Your HTV Beginner’s Guide | All You Need to Know

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I’m having so much fun exploring all the different things I can do with my Cricut Explore Air 2. It was now time to try making some shirts. So I’ve put together an HTV beginner’s guide. This HTV beginner’s guide is handy for those of you starting out and also for those seasoned veterans who can use this as a checklist when doing a project. If I haven’t done any HTV projects in a while, I still refer back to here to remind me of the procedure.

What is HTV?

I had done quite a bit of adhesive vinyl work, but clothing is quite different.  Vinyl for fabric is known as HTV, or heat transfer vinyl.  This type of vinyl is not sticky like in the vinyl that goes on water bottles or signs – this vinyl has a special coating that sticks to the fabric when you apply heat.

The vinyl is attached to a carrier sheet. The carrier sheet is somewhat sticky but doesn’t adhere to the fabric.

Types of HTV

There are various brands of HTV. Perhaps the most well-known brand is Siser. Now that I’ve done a number of HTV projects, I tend to use Siser exclusively since I find it reliable and consistent.

Siser has a number of different types of HTV, including Easy Weed (yes it lives up to its name), Stretch (great for when you want some give), Glitter (great bling!) and Flock (fuzzy HTV).

HTV Beginner’s Guide – Getting Ready

1. Pick your base. I got plain white, short sleeved and long sleeved onesies from our local Carter’s outlet. These will make a good basis for HTV.
   
2. Pick your HTV. I got a sample pack of HTV from an online retailer – the brand is FDC 9000 HTV. I thought this would be a good, economical way for me to try out this product.  Because these are scraps or end pieces, they are quite small, so I was limited to the size of the graphic – good thing the onesies are small!
3. Pick your graphic. The design process is pretty much the same as the other type of vinyl – I just had to make sure I sized it right to fit the small bits of HTV that I was using.

HTV Beginner’s Guide – Preparing the HTV

There are some fundamental differences in preparing adhesive vinyl in comparison to HTV. Once you are about to cut your graphic out on HTV, remember the following:

1. Mirror Image your Graphic. This is a simple toggle button on your screen. What this means is, the Cricut will flip your image and cut it backwards. Anything cut on HTV and applied with heat MUST be cut on a mirror image.  Be sure to select that option when working with HTV. It will look funny, but it’s applied upside down, so the image needs to be backwards.
2. Place the HTV shiny side down on the mat. Since the graphic is mirror image, you need to place the HTV with the shiny side down on the mat – that way it’ll work out in the end. The shiny side is the carrier sheet and is what the HTV is attached to – it’s the “good side”.
3. Cut your HTV on the right setting. The Cricut dial has both Iron On and Iron On +. Regular HTV is likely to be cut on the Iron On setting, while thicker products like flock us the Iron On + setting. Glitter HTV has its own setting in the custom menu.
   I had read and heard that the FDC HTV was a bit thicker and so I cut it on the Iron On + setting. You want the Cricut to just cut the HTV – not the plastic carrier sheet.
   
   
4. Weed your graphic. Weeding is pretty much the same. You will notice that the actual HTV is not sticky like adhesive vinyl. HTV seems to be a bit thicker but weeds easily.  You will, however, find that the shiny sheet that the vinyl is stuck to, is sticky. Remember that the image will be mirrored and so it will look funny. Flipped over, the HTV should look right.
   

HTV Beginner’s Guide – Applying the HTV

HTV requires heat in order to make it adhere to the fabric. When I first started out with HTV I did not have a heat press nor a Cricut Easy Press I simply used my home iron on the cotton setting. Here are step-by-step directions on how I applied the HTV.

Each brand of HTV will have specific instructions for applying. They will specify a temperature, how many seconds to press for and the amount of pressure. Remember that these factors are based on the manufacturer of the HTV and not the garment composition or type.

1. Press the shirt – make sure that there are no wrinkles. This also preheats the fabric which seems to make it easier to apply.
2. Fold the shirt in half and press – this gives you a centre line and help you line up your graphic. This only needs to be for a few seconds – just long enough to make a crease. Unfold in preparation for the HTV.
   
3. The instructions say to lay a cloth underneath the item (the onesie), place the graphic on (right side up) – so the sticky shiny part helps you steady it on to the item. Remember, the graphic should look “normal”, not backwards. The HTV should be in contact with the fabric. Then lay a teflon sheet on top. The teflon sheet is to protect your iron from the sticky residue on the HTV. So the onesie was sandwiched between a tea towel and the teflon sheet.  The HTV graphic was positioned where I wanted it.
4. In order to make sure your graphic is centred, fold the HTV in half. You’re actually going to be folding the carrier sheet. You can put creases in the carrier sheet – it doesn’t wreck the HTV. Line up the crease in the carrier sheet with the crease in the garment you created when you folded it in half and pressed it. You can also use a clear quilting ruler to make sure everything is straight.
5. Press the iron on to the teflon sheet. Simply press and hold – you’re not ironing, so you don’t need to move back and forth.  Press and hold for 10 seconds.
6. Once you’ve pressed and held, remove the teflon sheet and remove the shiny backing that was on the HTV. The actual vinyl has now adhered to the shirt!
7. Note that different types of HTV are either a hot peel (you can remove the carrier sheet pretty much right away) or a cold peel (wait until it cools before removing the carrier sheet). Follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

The onesie turned out so cute! I even tried two different colours since I was working with scrap pieces.

I will say that for the second onesie, I forgot about the tea towel and the item was simply laying on my ironing board. It turned out fine. I can’t wait to add these to the baby blanket I designed for this baby.

I made a t-shirt for my son (I’m slowly venturing into larger projects) and was able to do some simple layering. Start with the bottom layer first and work your way up. I used my iron and all I can advise is press, press, press.

Then I tried glitter vinyl – I used the same cut setting on the Cricut and love the look of it. It turned out so nice. This is the Wonder Woman logo on a simple tank from H & M. I used the exact same procedure. When my kids first saw it, they actually thought it was a store-bought tank top! Note that the Siser glitter vinyl adheres with a higher temperature and for a few seconds longer.

One last thing to note is that HTV must sit and rest and cure for 2-3 days before laundering. After that time, you can throw it in the wash. I have since laundered these shirts (inside out) and they both have held up fine. I’m looking forward to making more shirts with HTV.

Remember, you are not limited to shirts and tank tops – HTV works on all types of fabric including canvas (think art canvases and tote bags). Apply the HTV beginner’s guide to personalize things like aprons and potholders. There are so many possibilities.

I hope this HTV beginner’s guide has been helpful. If you have any questions, be sure to post below. I’d also love to see your HTV projects.

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