How to Use Cricut Transfer Tape

You can easily transfer your vinyl design cutouts from your Cricut cutting machine to any surface of your choice. This tutorial will teach you the basics of how to use Cricut transfer tape to make amazing projects that you can be proud of! We will show you quick tips and tricks for both standard and strong grip Cricut transfer tape.

During this tutorial we will be using two designs with two kinds of permanent vinyl.

Materials Required for this Project

SVG Cut File Designs - Dog Split Monogram and this Kafina Monogram set

You can get both of these designs and many more with an astounding 93% discount in The Mega Monogram Bundle! Hurry, it's only available for a short time, so grab it before it's gone!

Cricut Permanent Glitter Vinyl - Gold

Cricut Glossy Permanent Adhesive Vinyl - Black, our vinyl was part of a sampler

Cricut Standard Grip Vinyl

Cricut Strong Grip Vinyl

Cricut machine - Cricut Joy, Cricut Maker or Cricut Explore

Weeding tools, scraper

2x Blanks - we chose to use two lovely notebooks

Step 1 - Cut and Weed your Vinyl Designs

After you have uploaded the SVG design to Cricut Design Space, click on the Make It button in the top right corner. Proceed to cut your vinyl and unload from the mat once done.

As we are working with both glitter and glossy vinyl, we went ahead and cut two different designs. We then weeded out the excess for both designs.

Step 2 - Use the Cricut Standard Grip Transfer Tape

After cutting and removing your vinyl from the cutting mat, it may curl a bit. To help with this, tape the corners down to your surface so that it lays flat.

Next, peel the backing off of your transfer tape. Hold the transfer tape in a “U” shape and lower the tape over the vinyl design so the middle of the tape connects with the middle of the design. Then, lower both sides of the tape until it has fully covered the design.

Use the scraper tool and burnish over the top of the transfer tape and design. Use a bit of force while burnishing in all directions.

Next, flip the design over and burnish again over the back.

Lift up one corner of the backing and roll it slowly back so that the vinyl releases from the backing.

If you find that the vinyl is not sticking to the transfer tape, burnish again over the area. Keep doing this if necessary until the design has fully adhered to the tape.

Here is the back view of our permanent vinyl design that has been transferred to the Cricut Standard Grip transfer tape.

Wipe down your blank with a soft cloth to remove any possible debris. Flip the transfer tape around so that the vinyl is facing your book and once again make a “U” shape. Lower the tape and design until the middle makes contact with the book and then release the sides. Now, burnish in all directions.

Lift up one corner and slowly roll the transfer tape away from the book and vinyl design.

Place the transfer vinyl back on its carrier sheet and store away for your next project. The transfer tape can be used over and over, and will save you money!

Step 3 - Use the Cricut Strong Grip Transfer Tape

Now, certain permanent vinyl products like glitter vinyl, are thicker than your typical vinyl. They need a stronger adhesion when removing the backing. This is where the strong grip transfer tape is very useful.

It should be noted that the stronger adhesion means that it can’t be used on delicate materials. It is, however, perfect for hard surfaces like books, perspex and glass. Cricut Strong grip transfer tape is also thicker than the standard transfer tape and is easy to identify.

Use the same method of applying the transfer tape to the vinyl design as you did with the standard grip tape. Burnish on both sides and place the design face down. Slowly roll back the transfer tape. If you have any issues, burnish the back of the design again.

Our glitter permanent vinyl design is now ready to be transferred to our book blank.

Place the design on your book and burnish in all directions.

Lift up one corner and slowly roll back the transfer tape. You want to be careful here because of the stronger adhesion and to prevent damaging the book.

Once the transfer tape has been removed, place it on the backing so that it can be used again for another project.

Look how lovely this design turned out with the glitter permanent vinyl!

Both book designs are now ready for gifting!

Cricut Transfer tape makes it so much easier to create intricate designs and add them to your favorite vinyl projects. Give old, boring books new life or quirky SVG quotes to make someone’s day. You can create decals for window décor or decorate your Cricut cutting machine. There is no end to what you can create!