Citristrip Etching with Cricut
Learn how to use Citristrip to etch powder-coated blanks with your Cricut machine.
Equipment
- Scraper
- Heat Gun
- Glass Bowl
- Disposable Brushes
What You Will Need
- 1 container Citristrip Stripping Gel
- 1 roll Cricut Stencil Film
- 1 roll Painter's Tape
- 1 roll Transfer Tape
- 1 pair Protective Gloves
- 1 Wooden Skewer
- 1 Magic Eraser
Instructions
How to Apply Stencil Vinyl to Powder Coated Blanks
- Cut stencils using a Cricut Machine. I prefer to use stencil vinyl
- Reverse weed your material. You want to remove everything that you want to be etched.
- Leave as much area as possible around each stencil when cutting and when you separate them.
Adding Stencil to Blank
- Apply transfer tape to stencil. Place the stencil onto the blank. Use a heat gun or blow dryer and burnish the stencil onto the blank.
- Remove the transfer tape.
- Apply painter's tape to protect the surface from Citristrip.
Adding Citristrip to Blank
- Apply a thick layer of Citristrip over the top of the stencil making sure the entire surface is covered completely.
- You need to watch the Citristrip and make sure the stencil stays covered completely as the paint stripper will drip. Keep checking the paint after 30 minutes to see if the paint is lifting easily.
Removing Citristrip and Paint
- Test the paint regularly and when it removes easily wipe off all the Citristrip. Using a dry cloth remove as much of the paint as possible. If needed use any of the tools above to get the edges as clean as possible. Leave the stencil on as long as possible when removing the paint.
Removing Stubborn Paint
- I love to use the dull end of the wooden skewer and just sort of burnish that paint off using a Magic Eraser every now and again to kind of wipe it away.
- Another problem I ran into was part of the paint lifting and other areas not stripping. This happened because I did not check the paint in all areas of the design. Be sure all paint is removing easily before removing the Citristrip.