vinyl right after using the hair dryer; it might burn your fingers and end up hurting yourself!
10. Use a felted scraper!
When applying vinyl to a surface, we want to burn with firm pressure to stick onto the substrate and to make sure that it is transferred to the final substrate. But, sometimes, when we burnish hard, the scrapers or application tool leaves scratches and affect the looks of our vinyl!
By using a felted scraper, you don’t have to worry when you are burnishing your projects hard anymore! Felted scrapers have felt attached to one side of the scraper!
And that’s it! Part 2 of this #Vinyl101 or Tips and Tricks has ended! If you want more tips and tricks and want us to do part 3, message us on the social media accounts listed at the end of this article! You can also message us if you have some queries about the #Vinyl101 that are listed at the top or if you’ve tried them and you want us to see how your project turned out!
Thank you so much for staying with us up until the end of this article! We hope that you’d find this article very helpful! Check out Part 1 of this article through this link here: (Link Part1)
Social Media Accounts:
FB: CraftVinyl.ca
IG: CraftVinyl.ca
TikTok: craftvinyl.ca
For your vinyl crafting needs, please check our website at www.craftvinyl.ca. We offer different Adhesive and Heat Transfer Vinyl, perfect for your next project.
Thank you again, and Stay Safe and Crafty, Crafters!
Please click the links below for more vinyl tips and tricks.
TIPS AND TRICKS APPLYING HEAT TRANSER VINYL PART1
TIPS AND TRICKS APPLYING HEAT TRANSER VINYL PART2