Which Side of Vinyl Goes Down on Cricut

Which Side of Vinyl Goes Down on Cricut
People often ask us, 'which side of vinyl goes down on Cricut'. First of all, do you know what iron on vinyl is? How to cut vinyl on Cricut? how to iron on Cricut vinyl? Iron on vinyl (also known as heat transfer vinyl, or HTV) makes amazing designs for T-shirts and handbags, but it can be confusing to use, especially when you use vinyl for Cricut for the first time.

Which Side of Vinyl Goes Down on Cricut


So you have purchased HTV, but now you are not sure iron on vinyl which side down, please let us help you. You must cut off the iron vinyl and HTV on the right side, otherwise it will not work at all. But which one is on the right? shiny side up or down on cricut? This is where the problem lies! Today, we will show you a reliable way to know which side of the heat transfer vinyl you want to cut, including whether the shiny side is up or down!

 

  • Part 1 Which Side of Vinyl Goes Down on Cricut?
  • Part 2 How to Distinguish the Shiny Side of Vinyl?
  • Part 3 How to Cut Vinyl on Cricut?
  • Part 4 How to Iron Vinyl on Cricut?

 

Part 1 Which Side of Vinyl Goes Down on Cricut?

Generally, you will read that when cutting HTV or cutting cricut vinyl, place the vinyl shiny side down on your cutting mat. Sometimes this is easy to determine, sometimes cricut for vinyl cutting is not so easy. However, if you’re brand new, this suggestion can cause a lot of confusion. Where is the shiny side? But don't worry-I will explain!

The heat transfer vinyl is composed of two layers-the vinyl layer and the carrier sheet. When you receive them, they will stick together, almost indistinguishable. You want to cut the vinyl surface. In many (if not most) ironed vinyls, the vinyl side is matte, while the carrier side is shiny. This is why they said to cut it shiny or glossy side down on your mat.

But, what if you don’t know which side is glossier?

 

Part 2 How to Distinguish the Shiny Side of Vinyl?



No worry. This is why we have a way to tell which side to cut. For this technique, all you need is your weeding tool.

Select the HTV surface that you suspect may be the cut surface.
Pick up the weeding tool and scrape in the corner of the sheet. If you can put the weeding tool under a layer of vinyl and pull it back, then this is the side you should cut. However, if you want to scrape a corner of the HTV and cannot grasp any material, the other side is the cutting side.

So, to summarize: if this side is easily penetrated by a weeding tool, then this is the side of the HTV you are cutting. Make sure this side is facing up when feeding the HTV into the cutting machine.

Which Side of Vinyl Goes Down on Cricut

Which Side of Vinyl Goes Down on Cricut

Next, please follow the instructions, including time, temperature and pressure, hot or cold peel, materials used, etc. 

 

Part 3 How to Cut Vinyl on Cricut?

Have you ever wanted to cut vinyl with a Cricut machine but didn't know how to start? How to cut vinyl on Cricut? how to cut cricut heat transfer vinyl? The good news is that it's actually pretty simple! Click to know how to cut vinyl on Cricut.

1. Design your project in Cricut Design Space, or load a pre-made design file.

The first step is to open Cricut Design Space and create a new project. Next, add the image to your canvas. You can choose one of the pre-made Cricut projects, add an image from the Cricut Access library, or upload your own SVG file. (Alternatively, you can even create your own designs using the tools in the design space.)

When your design is ready, click the green Make It button.

On the next screen (the prep screen), you will see parts of the project divided into pads by color. Double check that everything is ok.

If parts of your design are not spaced out the way you want, you may need to go back to the Canvas screen and "Attach" them.

Once everything looks fine, click the green Continue button.

2. Place the vinyl on the cutting mat with the liner facing down. Load the cutting mat into the Cricut machine.

Place the blue or green cutting pad on a flat surface and remove the clear plastic protective sheet. Lay the vinyl on the mat with the paper backing side down. Try aligning the edges of the vinyl with the grid on the cutting mat.

Smooth the vinyl with your scraper tool or miner. Try to remove any air bubbles that might interfere with the cut.

Put the cutting mat into the machine. Align the edges of the mat with the rails. Then press the load button to load the mat into the machine.

3. Go back to the design space and select the appropriate material settings. Load the correct blade into the machine. Press the Go button to start cutting.

Back to design space. You will see the make screen where you will select the correct cut settings for your specific type of vinyl.

Follow the on-screen prompts to set up the base material. Choose a vinyl setup from the list of available options. If you don't see Vinyl in your Favorites list, select Browse All Materials to access a full list of material settings.

Next, make sure you have the correct cutting blade loaded into the machine. For vinyl, use a fine blade.

When ready, press the "Start" button to start cutting.

4. After the cut is complete, remove the pad. Use a weeding tool to remove excess vinyl from the design.

 After the cut is complete, press the load button again to unload the mat. You will now use the weeding tool to remove excess vinyl from the design

weed the vinyl

Part 4 Summary

When we cut HTV, we need to put the matte side up, the shiny side down and tape it to the cutting mat.
The way to differentiate between the matte side and the shiny side is as follows: if this side is easily penetrated by a weeding tool, then this is the side of the HTV you want to cut. make sure that this side is facing up when you feed the HTV into the cutting machine.

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