7 Must Have Tools for Working With Heat Transfer Vinyl

You've made all the cute things with your cutting machine for your friends and family, and now you've gotten your first real paying customer that wants to order a vinyl shirt. You've made tons of shirts, you've got this! But wait... what if the vinyl peels off? How will you know it's good quality? What if you get a bad review? Don't worry, friend! Lemon Lily Creative has your back! We have compiled a list of our favorite must have tools for working with heat transfer vinyl, and today, you're getting the scoop! With these tools in your vinyl crafting arsenal, you'll be pumping out gorgeous vinyl shirts and bags like it's a piece of cake, and you'll never have to worry about the quality of your items again!

Heat Press

When working with heat transfer vinyl for business, you'll want to make sure you have a great heat press that distributes even heat and pressure, so you can feel confident you you are selling a high quality vinyl shirt to your customers. I love this 15x15 heat press by ePhotoInc. It is the perfect size for pressing shirts quickly on one pass, and at under $200, it's a steal! Bonus: It's a pretty color, and looks great in your craft room! Get it HERE with prime shipping!

Teflon Sheet

Once you have cut out your svg design with your cricut or silhouette, and you're ready to press it onto a shirt, you'll want to make sure you have a teflon sheet to lay over the design to protect the shirt from getting scorched. You'll also want to use a teflon sheet when layering vinyl, so that vinyl doesn't get exposed directly to the heating element when pressing each color. Our friends over at HeatTransferVinyl4U sell this 16 x 20" sheet for around 8 bucks! Get it HERE!

Lint Roller

Before placing and pressing your heat transfer vinyl onto your garment, it is super important to lint roll the garment first! The last thing you want is to admire your finished vinyl shirt project, only to find that you've accidentally pressed a thread or a hair underneath your vinyl design. (Trust me on this one!) I love this lint roller for my craft room. It comes with a snap on case and cute adhesive hook, so it hangs conveniently on the wall near my heat press! Snag it HERE for under 10 bucks!

LED Light Pad

Working with heat transfer vinyl, especially glitter htv, can be a literal pain in the neck, if you can't see what you're doing! Luckily, an LED light pad is a super inexpensive way to make vinyl weeding so much easier for you! By placing your cut out svg design on top of the light pad, you'll be able to easily see the cut lines of your design, so you know exactly what to weed! I found this cute pink one on Amazon, and it has been a life saver! Check it

out HERE!

Commercial Use SVG Designs

When making shirts or bags to sell for profit, it is so important to make sure you are using original svg designs to avoid trademark and copyright infringement. You can accomplish this in 2 ways. Either A. Make your own svg designs, or B. Purchase svg downloads from a designer who makes svg designs for commercial use. Check out Lemon Lily Creative's svg shop to see some of our favorites! Click Here!

Viny Placement and Heat Press Temperature Guide

When you're working on a vinyl shirt, you'll want to make sure you have the vinyl placement right, and that your heat press temperature settings are correct, so that you get flawless results! We have created a FREE download that contains a heat transfer vinyl placement guide and a heat press temperature and settings guide, so you can make vinyl shirts with ease! Download your free guide HERE!

HTV Remover

Even the most seasoned vinyl shirt makers have and oops from time to time! Don't sweat it - it happens to all of us! I keep this heat transfer vinyl remover on hand for those instances. It is a miracle in a can - for real. I can't tell you how many shirts I've saved when rushing on a last minute project has caused me to make a mistake. This is one you won't want to be without in your craft room! You can get it HERE!

Now that you've got all the tools you need to start making beautiful vinyl shirts with your cutting machine, head on over to Lemon Lily Creative's svg design shop to get some inspiration for your next project! We can't wait to see what you create! >>> TAKE ME THERE!