Hi folks, Jeff here with a quick post about working with Cricut vinyl and wood.
At the studio we use Cricut machines for a lot of our templating work, meaning, we’ll use a Cricut to make a vinyl stencil for paint work later, but we don’t really adhere the vinyl directly most of the time. However, there are some cases where you are going to want to stick Cricut vinyl to wood, and that’s why I’m putting together this post for y’all.
If you’ve ever tried to get vinyl to stick to a rough surface, you know that you’re in for a world of trouble. I also know there’s some confusion about whether or not vinyl can work with a painted surface, or if you need to seal it with an epoxy after. So let’s go through the common questions people have and if you have any that I didn’t cover in this tutorial, I’ll try to get to them ASAP for you.
What kind of vinyl is best to use?
For non-stencils we exclusively use Oracal 651 here. It’s a permanent adhesive vinyl that’s rated for outdoor use and pretty waterproof. Some people like to use heat transfer vinyl because it’s not as glossy, but I find that it doesn’t stick quite as well to wood.
HTV is a lot like adhesive vinyl except that it’s adhesive is heat activated. You often
The vinyl is already backed with adhesive on one side, so that’s basically all you need except for…
Do I need to use transfer tape?
You should definitely use transfer tape. It’s what will let you transfer the vinyl from its backing on to the wood.
What kind of wood should I use with vinyl?
The type of wood doesn’t matter as much as how it’s treated. For adhesive vinyl, the smoother the surface, the better. If your wood is rough or live edge, you want to make sure the area you’re placing the vinyl on is sanded smooth.
If you want to give yourself even more of an advantage, make sure the surface is painted and give it a few days to dry. You don’t need to use an epoxy or coating on top of the vinyl, but like with the paint, I would wait a few days before exposing it to much wear or tear.
What is a Cricut?
Cricut makes the brand of vinyl cutters that we use here in the shop. Another popular brand is Silhouette. They’re pretty versatile little machines, but the best way to understand them is that they’re like printers that cut, so you can load in an SVG file and cut that same pattern out on a lot of different materials. What we’re using is an adhere-backed vinyl, but your imagination is the limit.
We’ve tried Cricut vinyl as well, and it works well enough, but it often doesn’t come in the colors or sizes we need. We mostly use large rolls here, but you can find smaller sizes for home crafts as well.
If you’re a visual learned, here’s a video which might help.