Cutting and Applying Cricut Vinyl

Hey everyone! If you’ve ever wondered how exactly to cut and apply Cricut Vinyl, this post is for you! We will break down how simple it is to cut and apply vinyl to your favorite products. We’ve got some fantastic vinyl hacks for you to make it so much easier!

Newbies and old pros alike will enjoy this simple crafting tutorial. It’s super easy and it’s really fun once you get the hang of it. You’ll be making all kinds of die cutting craft projects in no time.

To get started, go to the Cricut Design Space on your iPad and pick the cut file you’re going to use. For this project, I’ll use one of the over 1,000 cut files from Makers Gonna Learn. It’s a wonderful die cutting membership plan! If you have a die cutting machine, you will love Makers Gonna Learn.

Now it’s time to size our project. We want to make sure that we are not going to cut anything that’s too big or too small for what we’re applying it to. So, we’re going to grab our measuring tape here and make sure that we have sized it correctly. In this case, 3×3 is about the most that we can do. We have sized ours at 2.5 by 2.5 which is perfect for the surface we’re working with.

Now, we’re just going to go ahead and click Make It and you will see our image. It’s ready to cut so we’re going to hit continue and click vinyl. You will see where it says pressure – it is set to default. So, we’re going to click that and tap more pressure. It’s very important to add more pressure on these vinyl projects because it makes weeding a breeze.

Now, we’re going to load our mat. I’ve already got it here ready with our vinyl of choice so we’re just going to pop it in our Maker. Once it’s ready to go, we’re going to hit that flashing Cricut button.

After our cut is complete, we’re going to unload our mat. The first thing I like to do with my cut image is to get our scraper tool and burnish the image before we even begin to weed it.

Next, we’re going to get our weeding tool and weed all of our excess parts that we don’t need. You always want to be super patient when you’re weeding vinyl. After all, you don’t want to weed anything that you’re not supposed to. Just pay close attention to your work and take your time.

Next, we’re going to grab our transfer paper. We’ve already sized it to our image so we’re just going to peel off the backing here. We’re just going to lay it down in a taco shape from the middle out. This helps to prevent bubbles from forming and to easily apply it exactly the way we want it.

Now, get your scraper tool and burnish it. Then, pick the whole thing up off the mat,  flip it over and burnish again on the back. This may seem unnecessary and it’s totally optional, but it just helps our vinyl stick to the transfer paper once we weed it from the back.

Next, we’re going to use some rubbing alcohol. What you’re going to do is take a little paper towel or cotton and put a bit of the rubbing alcohol on it. Now, wipe your surface with it. You will especially want to do this if it’s a slick surface like this one.

Obviously, you can’t use this technique on things like canvas material, but if you’re using something that can be cleaned with the rubbing alcohol, you will definitely want to try it.  It’s a game-changer and will help your vinyl stick beautifully.

Once this is dry, you’re going to take your weeded image and peel the backing right off. If you have any letters sticking to the backing, don’t panic. You can just put it back down and use your scraper tool to burnish again.

Once you have removed the backing, you’re going to line it up exactly where you want it to go. Once you like the placement, you can also use that taco technique again and start from the middle. Then, use your scraper tool to really burnish these letters on.  Sometimes with certain surfaces,  it’s almost easier to go in with your fingers and really really push it in especially if you’re working on glass or any rounded surface like that.

If you’re confident that your letters are on there, you’re going to take a corner and you’re going to tightly pull it down. You don’t want to pull up as that will increase your chances of pulling off your vinyl, So, just get a really tight grip on it and pull straight back on your image.

What do you guys think? I love how it turned out and these tips make it so easy to apply vinyl to any surface. I hope you all enjoyed this tutorial. Don’t forget to leave us a comment and let us know what you’d like to see next!