posted by Ahijoy on November 26, 2022
How To Use Adhesive Vinyl?
Adhesive vinyl has taken the craft world by storm. With so many varieties and colors, it has provided a new arena to the crafters to exhibit their workmanship. Whether you want to revamp the space around you or simply want to embellish your personal tumbler, this is the vinyl film to go for. Let us present all that you need to know about adhesive vinyl and its usage.
What Is Adhesive Vinyl?
Adhesive vinyl is a thin, flexible material made up of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) film with a pressure sensitive adhesive layer, and a silicone release liner. It is of two types: permanent and temporary.
Permanent Adhesive Vinyl
This category of craft vinyl comes with a strong adhesive. It can withstand harsh weather and is also water resistant hence it is mostly used outdoors so that it may last longer. It is used on vehicles, signboards, window displays and so on. It is also ideally used to design mugs, tumblers, or any other drinkware as it does not get damaged with water.
Permanent vinyl can be removed but may leave residue behind and even slightly damage the surface underneath. But these issues can be taken care of easily.
Removable Adhesive Vinyl
This category of craft vinyl does not have a strong adhesive hence it does not damage the surface and gets off effortlessly. It is recommended for indoor usage such as decorating walls, drinkware, albums, laptops, cellphones and so on. It is also used for making stencils so they can be removed easily without having any adverse impact on the project once the required task is accomplished.
What Is The Difference Between Permanent And Removable Vinyl?
Uses Of Adhesive Vinyl
Adhesive vinyl is quite versatile giving a lot of room for creativity as far as its usage is concerned. The only condition is that the surface should be perfectly clean, smooth and dry to ensure perfect adherence. In homes, it is used for decorative purposes. Following are some of the examples:
- You can embellish your drinkware with it – mugs, jugs, tumblers and glasses.
- You can paste it on plain vases to give them an exquisite look or give a beautiful border to the mirror in your room.
- You can make wall decals with it, making your room look unique and personalized.
- You can create gifts and party favors with it using keychain and bookmark blanks.
There is no dearth of ideas where its usage at home is concerned.
If you are a small business owner, you can use this vinyl in the following ways:
- For making logos and signage for windows and automobiles.
- You can create stickers of your logo with it to give to your customers so they can paste them on their cars.
- You can make decals with it to advertise on your own vehicles.
- The keychain blanks can come in handy here as well. You can paste your logo on them and give them free to your buyers for advertising and increasing customers.
Hence adhesive vinyl with its amazing variety in both colors and textures can be used in multifarious ways – you can think of an idea and simply apply it.
Tools Required To Use Adhesive Vinyl
The process of applying adhesive vinyl is very simple but before diving into the step-by-step guide, let’s first gather the tools that will be needed.
- A premium quality adhesive vinyl of your choice.
- Project you want the vinyl on.
- An electronic cutter.
- Cutting mat.
- Transfer Tape.
- Ruler or tape to measure.
- Weeding Tool.
- Squeegee.
A Step-By-Step Guide On How To Use Adhesive Vinyl
Follow these steps to the letter and you will have a beautiful craft in no time.
Step 1: Come Up With A Design
The first and the foremost step is to come up with a design that you want to transfer. Hence, you must prepare a design file for cutting. For this you can use any software that you are comfortable with. If you are using an electronic cutter, it comes with its own software that has many design ideas as well. Cricut uses Design Space and Silhouette uses Silhouette Studio. You can even work on another software and upload your design on the one prescribed by your cutter.
You must consider the size of the design. You know where you will be putting the final design so measure the dimensions of your surface using a scale and resize the design on software according to the surface area of the item it will end up at.
Step 2: Prepare The Surface
In order to ensure a smooth process, it is imperative to prepare the surface of the substrate for the adhesive vinyl. Wash and clean it thoroughly. Make sure it is dry before you start the process. Use isopropyl alcohol to ensure there are no contaminants left otherwise the vinyl will not stick properly.
Step 3: Cut The Design
Since you have your design ready to be cut, place the adhesive vinyl on the cutting mat, the paper backing side facing down. You will now load the mat into your cutting machine, adjust the settings on your software according to the vinyl used, click on “Make It” and send the design to be cut.
Step 4: Weeding The Negative Vinyl
Once the design is cut, you need to weed the negative vinyl. Using a tool such as Ahijoy’s weeding pen, lift the vinyl not needed and take it out. First pull the right hand side corner and lift off the vinyl from around the design. This will help you weed the rest of the excess vinyl easily. Now remove the extra vinyl from the inside of your design.
Step 5: Place The Transfer Tape
Take the transfer tape and cut it in a bigger size than the vinyl so when you transfer, you have extra space to hold onto. This will also allow the design to get adjusted to the transfer tape properly. Place the transfer tape over your design and smooth it out with a squeegee so that there are no creases and it sticks properly.
Step 6: Transfer The Design
It’s finally time to transfer the design onto the substrate. Remove the backing of the vinyl when you are sure that the transfer tape has nicely gripped it. Now place the design where you want it on the substrate and smooth it out with a squeegee to ensure it has adhered to it firmly and there are no creases.
Now remove the transfer tape from the design. Make sure that you remove it slowly because there might be some part of the vinyl that is not fully adhered to the surface and a quick pull of transfer tape will ruin the design.
If you feel the design is coming off from the edges when removing the tape, smooth it out again properly using a squeegee until you are sure it has adhered. There you go. You have successfully used the adhesive vinyl to glam up your previously dull object.
Frequently Asked Questions
Conclusion
It’s time to make your surroundings colorful. Using adhesive vinyl is not an issue when you have the right tools available. You just have to be careful with the weeding and the transfer. The sticky nature of the adhesive vinyl makes the application much easier and quicker. You need to remove the backing off the adhesive vinyl and paste it on simply. Get the vinyl of your choice and the tools from Ahijoy and make some beautiful crafts.