Posted By TeckWrap Craft On July 21, 2022
What Is Reverse Weeding? Vinyl Weeding Hacks!
Table of Contents
- Step By Step Guide On How To Reverse Weed Vinyl
- Supplies Needed
- Prepare The Design
- Test Cut Then Cut The Design!
- Place The Transfer Tape Over The Adhesive Vinyl
- Burnish Both Front And Back Using A Squeegee
- Remove The Paper Backing Of The Vinyl
- Start Reverse Weeding Vinyl
- Weed The Inner Cavities
- Frequently Asked Questions
Reverse weeding is a weeding process using a transfer tape.. The vinyl is transferred to the transfer tape to weed out the unwanted parts of the design. As opposed to using a weeding tool and taking out the unwanted parts of the vinyl piece by piece.
Reverse weeding is ideal for intricate designs and also saves time by weeding piece by piece using a weeding tool. Plus, with reverse weeding, you won’t have to worry about missing the ‘must-weeded parts’ of the design.
If you’re not quite sure on how to go about with this weeding hack, don’t worry! Today, you’ll learn about reverse weeding. So the next time you work on intricate vinyl designs, you won’t miss a piece, plus you’ll save so much time.
Step By Step Guide On How To Reverse Weed Vinyl
The process of reverse weeding is pretty straightforward. Basically, transfer tape is used first even before weeding the vinyl, hence, reverse weeding.
Reverse weeding is a technique used for adhesive vinyl — which includes permanent and removable vinyl. To be clear, you can’t reverse weed heat transfer vinyl. Here’s the step-by-step guide plus useful tips on how to reverse weed adhesive craft vinyl.
Supplies Needed
First, you need to gather the supplies needed. You’ll pretty much need the same materials when personalizing crafts using adhesive vinyl. Make sure these supplies are complete when reverse weeding:
- Adhesive vinyl from TeckWrap Craft (choose here)
- Transfer tape (preferably with grid lines)
- Weeding pen or tool
- Squeegee or use credit card
- Sticky mat
- Cutting machine
Prepare The Design
First step is to prepare the design. Whether your design has intricate details or small letters, reverse weeding will make it easier and faster for you to weed the entire piece. The preparation stage is essential especially that you need to choose the right cut settings.
In your Cricut design space or Silhouette studio, make sure to change the material setting used. There are options for the vinyl type in the design studio. Make sure to choose the right material depending on the vinyl you’ll be using.
As you choose the right vinyl material, the cut settings like blade depth, force and speed automatically changes. However the given settings do not guarantee the right depth of cutting of the vinyl material, which leads us to the next step.
Test Cut Then Cut The Design!
This is a MUST step — always test cut. Make sure to test cut before you attempt to cut the entire design. You want the cutting machine’s blade to cut just right through the vinyl without reaching the paper backing. If the vinyl does not remove easily from the paper backing, or the paper backing was reached by the cutting blade, then the cut settings need to be adjusted.
If the adhesive vinyl does not weed easily, you may need to increase the thickness or depth of the blade settings. If the paper backing of the vinyl was cut, you need to decrease the thickness or depth of the blade setting.