HTV Basics

 Hey Y'all!

HTV Basics:

Heat transfer vinyl, or HTV for short, is a specialty vinyl polymer that can be used on certain fabrics and materials to create designs and promotional products. (aka Iron-On Vinyl)

Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV) is a material that's easily applied with a combination of heat, pressure, and time. HTV can be applied with a heat press, home iron, Cricut EasyPress, etc. Carriers (carrier sheet) are the plastic backing that comes attached on HTV, and is peeled after heating per manufactures directions.

1) Each brand & type of HTV/Iron-On has specific instructions from the manufacture. These can vary widely, so be sure to keep track of what you're using.

For example:

My top 3 brands heat guides~

Craftables HTV.

Cricut has their own website:

https://cricut.com/heatguide

Siser (NA) has a ton of valuable information on their website.

2) Most all HTV is going to be mirrored, and put on your cutting mat shiny side (carrier sheet) down.

There are a few exceptions to this, mostly with patterned HTV, but those brands will be well labeled. You'll need to purchase and add the carrier sheet (transfer mask) after cutting. I personally find this tedious and more of a hassle than I'm willing to do, so now I tend to stay away from the brands that require it.

3) You don't need to start off buying all the things.

You need a cutting machine, a blank item to add your HTV to,  a design, a sheet (or roll) of HTV, a heat source, and a weeding tool (It's extremely difficult without one).  

I've mentioned my favorite brands above, but there all all types of HTV.  Basics, Glitter, Puff, Glow in the Dark, Holographic, Patterned, Sun Changing, Reflective, Flock, Glossy, Matte, etc. The possibilities are almost endless with HTV, especially when you start layering.

You've decided what you're doing and it's time to get crafty:

Open your design software.

Choose your design.

Measure your blank.

Scale your design to fit.

Choose the right cut setting on your machine. Test cut if needed.

Cut. (Remember mirror your design, and material goes shiny side down!)

Weed out the negative spaces.

Bring your heat source up to temp.

Pre-heat your blank.

Center your design.

Press for the instructed time.

Peel carrier sheet, per instructions.

GREAT JOB!

Congrats on finishing your first project!

One of my first HTV projects. This is using the Foil Rainbow Oil HTV from The Paper Studio.

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife