Most people use sublimation to personalize and make car air fresheners. However, I wanted to show you there are other ways you can decorate your felt blanks in case you don’t have sublimation equipment.
Last time I showed you how to decorate felt blanks with fabric paint, in addition to or without sublimation. This is the second post in my series of how to decorate your 100% polyester felt blanks from Candyland Studio using Avery Inkjet Iron-on Transfer Paper. (Update – have you ever wondered if you could dye polyester felt blanks? See how it went for me.)
What You Will Need
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- Felt Blanks – I make an assortment of fun shapes, and you can even request something new!
- Iron On Transfer Paper – I used Avery Transfer Paper for Light Fabrics
- Household Iron, Heat Press, or Easy Press
- Hard Surface
- Cutting machine or Scissors
- Parchment Paper (optional) – I use this as blow out paper when sublimating, and with craft projects!
- Wooden Beads (optional)
- Tassels (optional)
- Acrylic or Fabric Paints (optional)
- Assorted paint brushes (optional)
- Elastic Cord (optional – this is included with your felt blanks from Candyland Studio)
- Packaging Bags (optional)
- Transfer Pipettes (optional)
- Fragrances (optional) – You can use your favorite essential oils (I love Plant Therapy oils) or fragrances used for candle & soap making
How to Decorate Felt Air Freshener Blanks with Inkjet Iron-On Transfer Paper
First you’ll want to do your design layouts in whatever software you use. (I use Corel Draw.) Load the Iron On Transfer Paper in your inkjet printer.
IMPORTANT!! Be sure to mirror your image before you print!
If you have a cutting machine you can use that, or, if not you can cut by hand with scissors. I wanted to experiment a bit, so I printed a full bleed design, a design with white space, and a couple clip art type pieces.
I place the iron on transfers face down on the felt while I let my iron heat up. You might notice my gnome design was a bit too large as I didn’t account for the holes, but since I was just practicing I tilted it to fit.
You can iron directly onto the transfers, but I often use parchment paper for extra protection.
According to the directions you should press left to right, top to bottom for about 45 seconds. Then, set the piece aside to cool for a couple minutes. Once cooled carefully peel the transfer away from the felt.
Tips & Tricks
I noticed the edges turned brown due to the heat from the iron so I turned the heat down from high to low. I fixed this later by smudging some pink paint around the edges with a paintbrush.
You might also notice the “white space” and edge of the transfer are visible. There’s really no way to avoid this unless you do a full bleed design, or cut very close to the design.
You can see how each type of design turned out. The only one that bothered me is the “Soul of a Witch” design. Next time if I wanted to use this design I would trim the transfer as close to the design as possible.
I was very pleased with how easy it was to peel the transfer from the full bleed design…look at those night edges! It almost looks like it was sublimated.
I bought some cute and colorful tassels and painted wooden beads to add to the bottom of my felt blanks. You can buy blanks that have double holes, or, you can use a sharp tool to poke a little hole.
This was a really fun experiment. I would definitely recommend using Avery Iron On Transfer Paper to decorate your felt air freshener blanks if you do not have sublimation equipment.
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Hi Hannah! I’m not sure, I’ve never tried tea staining anything, but if you can tea stain polyester I think there’s a good chance. When I get some time to experiment I will try and let you know!