Cricut MugPress: Common Mistakes & Goofs

I’ve been using the Cricut Mug Press for several months and have had some fun successes but have also learned a lot from my mistakes. Creating mugs with infusible ink transfer paper and the Mug Press is not hard, but there are some common mistakes that many people make while learning. Today, I’m not showing you how to use your Mug Press, but instead, I’m going to show you some of my mistakes so you can learn and avoid some of these things.

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Cricut MugPress: Common Mistakes & Goofs

Failure to Weed the Design Completely

When you are weeding your design, take your time and be thorough. If you get in a hurry and miss a piece, you may end up with a word that just doesn’t make sense. This mug should have said “Lord, Help me be Kind” but instead I ended up with “Lord, Help me be Yind“. The mug is beautiful but it is a mistake that I can’t fix.

Rushing the cooling process

The cups will come out of the Mug Press extremely hot and should be allowed to rest on a heat-safe surface before removing the transfer paper. It is tempting to rush the cooling process but for the safest results, just wait and then remove the paper and tape when it has completely cooled. Otherwise, you will end up with some pretty painful fingers.

Crooked Designs

Once you have mastered the use of one color infusible ink, you may feel ready to try to mix patterns. This is a fun way to create more custom designs. The tough part is getting the paper taped to the cups in a straight line. I don’t have a great tip for this yet, as I am still trying to get it right. If you know how to ensure that all the patterns get taped in a straight line, please let me know.

If you look at this Choose JOY mug I made, you will notice that the blue line is crooked. It is ok, but it would have looked better if the line had been straight.

Mirror not Turned on

When using infusible ink transfer paper, you must use the mirror function when printing. This is a common mistake and has ruined many designs. I have done this several times but don’t have a picture to show you. Just trust me on this one, remember to click ‘mirror on’ so you don’t waste your beautiful infusible ink paper.

Spelling Errors

There’s nothing worse than creating a beautiful mug only to find that you misspelled someone’s name. Check and recheck your spelling before you hit print.

Not using enough tape

It is important to use heat-safe tape when securing your design to the mug. If there is too much space between the Mug Press and the mug, the infusible ink transfer paper won’t fully be transferred to the mug. Look around the bottom of this mug. It still looks ok and is usable, but if you look closely you will see that the red is not as intense around the bottom of the cup on the left. That is a sure sign that I didn’t tape the edges carefully.

Using the Wrong Cut Setting

Depending on which Cricut machine you have, remember to choose the custom infusible ink transfer paper option before printing. I’ve had several cutting mistakes that have required me to recut and start over.

Project Upside Down

There’s nothing quite as frustrating as having a project look absolutely gorgeous until you realize that you taped the infusible ink design on the mug upside down. I made one of my favorite mugs ever and then realized that I had baked the design upside down. It’s not good for anything now except a paperweight (but it sure is pretty).

Ideas for Mistake Mugs

Making mugs is an addictive hobby but don’t get discouraged if you make some of these common mistakes. Just recycle the goofed mugs and use them as pencil cups, flower pots, or even a conversation piece. I haven’t found any way to remove or repair the mistakes and have come to realize that these mistakes are inevitable. So embrace the learning curve and create more mugs.

Have you made any mistakes using your Mug Press? I’d love to hear your experiences so we can all learn together.

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