How To Citrustrip Your Tumbler In Five Easy Steps

I have started working outside of the home in the mornings. I’m off work by 9:30 though, so I still get to spend most of my day at home with Sawyer. I am sad though, my work bestie just left us. She is going to school to be a teacher, and she can’t student teach and work with us. The hours don’t line up and honestly, she doesn’t want to and I can’t say I blame her. I would most definitely not be waking up at 3 AM if it weren’t for me wanting to be home all day with my kid.

So since my friend is moving on to bigger and better things, I decided to make her a going away present. I bought a Cricut around Christmas and to say I am obsessed would be an understatement! You want a shirt? I can cricut that. You want a sign? Consider it Cricuted. My favorite new thing to Cricut though has been cups! I am obsessed with the cups. I actually have an unhealthy obsession with cups in general, but now I get to make them look however I want! I think this cup I’ve done is my favorite yet. It turned out so perfect and the SVG I found for the stencil is so cute! I am attaching links to all the items I used in this project, and if you are interested you can click here to learn how I made the card that I gave her. So without further ado here is my tutorial.

You need to start by printing out the stencil for this project I used an SVG from Etsy. If you would like to purchase the SVG you can find it here. I have a tutorial on how to add purchased SVGs to your Cricut design space and how to make your stencil here.

Once you get the stencil, you need to apply it to your cup of choice. You should lay it on your cup and then measure it before you press it down. I used a tape measure and just checked that both sides were the same distance from the top. I like my designs closer to the top but if you want it in the middle you can measure the top and the bottom to make sure it’s even that way also. Just make sure not to press it down until you know it’s where you want it.

After you get the stencil on the way you want, press it down and try to get rid of all the air bubbles. You can use the scraper tool for the Cricut if you like, but I usually just use my fingers. Once it’s pressed down it’s time for taping. I tape the entire cup, I don’t know if you have to, but I don’t want my Citrustrip to get on any other part by mistake. Once you tape up as much as you see fit, let it sit for at least 24 hours.

Before you apply the Citrustrip double check to make sure that the vinyl has no air bubbles that could cause the Citrustrip to leak into the covered parts of the cup. You can now pour some of the Citrustrip onto a paper plate or I just use a paper towel. I put a generous amount on. Start with a small amount of Citrustrip on a paint brush and kind of blop it on. Be careful not to push it into the edges, it could cause leaking and your lines won’t be as crisp. It should look like the first picture. Then you can put on more, a lot more! It should be dripping by the time you are done with it. If you do not put enough on, it will still work… kinda. It’s a pain. You have to do a lot of work with your weeder and it’s terrible it should mostly come off with your washcloth and ideally you will just be doing detail work with your weeding tool. Let it sit for an hour.

To remove the Citrustrip you will want to wipe off as much of it as possible with a paper towel so you’re not putting a bunch down the sink. Before you do that though make sure to test the gel with your weeding tool. Take your weeding tool and if the color is coming off easily so that you can see the stainless steel it’s ready. Test a couple of spots before you move on. Once you use the paper towel to remove most of the gel, run the cup under water and scrub with a washcloth. It should come off mostly this way. It’s okay to scrub fairly hard.

The Details! This is what it should look like when you get done scrubbing it with the washcloth. The goal is to basically just go around the edges, you should be able to feel the edge with your weeding tool. Work on the edges until you have nice crisp lines.

Voila! It’s as easy as that, I have used four different tumblers from Amazon and I have done all of them this way and they have all turned out the same. It’s my current favorite craft to do with my Cricut and I love how they turn out. If you have any questions or would be interested in buying one from me for your kids’ teachers send me a message.