HELP! What vinyl do I use and how??? Part 2 - Adhesive

Ah, Adhesive - The vinyl you will most often curse at, scream at, and put on a time-out! Yep, that is right, a time out. The number of people who have either put their vinyl OR their machine on a time-out to save them hundreds of dollars may surprise you. If you are one of those people comment below.

There are two main questions I get asked when it comes to any vinyl. Those are 'What setting do I cut my vinyl on' and second 'what adhesive do I use for ______'? The answer to the first I will tell you at the end. Well, I will tell you what I use to cut my vinyl, which is the ONLY setting I use to cut my ALL of my vinyl. The second question we will get into shortly. In Part One of this two-part series we discussed all things HTV, so be sure to check it out.

There are two main categories of Adhesive Vinyl, Permanent and Removeable. Most vinyl will tell you whether they are permanent or removeable on their labels. Apart from whether vinyl is permanent or removeable there really aren't any other big how-to's that you need with adhesive, well other than stencil film, but we will discuss that briefly.

I also have a blog on Stencil Film too.

Permanent Vinyl

I could go through the thickness and the amount of stickiness numbers it has but I want to keep this simple and well not too boring. So the important thing to know is that Permanent Vinyl is just that, Permanent. It shouldn't come off until you need it to or in 5 to 6 years, whichever comes first or someone picks at it and then well of course it will come off.

Permanent Vinyl can be used outdoors and indoors. On dishes and signs. I would not suggest putting it on walls though.

You do NOT need to seal it to keep it permanent. DO NOT need to seal it! Just allow it to sit for 24 to 48 hours to cure and it will be good. If you are applying to wood and you have stained your material, allow your material time to dry completely before applying your vinyl.

If you are gifting or selling a project that needs to be washed, always suggest hand wash. Although you can put them in the dishwasher, it is not guaranteed to last. Mine are hit-and-miss, normally a hit. I have some glasses that I have been washing for 3 years and they are fine and others that, probably from picking at or something are not.

Do NOT use it on something that will go up to your mouth or touch food.

Be patient with weeding and applying. As soon as you let the vinyl see you are overly confident, it will turn on you. Trust me on this. You can be weeding 5 of the same cuts and have had 3 weeded and apply so beautifully that you are like, 'man this is so easy and going so great!'. DON'T even think that! The vinyl knows and can read your brain! The next one you weed with confidence and a bit more speed ....

• 'Where the actual F$#% is the H gone?'

• 'How did it just pull up that whole F%^*ing line?'

• 'NO sticky side don't flip over and touch the not sticky stuff! NOOOOOOO!'

Those are actual exerts of things that have been said while crafting with confidence. So a word of caution, never show the vinyl this. Never.

There are also many different weeding techniques that help as well. The next blog will be about those!

Removeable Vinyl

This stuff is great for wall decals and for the window! It is a bit thinner (not much) than permanent vinyl and has less tack to it. So basically it is less sticky. You can use this on signs that would not need to be exposed to the weather as well. Removeable Vinyl comes in Matte colors, which is also great because there is more of a pastel color pallet.

A helpful tip that has been found to help remove the vinyl easily is to use a hair dryer to warm it up. It will then peel off easier.

My cutting setting that I ALWAYS use.

The Washi Sheet setting is what I use 95% of the time. Washi Tape I use when I have a new blade. These settings are great because they cut your smaller and more delicate stuff amazingly!

I hope this helped a little. Happy Crafting y'all

Tonya