As an experienced craft lover, I always get lots of questions about self adhesive vinyl from those who are interested in but also confused about handicrafts.
So here, I’ve written down this complete guide on self adhesive vinyl and you can get to know what self adhesive vinyl is, how to apply it, and the differences between adhesive vinyl and heat transfer vinyl.
What is self adhesive vinyl ？
self adhesive vinyl , or known as permanent adhesive vinyl, is a kind of soft and colorful material that can be cut into various shapes and sizes. It’s usually made of premium PVC, strong adhesive, and a clear PET backing. And you can find it in tons of vibrant colors, stylish patterns, and different finishes like matte and glossy on the market.
Normally, it can be widely applied to many flat and smooth surfaces like glass, mirrors, metals, mugs, car decors, home decors, and so on. Since this material features a great strong adhesive, it sticks quite firmly for a long period. It’s easy to use and durable, absolutely one of my favorite choices for designing signs, marks, stickers, lovely decorations, etc.
How to apply self adhesive vinyl ?
As I mentioned before, applying self adhesive vinyl would be a breeze for no matter professionals or novices. But first, you need to prepare these tools in advance so that you can easily get into the groove: self adhesive vinyl , transfer tape, a computer, a cutting machine, a cutting mat, a weeding tool, and a scraper.
Design your favorite images on the computer and there’s no need to mirror them. Set the proper cutting size and find out the exact right place on the cutting mat according to the grids on the designing software.
Connect your computer with the cutting machine while sticking your adhesive vinyl on the cutting mat. Load the cutting mat into the cutter and send codes to the machine through your computer. Then, the cutting begins! What you need to do now is to wait and do your work at hand.
When the cutting process is done, take out the cutting mat and your cut design and weed away the excess parts on the adhesive vinyl with a weeding tool. You can check out the pattern of your design after weeding.
Last but not least, it’s time to bring your most efficient helper, transfer tape, into practical use. Cut the transfer tape into the proper size based on your design and cover the design completely. Squeegee the bubbles out with a scraper so that the two items can connect tightly and it would be much easier to transfer to smooth surfaces.
Transfer the design to your target objects and squeegee again to make sure the images can stick firmly and last for a longer time. That’s all! Just a piece of cake for you!
What is the difference between self adhesive vinyl and heat transfer vinyl?
However, since self adhesive vinyl combines many patterns and colors similar to heat transfer vinyl, it always gets crafters confused about these two materials. After you go through this whole guide, there will be no fear of mixing them up.
In fact, permanent adhesive vinyl takes the win for its strong stickiness and versatility as stickers. It just needs to be cut into different shapes and stick to whatever flat and smooth objects you want. The excellent stickiness allows your lovely designs to last longer and not easy to fall off. Meanwhile, it can work as an adhesive sticker that suits notebooks, phone cases, mirrors, cups, mugs, and lots of items.
My friends and I used to decorate our car and motor with this vinyl, and it works fantastically not only indoors but outdoors no matter the weather. We love it for the flair it adds. But be careful not to let the material expose to direct sunlight for too long, or it will get bubbles and wrinkles, which will affect the looks.
As for heat transfer vinyl, you need one more machine to get your designs to the items you want: a heat press. Heat transfer vinyl requires a high temperature to melt the vinyl so that it can be transferred. And heat transfer vinyl works with fabrics in common, which means it’s only compatible with bags, socks, T-shirts, shoes, etc. Therefore, there will be a limitation when you are dying to decorate other gadgets for fun.
Do you need to mirror self adhesive vinyl ?
Not like heat transfer vinyl, in which the designs have to be cut with materials facing down to the cutting mat, self adhesive vinyl requires cutting on the front side. In this way, self adhesive vinyl does not need to be mirrored during the cutting process, and heat transfer vinyl needs to be cut with mirrored designs.
Above all is what I sum up about self adhesive vinyl for craft beginners. If you have other questions here, leave your message to let me know. Hope this guide can help you create fabulous and ideal designs!
