Try Cricut’s new products with these super Easy Cricut Infusible Ink Tutorials for professional looking T-shirts and Coasters.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.
Bonus!! You’ll get a FREE Cousin Camp Bake Off SVG File with designs from my Sweet Shoppe SVG File set!
What is Cricut Infusible Ink?
I was lucky enough to preview Cricut Infusible Ink in person before the release and let me tell you…the pictures don’t do this product justice. It is SO incredibly cool and ridiculously easy to use.
You all know I love iron-on…but I think Infusible ink is easier to use, a lot more versatile, and LONG LASTING.
If you have a custom t-shirt business, things just got real.
Infusible ink works with the EasyPress 2 and Cricut Infusible Ink Compatible.
Cricut has a selection of the SOFTEST tees, totes, and even COASTERS…
As you can see below, these are the Infusible Ink rolls. They have numerous colors and pattern sets and you can imagine my excitement when I saw the mermaid set…because MERMAIDS.
But I wanted to get some favors going for this year’s Cousin Camp, and these look awesome with our Baking theme!
What you’ll Need for Cricut Infusible Ink Coasters
- Cutting machine like the Cricut Maker or Cricut Explore Air 2 (read more about the Maker here)
- StandardGrip Mat
- 6″ x 7″ EasyPress 2 (you can use larger sizes, too)
- EasyPress Mat
- Cricut Cardstock
- Cupcake Design (download link at the bottom of this post)
- Lint free towel
- Infusible Ink Square Cork Coasters
- Infusible Ink Transfer Sheets
- Heat Resistant Tape
- Butcher Paper (comes with Infusible Ink rolls)
Now, before you get started, I want to give you a little pep talk. There are a lot of steps here, but I promise…
After you try this once, it’s really easy to do. Just make sure to follow these steps EXACTLY to get the best outcome.
And I think you’ll be THRILLED with the professional results of these coasters using Cricut Infusible Ink!
DIY Coaster Instructions for Cricut Design Space
- Place an Infusible Ink sheet on a StandardGrip Mat face up.
- Upload the design to Cricut Design Space and hide the text layers by clicking on the eyeball icon in the right toolbar.
- Resize the design to fit on the coaster area (leave room for white space on the sides)
- Click MAKE IT. Note: If you have text on a design you’ll need to MIRROR your image.
- Choose Infusible Ink for your fabric, load the mat, then press the CUT button on your machine.
- When it’s done cutting, unload the machine and take the Infusible Ink sheet off the mat.
PLEASE NOTE!! Your hands need to be DRY when working with Infusible Ink. Make sure you do not have any lotion, oil, or any other moisture on your hands.
DIY Coaster Instructions for Cricut Infusible Ink
- If needed, cut around the design with scissors.
- To weed your design, carefully pull the the Infusible ink away from the liner with your fingers.
- Wipe the top of the coaster with the lint free towel. Note: ANY residue left behind will leave a mark on your blank.
- Center your design on the coaster face down.
- Place a piece of butcher paper that’s about 1″ larger on each side of the coaster on top of your design.
- Tape the butcher paper to the coaster with heat resistant tape to hold your design in place.
- Heat up your EasyPress 2 to 400 degrees and the timer to 240 seconds.
- Place a piece of butcher paper on your EasyPress mat, then place the coaster face up on top of the butcher paper.
- Add another layer of butcher paper on top of that, then place the heated EasyPress on the coaster, then start the timer.
- Either lightly hold it in place (make sure you don’t move), or if you have a completely flat surface, you can leave it in place for 60 seconds.
- When the timer beeps, carefully lift up the EasyPress 2 and turn it off.
- DO NOT TOUCH THE COASTER UNTIL IT’S COOLED OFF! It will be extremely hot, so leave it where it is for a couple of minutes, or move it with a pot holder to a safe heat resistant surface.
- Once it’s cooled off (for real…did I mention it needs to be cooled off?), peel off the design.
- That’s it – now you have amazing, professional looking coasters that are ready to use!
