Silhouette Print and Cut with Waterslide

Do you try new things? At some point, you must have!
No one starts something and knows it from the beginning. At some point, you are a beginner at everything.

It’s that way with Silhouette, designing, cutting, new materials, and pretty much life!

At some point in it, you are a beginner and have never used a product before.

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FAILURE OR SUCCESS?

Waterslide paper is new to me.

What do you do when something is new?
Practice and get extras because in my experience, things do not always work the first time!

I was asked if I wanted to test some products and this Koala Waterslide Decal Paper was in the list. So, why not?
Time to try something new!

And guess what? My first ones were a FAIL! A BIG FAT FAIL!
I tried on a plastic water bottle and it just flaked off. Since it was a plastic water bottle, I could not put it in the oven to cure, so I tried using a heat gun.

What happens when you fail at something? You try again and that is exactly what I did.

I grabbed some coffee mugs and tried again.

First, the Silhouette makes it so nice to get the designs a clean cut.
I set up the print and cut for the page and printed some extras too.

And then I let my Silhouette machine do the work.

I love print and cut, for more tutorials on setting up Print and Cut check out this section on the blog – HERE. I rarely have an issue with print and cut and that is because I follow the same steps every single time!

For me, that was the easy part! Now comes the stuff I am new at and need to practice!

For waterslide, you soak the image a bit to get it to release from the backing and then carefully slide it off the backing and on to the object.
This is the part that takes practice, at least for me. If you are too rough, the decal will tear. Also, if the design is round and you are placing on a conical shaped object, it increases the level of complexity a bit too.
And guess what I did? Round decals to go on a slightly conical shape.
Yep! I always choose the more difficult path!

In this case, I refer to the instructions. Over and over again because I want to get it right.

I did record my application process and you can watch that video on my YouTube channel HERE.

After I applied the decals I placed the mugs in the oven at the recommended time and temperature.

The results are….. SUCCESS!

Two of the decals I put on looks good, no rips, tears, or flaking.

But not all were successful – there were a couple FAILURES!

This one failed because I didn’t get it completely smooth. Again, round object on a slightly concave mug. Circular decals are some of the most difficult to work with on a conical shaped surface and you need to make sure it’s either small enough to be easier to work with or that you get it completely smooth before baking.

This failure could be affected by many different factors. I was testing to see if I could reuse a sublimation mug that didn’t turn out.
Factors that could have affected this one are the sublimation coating, the sublimation ink that is already on, and most likely also…. my technique and it wasn’t completely flat with all the air out of it.

The most important part is I learned a lot. And this is just going to take practice.

I have not given up on waterslide and I would encourage you to try it!
Always keep trying new things and testing.
You may not get it perfect the first or even the second time!
And that is OK!

If you are feeling adventurous to try new things, grab some of this Koala Waterslide paper and give it a go!

Waterslides are used often in modeling and in situations where you need some wiggle room in application when applying. With a sticker, you are pretty well committed once you stick the adhesive down, but with a waterslide, you have a little bit more forgiveness to position that decal.

You can also seal a waterslide with several methods after applying. That is beyond my expertise on this day and will be something new for me to learn in the future!

Here is a list of the designs I used in testing with this print and cut project:
– Coffee Doesn’t Ask Silly Questions It Understands by Grace Lynn Designs – Design #395783
– Coffee, Coffee, and more Coffee by Dawn Nicole Designs – Design #195664
– Dead Without Coffee by Sophie Gallo – Design #420243
– Not Without My Coffee by Sophie Gallo – Design #420297
– This Good Mood Sponsored by Coffee by Sophie Gallo – Design #377578

I would love to see what you are creating with your Silhouette software or machines!
Feel free to post on my Facebook group at
Silhouette Secrets with EllyMae.

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