How to Put Vinyl on Mugs - Too Much Love (2024)

One of my favourite crafting projects to do with my Cricut Explore Air 2 is using it to cut vinyl to put on things. One thing I’ve discovered doing is putting vinyl on mugs. It’s actually pretty easy. Here I’ve written out all the supplies you need, as well as the step-by-step directions.

Previously, I put vinyl on some mason jar mugs that were used as party favours for my son’s birthday party. The procedure is pretty much the same, but I have broken it down step by step here. So for those of youjust starting out, or for those of you who would like a refresher on putting vinyl on mugs, this post is for you.

It all started out when I made a couple of mugs as part of a wedding gift. They were very simple. I was hooked. I needed to make more mugs!

Recently, for the end-of-the-year teacher gifts, I made a few mugs with vinyl. I found designs and sayings online and then used that idea to make my own on Photoshop. I’ve always enjoyed graphic design and this lets me play around with fonts and design.

Supplies Needed to Put Vinyl on Mugs

So that’s all you need – not a whole lot of supplies but enough to do all sorts of things.

Be sure to check out my Cricut Basics post, All About Adhesive Vinyl for general information.

Step by Step Procedure to Put Vinyl on Mugs

Step 1
Choose a design. There are many designs out there – some for purchase and some for free. As mentioned, I do mine in Photoshop and then save as a PNG file and then upload it into Cricut Design Space.

Things to look for in a design – be wary of tiny things like dots. The smaller the item, the harder it is to get it to stick to the transfer tape and the easier it is to just miss it completely! I will say the biggest nuisance to me are the dots on the top of the letter “i” and punctuation, like periods. I tend to miss those.

Once you’ve got your design, upload it into Cricut Design Space and adjust the size. Keep reading, as I’ve shared my designs at the end of this post!

Step 2
Prepare the vinyl. This involves cutting it on your Cricut. For Oracal 651, I use the green mat (medium adhesive) and the vinyl + setting on the dial (the setting between vinyl and iron-on transfer). I find that the regular vinyl setting doesn’t cut it fully – it could be because my blade is getting dull.

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Once cut, I trim from my sheet of vinyl and remove the background vinyl first. This is a process called weeding – you take out all the excess or unnecessary vinyl – the vinyl that is not a part of your design. I usually start with the background. As you are pulling it off, be careful of those dots that I mentioned, and be careful of delicate lines and swirls if you have that.

Then, using the weeding tool, take out all the insides of letters and designs – like the inside of the letter “o” for instance. The final product should look like what it is supposed to be.

Step 3
Prepare the mug. The mug must be completely free of dust and oils (even the natural oils from your hands when you touch it). To do this, I simply wipe it down with rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball.

Step 4
Put the transfer tape on your vinyl design. As mentioned, if it is the first time, it is usually quite sticky, so simply using my fingers to press down works nicely. Be sure you lift up everything – again, be careful of those pesky dots!

Step 5
Apply to your mug. I tend to have a fairly good eye and can eyeball it to get it straight. I also tend not to put designs too high, up by the lip of the mug, as that is where people drink from. You can decide which side of the mug to put it on – it depends if the recipient is right-handed or left-handed and whether or not you want the design to face out or face the drinker. This is simply a matter of personal preference.

Once on your mug, I use the scraper to make sure it is stuck on to the mug completely. Again, rub or brandish those dots down so that they stick. Carefully remove your transfer paper and there you have it!

Step 6
As an extra step, I bake the mugs in the oven. From what I’ve researched, baking the mugs in a 300-degree oven for 15 minutes helps set the vinyl. The added heat makes the vinyl stick better.
EDITED TO ADD: All I did was put the mugs in an oven-safe dish, into the oven.

EDITED TO ADD: There is some debate on whether or not you should put vinyl in the oven. Some claim that it creates fumes. At 300, I did not smell any fumes. I could, however, lower the temperature. Another method would be to blast the mugs with a hairdryer – however, you can only do one at a time. I will say, however, having put the mugs in the oven, these mugs have held up well and I have had no problems, even putting them in the dishwasher.

EDITED TO ADD: I have since made some mugs and used a hairdryer to heat up and vinyl and seal it. However, once these mugs went into the dishwasher, half of the design came off. I redid the mugs and put them in the oven and sent them through the dishwasher again and they were fine. So even though they are technically not dishwasher safe, I’ve been able to wash them in the dishwasher. Some mugs are now 6 months old and they are holding up fine.

Keep in mind that the finer or the thinner the design, is going to be more delicate and therefore more susceptible to coming off. Try to keep your designs on the thicker side – not only is it easier to weed, but it will have a better chance of staying on, despite repeated washings.

Step 7
I’ve also heard that you need to let the mugs rest and set for 3 days so that the vinyl can cure.

Now they are all set for using and gift-giving! Putting vinyl on mugs is not too hard at all. I also included a care label. The recommendation that I have heard is that it is best not to put it in the dishwasher or leave soaking in a sink. Also, it is notrecommended for use in the microwave. That said, I have heard stories of people putting items in the dishwasher and coming out fine.

Likely,after a while, small bits of the vinyl may start to come off. I actually started an experiment of puttingsome vinyl in the dishwasher – after testing it for a few months, I will write about my findings. I’ve also heard stories of people putting mugs in the microwave with no problem. I think the concern there is the fumes or the vinyl cracking? I’m not sure, but that is something I could live without. I made my care label using the Print and Cut feature on the Cricut.

For my teacher gifts, I filled them with tea or a Starbucks gift card. I think they make a really nice, end-of-the-year gift.

I have included the designs for the mugs that I made. Here are the PNGs. Feel free to download for your own personal use – just right-click and select “save as”. I’d love to see what you do with these designs – please tag me #wcoastmom in any photos that you take so that I can see them.

I also made a few mugs for a couple of colleagues and myself. I’ve never really been a “mug person”. I’ve literally drunk out of the same, plain white mug every morning for years, but I think personalizing them by putting vinyl on mugs is so much fun and so nice.

Do you have any other tips for putting vinyl on mugs? I wanted to make a comprehensive post that others, as well as myself, could always refer back to when making mugs. If you think I should include anything else, please comment below.

Here's a quick summary of how to put vinyl on mugs.

Materials

• Mug
• Permanent Adhesive Vinyl

Tools

• Cricut Cutting Machine
• Cricut Weeding Tool
• Cricut Scraper
• Transfer Tape

Instructions

1. Cut out your design on the permanent adhesive vinyl using the Cricut.
2. Weed your design.
3. Apply transfer tape to the design.
4. Apply the design to the mug.
5. Burnish/rub the design with a scraper. Carefully remove the transfer tape.
6. Optional: put the mug in an oven-safe dish and bake at a low temperature (300 degrees) for 10-15 minutes.
7. Let the vinyl cure - leave it for 3 days.

Notes

Technically, vinyl is not dishwasher safe, but I have found with the baking that it sets the vinyl quite well. Be sure to wait those 3 days for the vinyl to cure and really set.

Want to remember how to put vinyl on mugs? Be sure to save this to your favourite Pinterest board.