Handy Cricut Pen Tutorials You Should Know about
Now, let’s try out a different Cricut Infusible Ink technique! My Cricut Pen Hand Lettering Projects is one of my most popular posts ever, so I knew I had to show you what these bad boys can do.
Infusible Ink pens work just like Cricut pens. You place them in the Cricut the same way, you use Design Space the same way, change colors the same way (this post is a super handy tutorial for Cricut Pens and Design Space).
You can even use REGULAR printing paper to make your designs and draw the out by hand (make sure you mirror the text).
Since I’m creating an Adult sized large shirt, I use Cricut’s 12″x12″ Cardstock, but you can use printer size if you need to.
What you’ll Need for Cricut Infusible Ink Pen Projects
- Cutting machine like the Cricut Maker or Cricut Explore Air 2 (read more about the Maker here)
- 12″ x 10″ EasyPress 2 – HIGHLY recommend this size for t-shirts
- EasyPress Mat
- Cricut Cardstock
- LightGrip Mat
- Scraper Tool
- Cupcake Design (download link at the bottom of this post)
- T-shirt Blank – DO NOT WASH FIRST
- Infusible Ink Pens
- Butcher Paper (does not come with pens)
- Lint Roller
Cousin Bake Off Tee Instructions for Cricut Design Space
- If you haven’t already, upload the design to Cricut Design Space and resize it to fit on your blank. Tip: Make sure it’s no larger than your EasyPress.
- With the image selected, go to the top toolbar, and select the CUT drop down menu and choose DRAW.
- Now, go to the right hand toolbar and UNGROUP the object.
- For each group of the design, select it individually, the go over to the color options in the top tool bar and change to your desired pen color.
- When you’re done, select the WHOLE design and ATTACH it.
- Click MAKE IT and on the next screen MIRROR YOUR IMAGE.
- Now, choose Cardstock for your material.
- When prompted, load the Cricut Cardstock on the LightGrip mat into the machine, then press the CUT button.
- Load the correct colored pen into your machine, then when it prompts you, change the pen out for the next color.
- When your machine is done drawing, unload it and carefully take the paper off the mat with the large scraper tool.
Cousin Bake Off Tee Instructions for Cricut Infusible Ink Pens
- Once your design is off the mat, you can color it in with your markers, or skip straight to step 2. Tip: Place a spare piece of paper under your design so it doesn’t bleed through onto your surface.
- Heat your EasyPress 2 up to 385 degrees and set your timer to 15 seconds.
- While it’s heating, use the lint roller THOROUGHLY to take off any lint on your tee. Tip: It would be wise to use two roller sheets for a new shirt.
- Place your tee on the EasyPress Mat, then place a sheet of Cricut Cardstock inside the tee, and place a piece of butcher paper on the area you will be placing your design.
- Now, preheat that area for 15 seconds at 385 degrees. This helps pull the moisture from the t-shirt and helps the ink to fuse to the shirt.
- Remove the butcher paper, place the design FACE DOWN on your tee, then cover again with butcher paper.
- Set your time to 40 seconds, then place the EasyPress on your design. Use light pressure until the timer goes off. Tip: It’s SUPER important you don’t move your design. Otherwise, you may get a “ghost” effect.
- Simple lift the design off your tee and you’re DONE!
Phew! That was a lot of information, but my advice is to try things one step at a time.
What will you be creating with Cricut Infusible Ink?
Roxy says
240 seconds?
Erin says
YUP! No need to hold pressure on it. Make sure it’s on a steady location and leave it in place…but of course, practice caution and keep an eye on it.
Kitty Groot says
I don’t understand why you use cricut cardstock and not laser paper. Everything I’ve seen said use laser copy paper.
Erin says
You can pretty much use any paper. I used Cricut Cardstock in this case because it fit the size of the t-shirt.
Nancy says
Will an iron work or do you have to have a heat press for the infusible ink?
Erin says
I am sure you could…but I wouldn’t. The iron won’t give you the even pressure or heat, and the holes in an iron could be troublesome. It’s REALLY important to get your design right on the first try and there’s a lot of room for error with the iron.