Wondering what the different Cricut materials are and what they do? In this Cricut Materials Guide I’ll share the various materials and how to use them in fun cricut projects.
This post is sponsored by Cricut.
Now that we’ve covered which Cricut Machine to Buy and How to Use Design Space let’s talk about Cricut Materials and what you’ll need.
Cricut has a variety of materials available with some materials that are machine specific and some that can be used on any Cricut machine. Here we’ll go over the various materials, what machines they can be used with, and how to use them.
Cricut Guide: Cricut Materials
Cricut materials are the materials you’ll cut with your machine. Things like vinyl, iron-on, felt, wood, and more. There are a variety of different materials for different projects and some materials even have multiple different types.
Cricut Iron-On
Cricut Iron-On is a top material and is perfect for making T-shirts, adding designs to hats and shoes, making cute towels, adding names to backpacks and lunchboxes, reverse canvas signs, and so much. Cricut Iron-On can be used with all of the Cricut machines and comes in a variety of colors and types. You will need a heat press, Easypress, or Iron to apply Cricut Iron-On.
Different types of Cricut Iron-on Include: All these materials can be used with all Cricut Machines.
- Everyday – Everyday Iron-On is your basic Iron-On or HTV. It comes in a smooth design in a variety of colors. It can be layered on and is great for most projects where you would use iron-on. This is the perfect HTV/Iron-On material to begin with and very versatile.
- Sportflex – Perfect for clothing or items that stretch like leggings or jerseys. It’s a material that will stretch with your clothing item. It’s also good to use on women’s t-shirts because it will stretch in the chest area if a top is snug in that area. Sportflex cannot be layered.
- Glitter – Perfect for when you want a design with a glitter look to it. Shiny, Shimmery, and oh so glittery! Glitter Iron-On cannot have material layered on top of it, but you can place it over a solid color or regular iron-on.
- Patterned – Patterned iron-on is so fun and comes in a variety of designs. Disney, Florals, Watercolor, and more. It can be used to give words a cool effect, used to jazz up embellishments on your design, or used for your whole design if you want it in a certain pattern. Personally, I love doing words with patterned iron-on. Pattern Iron-On cannot be used as a bad layer and it needs to be cold peeled. A cold peel is when you let your design cool before peeling off the transfer tape.
- Holographic – Holographic is another fun iron-on material to work with and something I love for my boys since they don’t like glitter. It gives your design a cool holographic look that is shiny and fun. This cannot be used as a base layer.
- Foil – Foil Iron-On is one of my favorites because it gives your design some shine. I love to use foil for towels, signs, cosmetic bags, and as small embellishments on bigger designs. Foil Iron-On uses cold peel.
Cricut Vinyl
Like Cricut Iron-On, Cricut Vinyl comes in a variety of different types of colors, patterns, and types. Available in removable or permanent. Cricut Vinyl is perfect for car decals, tumbler decals, window decals, notebook labels, home labels, signs, and much much more. Cricut Vinyl can be used with all Cricut machines.
Permanent Vinyl – Permanent Vinyl is perfect for projects where you do not want to remove your vinyl. Outdoor decor, car windows, mailboxes, tumblers, and more. Permanent Vinyl is water-resistant and UV-resistant. Permanent Premium Vinyl lasts up to three years, even in the great outdoors. Permanent vinyl is not recommended to use on walls because it could remove paint when removed. Available in a variety of colors and patterns.
Premium or Removeable Vinyl – Premium Vinyl is perfect for projects where you might want to remove the vinyl at some point. Things like labels, walls, name tags, windows, and more. Premium vinyl lasts for up to 2 years. Available in a variety of colors and patterns.
Stencil Vinyl – Stencil Vinyl is a type of removable vinyl and just like its name says it’s perfect for stencils. Stencil Vinyl makes sure that the edges around your design adhere to your surface so that your paint, marker, or other medium doesn’t bleed. Stencil vinyl is perfect for sign making, canvas art, and more.
Transfer Tape – Transfer Tape is used to get your vinyl off of the carrier sheet and onto whatever surface you are putting it on.
Adhesive Foil – Adhesive Foil is another type of removeable vinyl. Adhesive Foil gives your designs shine and a metallic like finish.
Dry Erase Vinyl – Dry Erase Vinyl is another type of removeable vinyl and will turn any surface into a dry erase surface. Perfect for labels, walls, desks, and more.
Smart Materials
Cricut Smart Materials were made for the Cricut Joy. They were created to work without a cutting mat, which is one of the perks of the Cricut Joy. Smart Materials come in Smart Vinyl, Smart Iron-On, Smart Label Writable Paper, and Smart Label Writable Vinyl. These are only meant to be used with the Cricut Joy.
Cricut Paper
Cricut has a variety of different paper types from regular cardstock, glitter cardstock, deluxe cardstock, and even card inserts. Cricut Paper can be used with all Cricut machines.
Card Inserts – Card Inserts are to be used with the Cricut Card Mat and is compatible with the Cricut Joy. Card Inserts allow you to make an endless supply of personalized cards.
Deluxe Paper – Cricut Deluxe Paper comes in a variety of mostly patterns with lots of licensed character patterns like Disney and Hello Kitty. Deluxe paper is has designs on both sides and is perfect for card making, scrapbooking, decor, and more.
Cardstock – Cricut Cardstock comes in a variety of colors and sizes. It’s perfect for any project where you would use cardstock like rolled paper flowers, bulletin boards, scrapbooking, posters, and so much more.
Foil Transfer Sheets
Foil Transfer Sheets – Foil Transfer Sheets can be used with Cricut Explore Air 2 and Cricut Maker with the foil transfer tool. Foil Transfer Sheets add foil designs to cards, invitations, gift boxes, stickers, and more.
Infusible Ink
Cricut Infusible Ink is a special type of material that permanently adds ink designs to Cricut Infusible Ink blanks (or sublimation blanks). Unlike the iron-on or HTV process, where artwork is attached on top of a base material using adhesive, an Infusible Ink transfer becomes one with the material itself. This creates seamless, permanent designs, and the designs won’t crack, peel, or fade over time. You’ll need an EasyPress 2 or Heatpress to used Infusible Inks.
There are 2 types of Infusible Ink: Infusible Ink Sheets and Infusible Ink pens and markers. While the Infusible Ink Sheets can be used with any Cricut Machine the pens and markers are made for the Explore Air 2 and Maker. The Cricut Joy has its own line of Infusible Ink pens and markers and they can’t be interchanged with machines.
Cricut Infusible Ink Sheets – Cricut Infusible Ink Sheets come in a variety of sizes, patterns, and colors.
Cricut Infusible Ink Pens and Markers – Cricut Infusible Ink Pens and Markers can be used to hand draw designs or used in your Cricut machine to have it do the drawing/writing for you. You’ll need laser copy paper to color your designs on, for ultimate color vibrancy.
Maker Only Materials
One of the perks of the Cricut Maker is the variety of materials that it can cut. The Cricut Maker has a variety of materials available that are compatible with the machine like leather, felt, wood, metal and more.
Types of Cricut Maker Materials:
- Aluminum Sheets
- Felt (felt can also be cut with the explore air 2)
- Kraft Board – thicker cardstock
- Chipboard – very thick paper that is sturdy. Perfect for frames, book covers, puzzles, ect.
- Wood Veneers – ultra-slim pieces of wood.
- Leather
- Corrugated Cardboard
