Adding Foil to Your Vinyl, Rhinestone and Paper Creations:
Lisa Potts, The Rhinestone World
Course Objective: This seminar will explore the different uses and combinations of foil to your
creations. Heat Reactive Foil is a dazzling material to use and is versatile enough to be used on both
apparel and paper crafts. This allows you to get the most use of your material.
What is heat reactive foil?
Much like HTV and hot-fix rhinestones, heat reactive foil is applied with a heat press or iron. Foil
comes in a sheet, but unlike HTV and rhinestones, foil does not have an adhesive attached to it. It
must react with another item or “activator” to be applied on to the item. For apparel, the foil will stick
to an adhesive htv. Foil will stick to the items that are printed with a laser printer because it reacts
with the toner in the ink.
The Application Process
Apparel/HTV Process
Foil will not adhere to the garment on its own. An adhesive is required for this. We recommend
Easyweed Adhesive. Note: there are some methods online that use normal Siser Easyweed for the
application. While this method can work, we have found that you have better coverage and long term
quality of the garment with Easyweed Adhesive.
1. Create your design and mirror it just like a typical HTV application.
2. Load your adhesive into your Silhouette with the shiny side down. Adhesive has the same
carrier as normal Easyweed, the only difference is that the adhesive is translucent and cloudy.
3. Cut and weed the vinyl just like HTV. The adhesive cut lines can be difficult to see, so place the
adhesive on a dark surface. This will make the cut lines show up easier.
4. Make sure your press is set to 305 degrees.
5. Place your adhesive on the garment and press with medium/firm pressure for 2-3 seconds.
Peel warm. This is a quick tack to get the adhesive on the apparel.
a. The adhesive will look foggy before you press. If it is pressed well, it will look smooth
and a somewhat wet look through the carrier sheet.
b. After the carrier is peeled off, the remaining adhesive will look like a glaze on the
garment.
6. Take a piece of foil that will cover the adhesive and place on top of the adhesive. We
recommend using TRW Magic Foil, 25 feet of material for only $10!
7. Press your foil at 305 degrees for 15 seconds. Do not use a cover sheet, this will dull the shine
of the foil slightly.
8. Carefully remove the garment from the press. Do not remove the foil.
9. Allow the garment to cool completely. Pull the foil up from the garment. The foil touching the
adhesive should stay. The foil leftover can be used again!
**This method can work with a home iron, but it is not recommended. Foil is very sensitive to pressure
and temperature, so there is very little margin for error or inconsistency.**
Here is a video showing the basic process of applying foil to a shirt: https://youtu.be/YvU728Gida8
Paper Process
There are a couple different ways to apply foil to paper. The best way is to use a laser printer, but the
Adhesive can be pressed to a sheet of paper if needed.
Printer and Minc Machine
1. Print out your design in black ink using a laser printer. Mono laser printers (only print in black)
are the best for foiling.
2. Cut out a piece of foil and place on top of the ink.
3. Put your paper in one of the folder and run through the Minc machine. Settings 3 and up tend
to work best.
4. After the print has run through the machine, peel up the foil and you are done!
**This method has also been used to apply foil to sign vinyl!**
Video on a laser printer and the Minc: https://youtu.be/lZg5rkyL-i4
Printer and Heat Press
1. Follow steps 1-2 from the above method.
2. Place your print with the foil on top on your heat press.
3. Set your press at 200 degrees. Note: some users do not have good results with this
temperature. If your results are patchy, bring the temperature up more.
4. Press your print for 10-15 seconds. Cold peel.
Video on a laser printer and a heat press: https://youtu.be/m7MB9nvvRWE
Adhesive and Heat Press
Follow the steps for apparel, but on paper. Video using adhesive and paper:
https://youtu.be/H664AGE_py8
Effects and Different Techniques
Foil is versatile enough to show different looks and effects depending on how it is applied and handled.
There are many combinations that can be done to achieve the effect desired.
Second Press
White foil without a cover sheet can be smooth and shiny, a textured matte look can be applied with a
second press. This is great for a subtle look for your garment or item being made. After the foil is
peeled, press again for a couple seconds.
Second press in action: https://youtu.be/NVRQVNh7a10?t=13m27s
Distressed Looks
Foil is a delicate item, so small lines in the foil will show up on the item you are creating. The benefit of
this is that now you have the ability to create a distressed look without having to spend hours weeding
vinyl.
Press your adhesive to the garment like you would in a typical application. Before applying the foil,
crinkle it a bit to get some lines in it. Once the foil is applied, a distressed look will remain in on the
garment.
Creating a Design with Multiple Colors
Foil will stick to the adhesive, but it will not stick to another foil color. This is helpful when you want to
create a foil design with multiple colors. Cut out your design with the Easyweed Adhesive and press
onto the garment. Once you have that pressed, place pieces of foil on the parts of the design that you
want them to be on. When putting down foil, put down the smallest sections first and the largest last.
After the foil sections are placed, press for 15 seconds, let cool completely and then peel!
Multiple Colors of Foil: https://youtu.be/9mE2ZYxkqJM
Troubleshooting
Like most new endeavors, there will be mistakes and undesired results when working with foil. For the
best results with foil, make sure to do several tests before to find the right pressure and temperature
for the foil. While this list is not exhaustive, it does address some of the common problems with foil.
1. The foil has white flakes on it.
a. Flaking is a common issue with foil. Some of it is minor, while others may indicate an
improper press.
If there looks like rough foil on the edges of your design, that is a sign that the foil
didn’t peel cleanly. Most times you can rub those edges with another part of the
garment and the excess will come off.
If there are some white flakes on the foil itself, this is oftentimes the excess that is
explained above. The foil is peeled up and the small flakes will stick to the foil on the
shirt. This can be fixed with a lint roller or a piece of tape that is less sticky. Gently press
this on the foil to get rid of the flakes.
2. The foil looks crinkly.
a. This issue could be a combination of items. The first is a lack of pressure. Look at the
carrier that the foil came on. If there are small pieces of foil still where the design is,
then the press was not good. Increase your pressure.
b. If the pressure is brought up and there are still marks on the foil, then the temperature
may not be high enough. Increase your temperature a bit.
3. The foil has a rainbow, wavy look.
a. This means the temperature is too high. High temperatures will distort the color of the
foil. Bring the temperature down.