Iron on vinyl sometimes called heat-transfer vinyl or HTV.
Iron on vinyl is a special type of vinyl material with a heat-sensitive adhesive, it is a product that is applied to t-shirts and other substrates by heat. You will have had many t-shirts and other garments with HTV on it! Therefore, the heat transfer can be done using a heat press machine, a home iron, or the recently released Cricut EasyPress.
It comes in sheets or rolls, and has two parts to it. There is the vinyl and the carrier sheet. They are both joined together and come apart during the heat transfer.
There are different types of iron on vinyl, including:
- flocked HTV
- foil HTV
- patterned HTV (my favorite!)
In conclusion, perhaps the most well known brand of heat transfer vinyl is Siser EasyWeed. I have to confess that this is my favorite brand, just because it is so easy to use, and it looks and feels great.
What Can You Press Iron On Vinyl Onto?
HTV vinyl is most commonly used for t shirts and other clothing. I use it all the time on baby onesies. However, you can press it onto a ton of other surfaces – some of the following I haven’t even tried myself yet!
You can press HTV onto:
- T-shirts
- Sweatpants
- Baby onesies
- Sweatshirts
- Hats and caps
- Shoes
- Wooden farmhouse signs
- Swimsuits
- Placemats
- Teatowels
- Baby and children’s clothes
- Canvas tote bags
- Stretched canvas (a reverse canvas project, for example)
- Drink coolies
- And much more!
How To Use IRON ON VINYL
Here’s what you need in order to make your own T-shirts:
- Cricut machine (I used the Cricut explore air 2 for this tutorial but any Cricut machine will work!)
- StandardGrip mat
- weeding tool
- Cricut EasyPress 2 (or a household iron)
- EasyPress mat (or a super fluffy towel, folded up)
Design your project in Cricut Design Space. For instance, Place the iron-on vinyl onto a StandardGrip cutting mat LINER side down. Load the mat into the Cricut machine. Send your image to the machine from Cricut Design Space. Make sure to MIRROR the design. Set the cutting dial on the machine to “Iron-on” For more information on adhering the iron-on vinyl, see my post on “ How to Cut Heat Transfer Vinyl on a Cricut ”