Choosing Your Transfer Paper

The day that my Cricut was delivered, I was so eager to try it out. I had spent hours on the “small business” side of TikTok and saved a bunch of videos that had various tips and tricks.

I am all about a bargain.

In one of the videos that I watched, a woman talked about using the clear shelf-liner, Magic Cover, from Dollar Tree as transfer tape instead of paying for the Cricut brand. I was so excited at the idea of paying $1.25CAD for a roll of transfer tape instead of the $9.99CAD that Cricut charges.

I did my first test cut of vinyl which was just a basic sunflower image. I weeded it out and got it all ready for my Dollar Tree transfer tape. I laid it across my weeded vinyl and when I tried to lift the transfer tape up, it did not lift the vinyl and it left a super sticky residue. I tried to wipe the residue off, but I did not want to use anything too harsh (ie. alcohol) because I didn’t want to risk damaging the vinyl.

Honestly, using this as a transfer tape is a do not recommend from me.

The amount of time that I spent using my weeding tool to peel the vinyl to get it to stick to the transfer tape and then to have it just be covered with residue was so crappy!

BUT, all bargain hope was not lost…

I am a big Michael’s shopper because of their coupons. Typically, they have coupons available online or through their app that are up to 30% off one regular priced item, with some exclusions. Within those exclusions, OF COURSE, is anything Cricut or Silhouette (another type of cutting machine) branded. Luckily for us, those two companies are not the only people who sell transfer tape and vinyl products. At Michael’s (CA), they sell a brand called Oracal. The 30% coupon DOES apply on the Oracal branded products!! YAY!

Oracal sells a roll of transfer tape that is 12″ x 5ft. that is $11.99 regular price. With the 30% off coupon, I paid $8.40 + HST. Considering that it is 5ft long, I imagine it will last me a while.

I instantly could tell the difference between the Dollar Tree (Magic Cover) and the Oracal. It was a night and day difference. The Oracal picked up my vinyl so easily and didn’t leave any residue on my adhesive vinyl.

The Oracal Transfer Tape (Oracal 651- MT80P Tape) is a recommend from me. Not only can you save money on it with the coupon, but it has worked extremely well for my tumblers and ornaments.

I have attached comparison pictures of projects using the Dollar Tree transfer tape versus the Oracal.

For the Michaels coupons click here. You will be asked to enter your postal code to get the coupon for your local store.

Happy Crafting!