Cricut easy Press- tell me what you know

If you’re looking to make your own good quality print transfers, that can be expensive... if you’re planning on purchasing them, I think Etsy is a good place to start. Search sublimation designs but make sure the seller ships the design because if they’re downloads you need a sublimation printer in order to be able to press them onto fabric. And the fabric MUST have a high polyester content if you want the colours to be vibrant. Sublimation is a whole other world... trust me... I’ve spent a lot of time researching it and am just starting out. I’m purchasing a sublimation printer as well as a mug press and that cost alone is $1,300 (CDN-less for all you US peas).

If you’re looking at cutting vinyl to press onto items, your original Silhouette will cut the designs. I started out with my plain old iron and had success, but every now and then the vinyl would lift in places and needed to be re-pressed. Not a huge deal as long as what you’re doing is for personal use, but not good if you plan on selling or even gifting items. I considered an Easypress but quickly decided to go with a heat press. I thought the Easypress was a glorified iron and the difference in cost made the decision easy, but a heat press is much larger so you need to consider the space factor as well. Having said that, the Easypress has come a long way and heats up to 400 degrees (I believe) so it can be used with HTV (heat transfer vinyl) as well as sublimation prints.

Then there is Cricut infusible ink and this is what got me started with wanting to do sublimation. It’s new and works like HTV in that you purchase it in sheets, cut it with your silhouette (or whatever cutting machine you have) and press it onto high polyester count fabrics, or specially coated materials. Unlike HTV, infusible ink absorbs into the fabric and there is no risk of peeling! It can be used with an Easypress as long as it’s one of the newer versions that will heat up to 400 degrees. Some people have had success with the original Easypress, but the Easypress 2 is what is recommended.

At the end of the day what I would do if I were in your place is start with HTV and your regular iron. If you’re finding you love it, I personally would pass on the Easypress and go for a heat press because the difference in cost just makes more sense to me and also because if you find that you want to delve into sublimation prints, a heat press is definitely the best way to go!

^^^all that! The only thing that I would say is that I use Siser Easyweed HTV most of the time and those temps only need to be around 300 degrees. BUT you need to check the recommended temp for each brand and type of vinyl.

I don’t have a business and have decided not to buy a large press because I don’t want it in my studio space. What I do have is a high wattage iron, Teflon press sheets, and a temperature gun that measures surface temps. So I can get those higher temps, my iron can maintain those temps and the temp gun tells me if my iron is hot enough. And the press sheets help hold in the heat.