Material - vinyl

Good evening. Has anyone used vinyl on your Glowforge?

Several people. Unfortunately cutting even a small amount can completely destroy the machine through a chemical reaction.

Don’t do it.

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What she said! They have used vinyl, and regretted it almost instantly!

See video here:

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Vinyl in a laser creates an acid that will quickly destroy the machine.

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Oh, ok. Thank you so much for your response.

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Depending on what you are trying to do, there may be other materials that will work. For instance, there is laser-safe heat-transfer “vinyl” for garment applications and, polyester stock for making stickers and other things. If you search the forums, you can find information on all of those things.

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Thank you all so very much. I just bought a Silhouette but I’m fairly new to crafting so don’t really know the dos and don’ts. I’ve had my Glowforge for a little less than a year.

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Everything everyone has mentioned here is great, but not a lot of exact details.

The key term that people are skipping with you is Polyvinyl Chloride PVC. Every warning you’re getting is about that, and they’re right, never laser PVC, not even once.

Lots of people use the terms interchangeably, but that’s not necessarily true. Like @evermorian says, “vinyl” is kind of like “kleenex”, in that people use it broadly when technically it means one thing.

So. When evaluating “vinyl”, you need to find out exactly what it’s made of and then find out if that is laser safe. PVC definitely isn’t, searching the forum like evermorian suggests will help you out if you come across a plastic you’re not familiar with.

You might find #4 (and others) interesting:

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I reached out to Siser and they sent the attached brochure. It’s their 2021 catalog and includes a “laser safe” icon next to the items that are. Looks to be pretty much their heat transfer line–I’m waiting for an answer from them on any adhesive/sticker vinyls that are.

Siser 2021 brochure.pdf (2.7 MB)

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