All About Waterslide Decals

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Looking to add labels or decals on an item, but don’t want to use vinyl? Here’s all about waterslide decals

What is Waterslide?

Waterslide is also known as a water transfer decal. You can print your design on special waterslide paper and then you soak it in water to remove the backing and then apply it to your surface.

Waterslide decals can be made on an inkjet or laser printer – there are specific papers for each printer. This allows you to have a full-colour graphic. Waterslide paper is available in white or clear.

While you will seal the waterslide decal, it is not dishwasher safe. You can, however, hand wash the decal.

The decal is applied using water. You pull the backing out and slide it on – hence the name.

These decals can be applied to all sorts of surfaces – glass, plastic, candles and mugs, just to name a few.

What Do You Need to Make Waterslide Decals?

There are some very specific items your need in order to make waterslide decals.

Step by Step Directions for Making Waterslide Decals

Making waterslide decals is a little bit more complex, but the results are certainly worth it.

You will want to follow the directions provided by your waterslide paper company. Most manufacturers, however, have a similar procedure.

If making simple labels, you could create a word processing document and print that. You would follow the same application process, only you wouldn’t need a Cricut to cut your labels – you could use a paper cutter or scissors.

I used my Cricut Maker to make these waterslide decals to label my glass bottles of homemade, all-natural cleaners and sanitizers.

CREATE YOUR DESIGN
Upload or create a design in Cricut’s Design Space. You will want to make this a print and cut file. It’s similar to the process I wrote about for making stickers. When complete, make sure you have “flattened” your image so that it prints as one.

PRINT YOUR DESIGN
Insert your waterslide paper into your printer. Make sure you are printing on the shiny side. Print your design.
TIP: I try to max out my printing as it’s kind of a one-shot deal and the paper isn’t exactly cheap. I put as many on a sheet as possible.

WAIT
Now that it’s printed, you need to wait 5 minutes for it to be completely dry.

SPRAY WITH SEALER
In a well-ventilated area, spray your waterslide paper. I do this in a box in the backyard. Evenly spray the entire surface of the waterslide paper.

Repeat this process 2 more times so that in the end, it has a total of 3 coats. Wait 10 minutes in between each coat. Once the final coat is on, wait a good hour to make sure it is completely dry before moving on to the next step.

CUT YOUR DECALS
Insert your waterslide paper into your Cricut machine to cut. You want to cut through the entire sheet (not like stickers where you only cut the top layer).
As waterslide paper is thick, somewhat like cardstock, I found that the setting that worked for me was Medium Cardstock. Depending on the brand of waterslide paper that you use, you may need to adjust this slightly.

PREPARE THE SURFACE OF WHERE THE DECALS ARE GOING TO GO
Wipe the surface with some rubbing alcohol to make sure it is clean and ready for application.

GIVE YOUR DECALS A QUICK SOAK
Fill a shallow dish with water and dunk your waterslide decal in. The waterslide paper that I used recommends letting it sit in water for 30 seconds, Keep it in the water until you see it coming away at the sides.

APPLY YOUR WATERSLIDE DECAL
Since your hands are already wet, use your finger the wet the surface that the decal is going on. It is easier to apply when both the decal and the surface are wet. It also allows you to move it easily to make it just right.

Carefully position your decal on your item. Holding one side of your decal down, you should be able to pull the backing paper out from underneath it.

As both the decal and your surface are wet, you will be able to position it once it’s on.

Using your squeegee, gently smooth out your waterslide decal, working from the middle, outwards. This will smooth out any wrinkles as well as get any bubbles out.

This takes a bit of practice. My first ones had some bubbles, but since my bottle labels aren’t very large, you have to really look to notice them.

With a paper towel, gently dab the decal and the surface dry. Be careful of rubbing it as the decal is so delicate.

Then allow your waterslide decal to dry naturally for at least 3-4 hours. You can speed up this process with a hairdryer.

Look how nicely my bottles turned out! As these are cleaners, I worried about them being handled and possibly getting wet, so I knew that waterslide was the way to go. Stickers made from paper labels would not have worn well on these bottles. I also love that I got to make my own design in colour as well.

Want to remember all about waterslide decals? Be sure to save this to your favourite Pinterest board.