The Easiest Way to Weed Vinyl

Weeding vinyl 4 different ways

For the longest time I was on the hunt for the easiest way to weed vinyl. During all my searching and trial and error I discovered that there was not just one way to weed vinyl. In fact, the easiest way to weed vinyl actually consisted of 4 different methods. You just have to know when to use what method.

Today I’m going to go over each of those methods with you and show you the different tools I used to weed vinyl each way. I’ve also included a video at the end to show you how all of it works so let’s get started.

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Weeding off the mat

One of the most efficient and easiest ways to weed vinyl is directly off the cutting mat. I have no idea why this didn’t occur to me sooner but once I learned about it I used it for ALL my large weeding needs. When I have a bulk order for the same design this is my go-to method. You will want to make sure you’ve got a clean sticky mat for this method to work. You simply leave your vinyl on the mat after cutting it and weed it directly off the mat. For this method I use the hook weeder which you can get with this Cricut Tool Set.

Weeding using the Cricut Brightpad

Using the Cricut Brightpad is by far the easiest way to weed vinyl that’s either super sticky or hard to see like glitter vinyls or holographic vinyl. I used to shy away from the pretty glitter and patterned vinyl because I always ripped my design when I was weeding it. Those vinyls are gorgeous but it is impossible to see the cut lines. When I got my Cricut Brightpad I was able to use all those fun pretty vinyls again because the Brightpad lit up the cut lines. I wasn’t tearing my vinyl anymore. It’s also SUPER helpful if you’re using a skinny script font. You’ll be able to see the cut lines perfectly and not tear into them when you’re weeding.

My Brightpad is seriously a life saver. It is a little pricey but I’m able to make a wider verity of products with all the fancy vinyl I couldn’t use before all because I couldn’t see the cut lines. I highly recommend investing in a Cricut Brightpad!

Reverse Weeding

Reverse weeding is when you weed off the transfer tape rather than weeding off the paper backing of the vinyl. This method is best when you have a lot of small parts in your design that you need to stay in place. Weeding off the transfer tape helps the little parts to stay in place because they’re stuck to the transfer tape rather than sliding around the vinyl’s paper backing. For this method you’d want to place the transfer tape over your entire design and then pull the paper backing off the vinyl. Once you have the backing off you will weed your design off the transfer tape.

You’ll notice in the video that I used my hook weeder, hook tweezers and puncture tool for this project. You can get all of these tools in this Cricut Tool Set. I seriously could not go a day without using all three of these tools and I used them for all kinds of different things.

Standard Weeding

Standard weeding is just simply that. Cut your design, remove it from the mat and weed out your excess vinyl. There are some little tricks and tips to make it easier though. First of all, go slow! Slowly peel your excess vinyl making sure you’re not ripping your design or pulling up any parts of the design you need to keep on the backing like little dots or skinny letters. Second, cut your excess vinyl frequently as you go. Not cutting your excess vinyl will only result in it sticking to parts of the design you haven’t weeded yet and then you’ll ruin your design. Third, use all the different tools Cricut offers to get little parts pulled out, pushed back in or unstuck. This Cricut Tool Set has everything you’ll need. Check out the video below to see all the different vinyl weeding methods.