Tips for Layering Heat Press Vinyl

Tips for Layering Heat Press Vinyl

Layering vinyl can be intimidating. There are so many kinds of vinyl and figuring out how to layer them can sometimes feel overwhelming. Heat press vinyl, heat transfer vinyl, and iron on vinyl are all basically the same thing. You use a heat source to adhere them to fabric or another surface to create a beautiful project. The vinyl is meant to stay on permanently and cannot be easily removed. But what do you do when you have multiple layers of vinyl or different kinds of vinyl on the same project? Here are all my tips for layering heat press vinyl.

Tips for Layering Heat Press Vinyl

Sometimes you want to create a project from a file that has multiple layers. The layers give the file depth and add details that really help an image look amazing. Getting these layers to look right when you are using various types of heat transfer vinyl can be tricky.

I created this backpack with a cut file from the new Fresh Cut SVG Files bundle. (The Palm Springs Bundle.)

The car file that I used had two layers and I wanted to add a fun metallic silver to give it texture and make the wheels shine.

So how do you layer the vinyl?

First acquaint yourself with the different types of vinyl. Regular, Foil, Glitter, Metallic, Holographic, Electric, and Stretch are all types of vinyl that can be ironed on.
Be sure to use the vinyl that requires the most heat FIRST. You can reference this CHEAT SHEET for temperature recommendations (scroll down to see heat settings.) This means that you can layer foil over the regular heat transfer vinyl but you cannot layer metallic over regular heat transfer vinyl.
If you need to layer the less heat vinyl before the higher heat vinyl you will need to slice your image. This means that you will create a negative space where the higher vinyl will go. This way you can place the higher heat vinyl first and then add the vinyl that takes less heat second.
Be sure to follow the peel instructions carefully. Hot peel, warm peel, and cold peel are all terms you will see. Hot peel means you peel the plastic coating off immediately when the vinyl is hot and cold peel means you need to wait until the vinyl has cooled before removing the plastic coating.

You can do a kiss touch when using multiple layers of vinyl. This means using the correct heat setting but not pressing for the entire time recommended. You press just until you are able to successfully remove the plastic. The vinyl will not be completely adhered but it should completely adhere once you have added the second layer and pressed that for the full time recommended.

Do you still have questions about layering heat press vinyl? Share with me in the comments below.

Make sure and check out the Palm Springs Bundle. Here are a few more projects created with files in the bundle. (Click the image to be taken to the bundle.)