Working with different kinds of vinyl – Name brand vs store brand

When I purchased my Cricut I bought a bunch of their vinyl to go with it.  I quickly found that with all the projects I wanted to do it was going to be very expensive if I stayed with Cricut brand alone.  After some research and reading reviews I found a couple of brands to try.  Through trial and error I’ve found some good ones that are equal to or better than Cricut. With a few that weren’t up to par with the Cricut.  I’ve found work around to use them so they don’t go to waste.  

Permanent Adhesive:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0711ZMTV2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I bought the variety pack first and loved all the colors but I found I needed more white so I purchased this one.  It worked really well.  When I cut it on the Cricut there weren’t any issues doing small letters or large images. 

Photo taken by Vicki Troemel

Removable Adhesive:

I’ve only tried Cricut so I can’t compare this with anything else.  It works just fine but I prefer using the permanent adhesive for my projects as I am usually putting them on tumblers and putting epoxy over them.

Heat Transfer:

There are a different kinds of heat transfer.  I’ve tried a couple of them but not all.  For this post I’ll be focusing on Glitter and Regular.

Photo taken by Vicki Troemel

Glitter Heat Transfer

I actually started with Cricut brand of vinyl and it is absolutely gorgeous.  As you can see from the picture it looks amazing.  However, the weeding of it was a major PITA.  I wasted so much of the sheets because I would start weeding and it would rip through the part I needed.  It didn’t matter if the image was small or large it ripped during weeding.  When it weeding nicely it ironed on like a dream and looked amazing.

Photo taken by Vicki Troemel

Photo taken by Vicki Troemel

For ease of use and awesomeness this one linked here is what I preferred.  It weeded nicely and looks amazing on clothes.  It had a variety of colors and it took both big and little images and weeding either was just fine.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MZKY23R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Photo taken by Vicki Troemel

Photo taken by Vicki Troemel

My biggest gripe about both was it is hard to see where the words/pictures were.  I had to tilt the vinyl around to make sure I didn’t cut any off.  Let’s just say there are some projects that may be missing some parts of their letters and lines.

Heat Transfer

This transferred so nicely to the clothes.  I loved the variety of colors.  The only downside was the size the sheets come in.  It means that I have to make sure the items are smaller and split between two sheets if I need something more than 10x12.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Y9CZD48/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Photo taken by Vicki Troemel

Photo taken by Vicki Troemel

Problem Vinyl:

I found this vinyl and loved the colors so I bought it.  Couldn’t wait to try it out.  First thing I cut with it the smaller details came up as it was cut.  Even using the vinyl with bigger shapes still cut poorly.  I set it aside frustrated and figured I would work on it later.  A couple months later I just randomly grabbed out of my stash the color I wanted and it cut funky again.  However, since it had been a couple months I learned you can change the settings of how deep you cut on the vinyl.  This was a game changer.  I now always custom print on the Cricut and go with the lighter cut.  This turned out fabulously.  If I try and cut something with small letters on this particular product the letters get pulled up no matter the setting.  At least I am using it and it isn’t going to waste.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078XL6J8F/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Conclusion:

Ultimately if you are looking for new vinyl pick the vinyl that has the color you want.  You can find ways to work around any issues you are having.  For me it comes down to the dollar amount and color.  I like saving money but still want my craft to come out.  You need to use what works for you.