When making a vinyl craft, you don’t want to hear one word; “oops!” But sometimes, it happens.
Do not despair if this has happened to you, and you now need to remove the vinyl from a hat.
Removing heat transfer vinyl from your hat will take patience and a few more ingredients.
Read on to find out.
How to deal with HTV mistakes
If you realize that you have made a mistake with your material, it is best to deal with it as fast as possible.
Vinyl sets more the longer it stays. Especially if you’re working with layers of htv.
It may be easier to remove when it is still hot.
Even if it has already cooled down, don’t fret.
Reheat the pattern directly with your iron.
Once it has warmed up, try picking at it from the corners and peeling it off.
If it comes out, hurray!
If it stays put – as HTV is meant to do – try again with the help of the following essentials.
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What to use to remove vinyl
A hot iron
Peeling it off may sometimes prove a little more difficult than you imagined.
Get a hot iron if the vinyl won’t come off with a little tug.
Place the hot iron directly above the vinyl until it crumbles a little.
Then immediately use a pair of tweezers or a scraper to peel it off.
The iron might be too big for your hat.
An alternative to using a hot iron is to use a Cricut hat press.
Since you’re working on small surfaces with a hat, the hat press is great for getting around curved surfaces and tight spaces.
It also has a heat app for your phone. The heat app lets you send precise settings from your phone to the pressing machine. The 3 heat settings means that you can work with a variety of materials.
The hat heat press bundle set comes with everything you need to fix any vinyl mistake on hats.
- Hat press
- heat resistant tape
- weeding kit
- hat pressing form
- a variety pack of vinyl rolls
Scissors
A pair of scissors will come in handy when you need to scrape off the vinyl from your hat.
It will come out in bits and pieces, but eventually, you’ll get it all.
Use a Solvent
Goo Gone is an excellent solvent for removing the adhesive on vinyl.
To use it, rub enough on both sides of the fabric and let it soak for a few seconds or even a minute.
Once the goo has soaked the solvent, pick the vinyl from the corners.
If it dries up, spray more and try again.
You can also use Goo Gone and heat at the same time.
It may make the peeling easier, and your ‘mistake’ will be peeling off like butter.
Good old petroleum jelly
It’s probably one of the common things at home, a tub of petroleum jelly.
While it’s excellent for hands and the body, it’s also great at removing HTV.
Rub some petroleum jelly on the adhesive side, and then pat some detergent.
Rub them together until the adhesive starts to form tiny crumbs.
Once this happens, run hot water on the fabric.
Be sure to check the recommended water temps to avoid ruining the hat.
Repeat this process if you need to until all the vinyl is gone.
Final word
It would be wonderful to get it right the first time, but it’s okay even if you don’t.
Once your vinyl is off the hat, turn it inside out and give it a gentle wash.
This is especially important if you use harsh chemicals.
You may not be able to turn it inside out, like in the case of a baseball cap.
The best way to wash a cap is to use a ball cap cleaner frame. Here’s what you do.
- Open the holder
- Place the cap in it and close it carefully
- Place the holder with the cap in it, in the top rack of the dishwasher
- Remove the cap and let it air dry
Pro Tip: You can also wash a cap in the washing machine. Make sure it’s not a front loading machine.
After it dries, try your design again, carefully this time.
In some cases, the part that had vinyl may look slightly different.
