How to attach a vinyl sticker
​
-
Choose your surface
You can stick the vinyl sticker on a variety of surfaces including but not limited to: paper, wood, plastic, glass, and metal etc! -
Clean your surface
Make sure project surface is clean and dry. Use rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer to clean plastic and glass surfaces. -
Peel backing of sticker
The white backing of the sticker should be slowly removed. Make sure that all vinyl parts remain on the see-though (transfer) tape. If vinyl doesn't separate from the backing, put it back and use a credit card to apply pressure on the vinyl to stick on the transfer and peel away again. -
Attach a small area of design onto your surface
This can either be the center or one end of your design. Use a card to burnish design onto your surface, working outward from where you attached the small area. -
Peel Transfer Tape away from design
Pull the tape at a 180 degree angle, basically parallel to your surface. Work carefully. If vinyl peels up with Transfer Tape, simply burnish Transfer Tape and vinyl back down to the project surface and peel away again. For best results, peel Transfer Tape at an acute angle
​
Example of notebook with vinyl sticker on cover
How to attach an iron-on vinyl
​
-
Make sure your workspace is set up for pressing
You will want to avoid any surfaces that will suck up the heat from your iron and take the heat away from your garment. -
Choose the garment you want to apply the iron-on
If you use a very elastic fabric the vinyl will break due to the stretch after a few uses. -
Use the “linen” setting of your household iron
Instead of applying your HTV by ironing like you iron a shirt, you want to mirror a heat press. This means you should be pressing and holding on the area you are pressing for 20-30 seconds before moving to the next area. For this reason, we recommend covering your garment with a cover sheet, kraft paper, or a tea towel. This will reduce the chances of burning your shirt or other substrates. -
Pressure, pressure, pressure!
One of the main reasons that HTV doesn’t always adhere well when you use a household iron is that there was not enough pressure. You’ll want to really put your weight on the iron. Much more pressure is required to press vinyl than to iron clothes. Keep in mind, when you are using a heat press, there are several pounds of pressure used. When applying vinyl, you don’t want the glue to just adhere to the top layer of the garment, you want to melt that glue down into the under fibers of the garments.
Keep in mind that many irons will not maintain a consistent temperature over the entire surface. Most household irons will get the hottest right in the center. For this reason, you’ll want to make that is the area of the iron that you are using to apply your vinyl. -
Wait for the vinyl to cool down completely
If you realize some parts of your transfer aren’t sticking when you are peeling your carrier sheet, just put the carrier sheet back down, and press again.
​