Cricut Infusible Ink Review (Not Sponsored)

Although I have worked with Cricut in the past, this Cricut Infusible Ink Review is not sponsored (although I was gifted all of the Cricut products used here).  I have really been loving my Cricut Joy, and have enjoyed (pun intended) using it for both fun and practical projects.  Now that I have had some time to use and abuse the things I’ve made, I can say that I am super impressed with the quality as well.  I used the permanent vinyl to label our mooring ball with our name/address and it spent an entire summer getting soaked in Lake Superior and baked in the sun – and when we winterised our mooring and removed the mooring ball this fall, I was surprised to see that the Cricut vinyl lettering still looked 100% new.  It’s not meant to be submerged in water for months, so it really surpassed our expectations!  All I can say is that the quality is amazing.  I also wear my two favorite vinyl lettered sweatshirts a lot – so they’ve seen a lot of trips through the washing machine (although I tend to avoid the dryer for most clothes).  The sweatshirts themselves are getting pilled and faded, but the vinyl lettering has held strong.  This one was a real hit in Instagram stories – especially when I revealed that I wore it during our sailing Mayday mishap.

I tell no lies, lol.  I actually make sure to wear it as often as possible because it’s almost always applicable.  Making my own funny vinyl lettered sweatshirts has been the most fun part of owning my Cricut Joy!  Hubby has really been excited about the chance to design his own t-shirts with vinyl designs too.  Because it’s a fun hobby we do together, I couldn’t wait to try Cricut Infusible Ink when it first came out.  But I also wanted to wait and see how it weathered being washed.  After my months of testing, here’s the short answer: the Infusible Ink holds up amazingly well!  It doesn’t even look or feel like a DIY, it feels like a professionally screen printed tee – you’d never guess we made these!

What is Infusible Ink?

Infusible Ink is an ink that is heat transferred, so that means no peeling, no cracking, no lifting – there’s nothing sitting on the fabric, like with iron-on vinyl.  Instead, the ink becomes one with the material you’re using, creating a seamless project.  Look at this close up of the Infusible Ink project I’m sharing today: the design is literally infused – the product is named so perfectly!  It looks professionally made and the ink moves with the fabric – no cracking or pulling.  (The darker speckles are in the design of this particular Infusible Ink sheet, not a flaw in application or wear).

Here’s a closer look at the Cricut Infusible Ink transfer sheet set I used.  It has a watery design and color palette, which suited the Lake Superior theme we chose for our t-shirts.

Like with other Cricut products, you can design your image/text in Cricut Design space, making use of the numerous graphics/texts/projects available.  Then use a Cricut cutting machine to cut out the design on Cricut Infusible Ink transfer sheets, which are then heat transferred onto the material.

Cricut Infusible Ink Pros & Cons

Pros of Infusible Ink:

• Easy to use, like any Cricut products
• Lots of varieties of colors/patterns
• The Infusible Ink is so vibrant on the Cricut blanks
• Doesn’t flake, peel, crack, etc. – becomes one with the material
• Infusible Ink blanks are surprisingly affordable

Cons of Infusible Ink:

• Must be used with Cricut blanks for best results
• Polyester is the preferred material for clothing/totes
• Really there aren’t any, it’s a struggle to think of two…

This last con was a bummer because I am not a huge fan of polyester and the Cricut Infusible Ink is designed to work on the Cricut blanks, which include t-shirts that are 95% polyester.  Surprisingly, they feel soft and nice, and hubby doesn’t mind them at all.  But I am a textile snob and I tend to only wear natural fibre tops, like cotton and linen.  Although I’ve been wearing my Cricut t-shirt and am very happy with it, I can’t help but wish Infusible Inks were designed to work on natural fibres – that’s just my honest opinion, which I know not everyone will share.  Happily, the Cricut blanks also include things like coasters and tote bags, and hopefully their line of blanks will expand.

Supplies for an Infusible Ink t-shirt:

• Cricut cutting machine (I have the Cricut Joy)
• Cricut EasyPress
• Cricut EasyPress Mat (or I use my stove top because it is flat and can withstand heat)
• Infusible Ink blank t-shirt
• Infusible Ink transfer sheet(s)
• Cricut Design Space
• Cricut Cutting Mat
• Lint roller
• Butcher paper (the Infusible Ink comes with a small sheet as well)

How to Use Infusible Ink:

Like other Cricut products, the how-to is easy!  The heat and time will vary for blanks.  Below is what is recommended for the Cricut t-shirt blanks I used.  Click here for the Cricut heat guide for all Cricut products.

• Pick a Cricut Infusible Ink blank; I chose this “women’s” t-shirt and this “men’s” t-shirt for my first projects
• Choose Infusible Ink transfer sheets (there are pens also – these are the sheets I used)

• Design or choose an image/text in Cricut Design Space and don’t forget to mirror it – here’s the link for my tee’s design and here’s the link for Hubby’s (you can just click and “print,” or rather cut, if you like either of them and want to make my projects and have the exact scale/size/font etc.)
• Place the transfer sheet on a mat (I needed to do this to keep it flat for cutting)
• Let the Cricut cutting machine do the work

• Carefully peel off the excess from your design; gently roll the Infusible Ink sheet a bit to release the excess and pick/peel it away

• Set the t-shirt on a Cricut EasyPress Mat (I use my glass top stove)
• Insert white cardstock (80lb/216 gsm) or 4 layers of butcher paper inside the t-shirt to prevent bleed through (I used cardboard….shhhh)
• Preheat the Cricut EasyPress to 385°F
• Lint roller the t-shirt
• Cover the t-shirt with clean butcher paper larger than the EasyPress heat plate
• Preheat t-shirt with EasyPress for 15 seconds
• Remove butcher paper and position Infusible Ink sheet on t-shirt, design face down

• Cover again with clean butcher paper
• Press on the EasyPress with light pressure, still at 385°F, for 40 seconds

• Slowly lift the EasyPress and remove the butcher paper
• Remove Infusible Ink sheet while warm

• Stop to admire your design, that’s always important with DIY 😉

And that’s it!  As always, the hardest part for us was designing our t-shirts because the options are limitless in Cricut Design Space.  There are so many ready-to-use images and graphics and then you can add your own text too.  I’ve had so much fun going through these designs, I haven’t yet made my own.  The most I’ve done is add my own text and flair.  For example, with my t-shirt (bottom) “design,” the wave graphic already existed and I just added the text myself.  Hubby’s wave design was also ready-to-use, we just had to scale and position it.

For laundering, machine wash cool, inside out.

I am definitely channelling some summery vibes with this flat lay but I can’t help it – you know my favorite season is summer and I just tolerate all of the other endless months.

I am loving using my Cricut Joy – it makes a great gift idea itself, but you can also use it to make one-of-a-kind gifts, like these Infusible Ink t-shirts or my chicken lovers vinyl letter sweatshirt – really the sky is the limit because there are so many Cricut products designed for so many applications!  Custom family shirts!  Coasters commemorating a trip!  A tote bag with an inside joke.  I love that you can use Cricut to make meaningful gifts – and the quality is there, which is something I appreciate.

P.S. Don’t Forget to Pin for Later!