How to Iron Vinyl

Learning how to iron vinyl can be helpful before tackling a sewing project that requires it or a fabric like it, such as oilcloth. Aurora Sisneros shows you how to iron vinyl in both flat pieces as well as on finished projects. She even shares a tip on how to get wrinkles out of vinyl without having to use an iron at all.

Protecting Vinyl

You can buy a material known specifically as a press cloth, or a press cloth can simply be a piece of fabric that you place between the item you are pressing and your iron. A press cloth can be a scrap of fabric or even a towel, as long as you know it’s clean. The cloth helps protect the fabric being pressed from melting. If you start pressing vinyl or a similar fabric with a thicker press cloth, like a fleece or flannel, and you aren’t getting results, try switching press cloths before changing the heat on your iron. Switch to a cotton press cloth and try again. If you still aren’t seeing results, you can turn up the heat on your iron a small amount. It is always important to let the iron heat up before pressing. This way you will know from the start whether the iron is too hot and can avoid surprises like the iron heating up halfway through pressing and melting the fabric.

Sewing Vinyl

Sewing vinyl, like sewing with other fabrics, can require seams to be pressed in a certain direction. While this may be easy to do on a flat piece of vinyl, it can be tricky as a project comes together in a more complicated shape. Using Aurora’s tip on how to iron vinyl by warming your pressing mat could work on seams as well as just wrinkles that you may have in your vinyl.