Two-way vinyl, which only stretches from left to right but is thicker and far more durable than 4-way vinyl. Four-way vinyl, which stretches both vertically and horizontally but is far thinner than 2-way vinyl, making it more susceptible to tears.
If you’re stretching out vinyl clothing, see if you can unzip the garment and lay it out flat. If you can’t, simply place it on the table as is.
You can find heat guns at most home improvement stores. Check your heat gun’s instruction manual for information on how to change its temperature setting. If you don’t have a heat gun, you can use a standard hair dryer turned to its hottest setting instead.
Tilt the Z after every pass to heat the fabric evenly. For the best results, heat your fabric in 1 sq ft (930 cm2) increments. If a part of your vinyl isn’t heating up as quickly as the surrounding fabric, move the gun close to, but not touching, it for about half a second.
You can use a surface thermometer to find the temperature of your vinyl fabric.
If you’d like, you can place your vinyl over the object in question before heating it up.
If necessary, hold the other side of the vinyl down with a bar clamp or ask a friend to keep it in place.
If you’re stretching the vinyl over a specific object, make sure to press out any creases or air bubbles that form.
Do not press your heat gun to the vinyl fabric. If you do, you may damage the vinyl itself as well as the material underneath.
Only use this technique on pieces of fabric where the edges won’t be visible, such as vinyl upholstery. If you’re pulling the vinyl around an object with curves, you may need to cut the fabric to help it better fit the object’s shape.
Place staples between 1 and 2 in (2. 5 and 5. 1 cm) apart around the entire perimeter of the object. When finished, you should have a long line of evenly spaced staples. If necessary, ask a friend to hold the fabric down or use a bar clamp to keep it in place while you staple it.
