How to Use Cricut Infusible Ink: Complete Guide

Once you learn how to use Cricut infusible ink, your crafting game will be forever changed! It’s my favorite way to get professional-looking results on everything from t-shirts to mugs. Don’t be intimidated by the fancy name. I’m sharing all of my tips (and mistakes to avoid) in this new Cricut series.

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What is infusible ink?

If you’re familiar with heat-transfer vinyl (HTV), think of infusible ink as its cool cousin. It’s another method of using heat to transfer a design to a base material (called a “blank”). The sublimation ink becomes fused with the blank, so it looks professionally dyed or printed with no change in texture.

Infusible Ink at a Glance

• MACHINE COMPATIBILITY: Cricut Maker, Cricut Explore, Cricut Joy (for smaller projects)
• SUPPLIES NEEDED: Infusible ink transfer sheets or pens, Cricut blanks (t-shirt, coasters, cosmetic bags, mugs), heat press or mug press, butcher paper, white cardstock, pressing mat, lint roller, heat-resistant tape (optional for small projects)
• PROJECT COST: $10-20 for infusible ink and blanks

Cricut Infusible Ink Shirt Tutorial (Watch time: 1 min)

Watch this short video to get an overview of how you can use infusible ink to make a t-shirt.

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The key difference with infusible ink vs. heat-transfer vinyl (a.k.a. HTV or iron-on) is that there’s no adhesive involved. The design transfers seamlessly to the base material, whether it’s a t-shirt, mug, or coaster.

The color options with infusible ink transfer sheets and pens are also more vibrant compared to HTV. The transfer sheets come in both solid colors and beautiful patterns like marble, geometric, or watercolor. However, infusible ink doesn’t have the textures that come with some iron-on, like glitter, holographic, or foil.

Infusible ink vs. HTV Guide

A major plus is that infusible ink won’t crack or peel over time since it fuses with the base material. It also stretches more easily than HTV on fabric projects.

The end result with infusible ink is similar to a screen-printed design but doesn’t require the extra step of a frame, squeegee, inks, and vinyl.

Base Materials Required

With infusible ink, you will have to invest in compatible infusible ink blanks with a high polyester content or finish. You can stay on the safe side with Cricut brand blanks, or you can experiment with products from other manufacturers that are listed as “infusible-ink or sublimation compatible.”

Base Material Color Options

Unfortunately, you don’t have many color options when it comes to base materials for infusible ink (see photo below). Compatible shirts come in white or grey, though you’ll find a handful of cute raglan shirts with black sleeves. Most other blanks come in white, though some mugs have a colored interior.

Heat Press Requirements

To get a successful ink transfer, you’ll need a heat press, like an EasyPress 2, EasyPress 3, or Autopress. I have a complete EasyPress 3 Guide if you want to learn more.

Older models of EasyPress may work but with varied results. The EasyPress Mini will also work, though you’ll want to use heat-resistant tape to prevent your design from shifting.

In the FAQs below, I’ll explain why a household iron won’t work with infusible ink. However, any heat press with uniformly distributed heat will work as long as it goes up to 400°F (205°C).

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Project: How to Make Cricut Infusible Ink Shirts

Let’s make a quick t-shirt together! Once you finish your first shirt, you’ll be hooked on exploring what else you can make with infusible ink.

For this project, we’ll be using Cricut infusible ink transfer sheets. I cover Cricut infusible ink pens in a separate tutorial to make infusible ink coasters since that process requires laser copy paper.

Step 1: Create and cut the infusible ink design.

In Cricut Design Space, I suggest using the templates tool to size your design. I chose a heart design (#M49F5C80E in Design Space) and resized it to roughly 9×9 inches. You can also create your own design using these free Cricut fonts or another SVG file.

Keep the size of your design smaller than the size of your heat press to ensure you won’t have issues later! In hindsight, I might have gone a tad smaller on my heart image.

With infusible ink, you’ll need to press the full design at once. Moving the heat press around will result in blurry lines, so I don’t recommend starting with a large design. The one exception is if you’re working with an EasyPress Mini. In that case, your design can be 2X the size of the Mini but requires heat-resistant tape to prevent shifting.

Try to choose a single-color design to start. In a future tutorial, I’ll show how to layer infusible ink. We’re taking baby steps today!

To cut the infusible ink transfer sheet, place the shiny side down (pattern facing up) on the cutting mat. Use a brayer tool or scraper to help iron out any wrinkles before cutting.

Follow the steps in Cricut Design Space to select infusible ink as your base material. Be sure to mirror the design just as you would for iron-on vinyl. Then send the design to cut.

Step 2: Weed the design

Start by trimming any uncut portions of your infusible ink sheet. You can save those pieces for future projects! Then begin removing the excess pieces with your fingers so only your design remains.

Avoid using sharp weeding tools with infusible ink transfer sheets. Cricut warns this could result in unwanted ink transfer or damage to the design.

I like to use the cracking method to remove pieces from the liner. Just gently roll the transfer sheet to release an edge that you can peel up with your fingers. Unlike heat transfer vinyl, the texture of infusible ink sheets is more like paper and doesn’t stretch as you remove it.

Step 3: Press the design

I always feel like I’m going to forget a critical piece of the infusible ink transfer process, so I created a handy diagram below to help guide you.

Infusible Ink Pressing Checklist

Do not prewash your shirt before applying infusible ink. (Yay, I always love it when I have less prep work involved.)

Heat Pressing Tips for Success

In place of cardstock, you can also insert 4 layers of butcher paper inside the shirt. Just make sure this protective layer is large enough to cover the design completely. I needed two pieces of cardstock to match the area of my heart design.

The lint roller is also key to a successful transfer with infusible ink. Even small fibers can prevent the ink from being absorbed during the heat transfer process.

After the heat transfer, the colors on an infusible ink transfer sheet will appear much bolder. Cricut transfer sheets come with a small scrap of test fabric so you can see how the finished design will look on the scrap before committing to a whole project.

Care Instructions for Infusible Ink Shirts

Infusible ink does not need to cure and will be ready to wear right after cooling. According to Cricut, you can machine wash infusible ink shirts inside out with cold water and mild detergent. Do not use a fabric softener. I like to wash mine on delicate and hang dry the shirt, but you can also tumble dry low.

Finished Cricut shirts and other infusible ink blanks are safe to iron or steam at low temperatures. High temperatures may reactivate the ink and cause bleeding.

Be sure to subscribe to get tutorials for other infusible ink products sent straight to your inbox! In the next post, we’ll be covering Cricut infusible ink markers to make custom coasters.

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FAQs about infusible ink

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