Best Transfer Tape for Oracal Vinyl 651 and 631 (Review and Tips)

Silhouette crafters are always looking for the best transfer tape for their vinyl projects. There are many different brands and types of transfer paper and transfer tape on the market - but they're not all created equal.

Some are more tacky than others making it difficult to either pick up or release the vinyl. Others leave a sticky residue behind on the vinyl when the tape is peeled away. Some have grid lines, some are hard to see through...but I think I've finally found the best transfer tape for use with Oracal Vinyl....it's Oracal transfer tape!  (I even have a coupon for you to try it out...so read on!)

The thing that intrigued me the most about about Oracal Clear Transfer tape is it's made by the same manufacturer that makes Oracal adhesive vinyl so you've got to think it's has the perfect amount of stick to pick up 651 and 631 and then release it on the surface.

Swing Design is now exclusively selling the tape in sheets and various size roll lengths...they sent me a few sheets to try out with both 651 and 631.

The first thing I noticed about the Oracal transfer tape is, unlike most transfer tapes, it has a backing. The backing is gridded. The grid lines are helpful as guidelines when cutting down pieces of tape to fit on your vinyl decals.  I placed the larger sheet (backing still on) over my 651 vinyl decal and made a few snips before cutting down to size.

You'll need to peel away the paper-ish, wax-ish backing to expose the 100% clear (not opaque or cloudy in any way) transfer tape.  Save the backing piece though because you can definitely re-use the piece of transfer tape.

With your vinyl design weeded and ready to be transferred (I work on the Silhouette cutting mat to keep my vinyl from moving around), place the piece of transfer tape down and use the Silhouette scraper to burnish it it.

From one of the corners, peel the transfer tape back bringing the vinyl decal with it. 

This design lifted with no assistance or encouragement from me! Question is...will it release the vinyl as easily?

To demo, I placed the vinyl decal on a piece of card stock.

Again I burnished it with the Silhouette scraper...and again I peeled the transfer tape away starting at the corner.

As you can see the vinyl decal stayed on the surface while the transfer tape removed easily!

Remove the piece of Oracal transfer tape completely and save the piece of transfer tape for re-use by placing it back on the backing.

So we know the Oracal Transfer Tape works well with Oracal 651 vinyl.  What about Oracal 631 vinyl which doesn't have as strong of an adhesive? The key is the adhesive on the back of the vinyl has to be stronger than the transfer tape so it releases...yet the transfer tape has to be strong enough to lift the vinyl from its backing.

I cut a bicycle with some really thin areas in the spokes on Oracal 631 as a test.  The Oracal transfer tape performed perfectly!

I'm really impressed with the Oracal transfer tape and I highly recommend it! The 12" Oracal transfer tape is available in 12"x12" sheets and rolls of 12"x10', 12"x25' 12"x50' and 12"x300'.

And just for Silhouette School readers - if you put any of these in your cart on Amazon and you can get 10% off with coupon code UFJYI6MN (valid until 2/4/17 at 11:59pm PST). Just enter the code at checkout.

Note: This post may contain affiliate links. By clicking on them and purchasing products through my links, I receive a small commission. That's what helps fund Silhouette School so I can keep buying new Silhouette-related products to show you how to get the most out of your machine!

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