What Is Flocked Vinyl And How To Heat Transfer It

You’ve probably seen flocked iron-on vinyl before. Maybe it was on the back of a t-shirt, or you saw some flocked patches sewn onto jeans. Perhaps you even have some pieces of clothing with flocked vinyl on them in your closet right now!

Flocked vinyl is a great way to add some extra style and personality to your clothing and accessories. It’s also a great way to show your team spirit or just have some fun with your wardrobe.

But what is flocked vinyl, exactly? And how do you go about heat transferring it?

I’ll try to address all these questions and more in this article.

1. What is flocked vinyl?

Flocked vinyl is a type of fuzzy or furry heat transfer vinyl that feels similar to suede. Flocked means that the vinyl is raised, which gives an extra dimension to your design.

People might also refer to it as flocked heat transfer vinyl, flocked HTV vinyl, or flocked iron-on vinyl.

2. What is flocked vinyl used for?

Flocked vinyl is often used to decorate textiles and clothing, similar to regular vinyl. Flocked HTV vinyl is an easy way to make original pieces of clothing for yourself or for sale.

You can cut the flocked vinyl with almost any die-cutting machine, and then apply it to the fabric of your choice with a heat press or iron.

3. What is the difference between solid and flocked vinyl?

The main difference between regular solid vinyl and flocked vinyl is that the flocked vinyl is much thicker. The solid vinyl will feel smooth after applying it, whereas the flocked vinyl will have a soft and fuzzy feel, and add an extra dimension to your design.

However, working with solid vinyl and flocked vinyl is very similar and then can normally be used on the same types of fabric.

4. How do you cut flocked vinyl?

You can cut flocked vinyl the same way as you cut your standard vinyl.

For a very simple pattern, you can try to cut the vinyl with a pair of scissors yourself.

But if you want to cut more complex shapes or if you want a clean-cut you can use one of the many vinyl cutting machines.

With these machines, you can upload your own design or find one online, and the machine will do all the hard work for you.

Moreover, if you are running a small business you’ll make sure that every cut will be the exact same.

The most popular brands for cutting machines are Cricut and Silhouette. So below you can find more detailed instructions on how to cut flocked vinyl depending on which machine you are using.

*Keep in mind that you’ll normally have to mirror your design before cutting.

Cutting flocked vinyl with Cricut

There are currently 5 different Cricut machines to choose from. But fortunately, all of them can cut flocked vinyl and they use the same operating software.

So regardless of the machine you own, this video might help:

Cutting flocked vinyl with Silhouette

This video will show how to cut flocked vinyl using a Silhouette Cameo 4. But you can cut vinyl with every Silhouette machine.

5. How to heat transfer flocked vinyl?

After cutting your flocked vinyl in your desired pattern you can transfer it by applying heat. This can be done by either a heat press or by an iron. The former is the more reliable method, but if you don’t have a heat press at home a standard iron works as well.

How to heat press flocked vinyl?

1. Place your piece of clothing on your heat press.
2. Place the flocked vinyl in the desired area.
3. Place a cover sheet (Teflon or parchment paper) over your the flocked vinyl.
4. Press with ~300°F for 10~15 seconds.
5. Open the press and allow the flocked vinyl to cool down.
6. Remove the application sheet from the vinyl.

Depending on which flocked vinyl you are using, you might have to change the temperature and time a little bit.

It’s better to be on the safe side and apply a little too little heat. If you notice that the flocked vinyl didn’t stick yet, you can simply heat it again.

How to iron on flocked vinyl?

It’s more challenging to heat transfer flocked vinyl with an iron, since most irons don’t let you accurately control the temperature. So it’s much more of a trial and error process.

1. Set the dial of your iron between cotton and linen.
2. Place your fabric on a hard surface (most iron boards are too soft).
3. Position the flocked vinyl on your fabric in the right area.
4. Place a cover sheet (Teflon or parchment paper) over your the flocked vinyl.
5. Once the iron is hot, place it over the design for 30~60 seconds and apply firm pressure. (Don’t more the iron since it will heat the vinyl unevenly).
6. Let the flocked vinyl cool down.
7. Remove the application sheet from the flocked vinyl.
8. If the design starts to lift up, try applying additional heat in 10 second increments.

Working with flocked iron-on vinyl can be quite tricky. So try out several temperatures and time durations with some scrap pieces, before moving on to your final design.

6. Is flocked vinyl hot or cold peel?

Flocked vinyl is normally cold peel. This means after applying the heat, you want to peel off the application paper after the flocked vinyl has completely cooled down again. If you try to peel it off too early, the vinyl might start to warp, bubble, peel, or stretch.

7. Tips for using flocked vinyl succesfully

1. When cutting the vinyl using a die-cutter, you want to mirror the image before cutting. Most die-cutters will cut the flocked vinyl from the back. So if you don’t mirror before cutting, everything will look backward. This is especially important for text.
2. Some die-cutters might have difficulty with really thin designs such as trailing ends of letters in some fonts. Try to keep this in mind when designing your patterns.
3. Do not apply heat directly to the plastic backing. This might cause the plastic to melt, which makes it impossible to remove. Place a cover sheet on top instead.
4. Peel off the plastic backing carefully at first to check if the flocked vinyl has been transferred successfully. If it hasn’t you can simply apply more heat. However, if you remove the backing without checking beforehand it will be difficult to fix any mistakes.
5. If it’s your first time working with flocked vinyl, it’s better to try slightly lower temperatures and times.

8. Ideas & projects with flocked vinyl

Flocked vinyl is normally applied on fabric, textiles, and clothing. Here are a few ideas and projects to use flocked vinyl with:

• T-shirts
• Jeans
• Pillows
• Blankets
• Toadbags
• Hats
• Curtains
• Aprons
• Towls

If you want some more ideas, you can read our article on simple vinyl projects for your Cricut and best Cricut machines for making shirts.