What You Need | Preparation | Design & Print | Laminate | Cut | Apply | Care | FAQ 

Enhance your full-color transfers with high-impact effects! Cricut Printable Iron-On Kits let you add a special effect to your full-color design with a top layer that prevents fading and protects your project wash after wash.  

Select options above to learn how to use Cricut Printable Iron-On Kits.  

Note: Looking for information about Printable Iron-On without special effect film? Click here.  

What You Need

*Print Then Cut compatible, including: Cricut Explore, Cricut Maker, Cricut Joy Xtra, Cricut Joy 2, and Cricut Venture machines.

**The tool that comes in your machine. No specialty blade required.

†For use with inkjet printers only. Using a laser printer may damage the materials or printer.

Preparation

→ Pre-wash

Pre-wash fabric base materials without fabric softener to pre-shrink and remove chemicals that may prohibit strong adhesion.

→ Identify

Take a moment to identify:  

• Printable material: A white sheet with a printed liner. The printable side is white. The liner has a printed grid on it.  
• Laminate film: Contains the special effect that will be heat-laminated to your printed design. Laminate sheets have a liner with a printed grid that will be removed before the lamination step. They also have a protective layer that is removed after the lamination step. Note: Glitter laminate film does not come with a printed liner.
• Printer load orientation: Check your printer instructions or print a test page on printer paper to ensure you know which way to load the printable side of the material.  

→ Recommendations

• Make a test cut using a small basic shape to verify cut setting.  
• Apply test cut in an inconspicuous area on base material to verify application settings.

Design & Print

→ Tips for creating your design

• Printable Iron-On designs are peeled from the liner by hand and placed onto your base material. Large, simple shapes will be easier to peel and apply than more intricate designs, which would require a lot of care and manual dexterity to peel and apply. As needed, use the Offset function in Design Space to give your design a nice, simple outline.
• For best results, the heat press should cover the entire printable design while pressing. Keep this in mind as you create and size your design.

→ Steps

1. Customize your printable design in Design Space, then select Make It.  
2. Do not mirror your design.
3. Load Printable Iron-On into your home printer. Check your printer instructions or print a test page on printer paper to ensure you are loading the material with the correct side up.
4. Follow the instructions in Design Space to print your design. 

Laminate

This step uses your heat press to affix the special effect film to your printed design.  

1. Set your heat press to the time and temperature instructed in the Cricut Heat Guide.  
2. Locate a sheet of the laminate film that came with your Printable Iron-On. Remove the liner, which contains a printed grid and Cricut logo. Note: Glitter laminate film does not come with this printed grid liner; proceed to the next step.
3. Place the laminate film on your pressing mat shiny side down, exposed side up (the side you just peeled the printed liner from should face up).  
4. Place your printed design, printed side down, directly on top of the exposed laminate film and align all edges. Use a Scraper to smooth it down onto the laminate film.  
5. Place the provided sheet of silicone paper on top of the printed design + laminate sheet.  
6. Press at the time and temperature instructed in the Heat Guide.  
   • Do not complete this step more than once.
7. Allow film to cool completely before touching.  
8. Remove the shiny protective layer.

Cut

1. Place laminated iron-on sheet onto Cricut Light Grip machine mat, printed side up, and load into your machine. Ensure the page is oriented on the mat as it appears in Design Space.  
   • When prompted to select a material setting, select Browse All Materials, then search for your specific material.  
2. Select Go and watch the magic happen!  
3. When the cut is complete, select Unload.  
4. As needed, use a weeder to remove excess iron-on from in and around your design.

Tip: For help with any issues scanning the Print Then Cut sensor marks, visit this help article.

Apply

1. Peel design away from the liner by hand and place onto your base material, printed side up.  
2. Place the provided sheet of silicone paper on top of your design.  
3. Press at the time and temperature instructed in the Heat Guide.  
4. Remove the silicone paper when pressing is complete.  
5. Finished!

Care

• Allow 48 hours after application before washing.  
• Wash inside out in cold water, hang to dry.  
• Do not bleach.  
• If you need to iron, only iron the backside of the garment. Do not iron the decoration.

FAQ