How to
apply a laser cut latex overlay
5-30 minutes: Depending on size and complexity
of overlay.
Get your overlay from the cut out template we send you,
to a finished, glued on work of art!
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When you order a laser cut overlay from www.sheetlatex.com
it will arrive with low tack plastic stuck to the FRONT of the latex
(shiny side), and the laser will have cut your design through the
latex from the back and cut very slightly into the plastic, but
left the plastic mostly uncut. You will also notice that your overlay
appears to be in mirror image Left to Right. This is because you
are going to apply glue to the back, and then flip your logo over
onto your project piece.
Instructions are under each set of photos below
- Follow this step by step and you'll get a beautiful latex overlay
every time.
1) Your overlay will arrive like this. Dull side out, mirrored and
with excess trim. Backed with low-tack plastic for alignment and
ease of application. We will show a couple of projects at once.
One with text and one that's just artwork.
 
2) You will need to gently peel away the extra material. It sometimes
helps to hold the actual overlay parts down onto the plastic as
you peel away the excess to make sure that the parts stay in place
and aligned.
 
3) Depending on your design, the extra material may be useful to
you as a photo-negative of your design. (This photo-negative scull
is pretty cool!) We do our very best to make sure your design is
cut all the way through at all points of the cut, but you may find
very small uncut threads holding the excess to your piece. These
can be cut with scissors, nail clippers, or a rotary cutter as you
find them.
 
4) Once your outer excess material is removed, you can remove any
internal cut-outs (the parts inside of A's and O's or knock-outs
like this scull's nose hole) It may help to use an exacto-knife
or tweezers to help remove very-small excess bits from your overlay,
especially if you have short fingernails.
 
5) Now you should have just the part of your overlay that you want
to glue to your project, still attached to it's backing plastic.
Set aside the extra parts (FAQ on
rescuing your extra parts for a Photo-Negative second overlay is
here!)
 
6) Time to clean your parts before you stick them together. We use
Bestine Rubber Cement
Thinner to clean our latex before applying glue, and to thin
our glue for better spreadability.
 
7) Make sure your project piece is nice and clean of dust, powder,
or other contaminants before applying glue... give it a good pass
with a thinner soaked rag square.
 NOTE:
Latex tends to curl up when cleaned with the thinner or when glue
is applied to it's surface. This is because the thinner causes the
latex to expand slightly where the thinner has been applied This
curling will go away as the thinner dries and the latex will go
back to flat. The most important part of working with latex is patience!
Let your latex sit for at least 3 minutes from cleaning to adding
glue, and at least 3 more minutes after adding glue (up to as long
as 15 minutes) before sticking parts together. This will help avoid
problems related to the curling/rolling of the latex.
Curling is generally more problematic with small parts,
or with thinner latex. You will note that the plastic backing on
our laser cut overlays help to minimize the amount of curling of
the actual overlay you will be working with. This is very helpful
for faster application of overlays.
 
8) Clean up your overlay with thinner in preparation for glue. There
should be much less curl on the overlay thanks to the plastic backing.
Note: After cleaning
you may make any marks you need to locate your overlay if you require
precise alignment with the rest of your project. Sometimes a center
mark is all that is needed, sometimes you will want to make several
marks to align to. Other projects will only require alignment by
eye.
 
9) Apply a thin coat of Rubber
cement to the project piece that you will be sticking your overlay
on to. Your latex will again curl up to some degree. This is usually
not as pronounced on applying glue as when cleaning with just thinner.
Let your glue dry to tacky (~3 minutes to 10 minutes) before applying
your overlay. The glued area needs to be slightly larger than your
overlay to make sure that all edges have a glued surface to bond
to. You can clean up extra glue later, so err on the side of being
a bit larger than needed.
 
10) Apply a thin coat of glue to your overlay. This
is why we cut our overlays in mirror image. They are ready to take
glue on their exposed side, then you flip them over to stick onto
your project right side up. This also protects the shiny side of
the latex throughout the cutting and gluing process. Don't worry
about getting some glue on the plastic.
 
11) Everything is glued and ready to stick down. WAIT! You might
want to let your glue dry to tacky before you move on to the next
step. This will also help your latex to lie more flat before you
apply your overlay. If you stick your overlay onto curved/curled
latex it will tend to retain the shape that it was in when it was
applied. This can be useful if an overlay is intended for a curved
surface (on a sleeve for example) where it will be curved in it's
final use, but can be a pain when you want the overlay to lie flat.
Patience is a virtue in latex crafting!
 
12) Very VERY gently, lie your overlay onto the
project. Make sure to line it up as perfectly as you can to how
you want it oriented and located. It is best to stick your overlay
down in it's final home on the first try. If you do set it in the
wrong place, you can simply peel it back up (NOTE: You can only
peel the overlay back off of your work piece if you have been very
VERY gentle about laying it down... otherwise it may stick to your
work more strongly than it is stuck to the plastic and will remain
stuck)
 
13) If you are happy with your overlay placement, you can gently
press down on your overlay with your finger. Work from one side
to the other, or from the center outwards, to help move any small
air bubbles out from under the overlay as you stick it down. Once
you have done this, your overlay will be VERY hard to remove without
destroying the overlay in the process.
 
14) Give your overlay a good solid roll to stick it down solidly
to your project. This also helps to get any last air bubbles out
from under the edges of the overlay. Remaining air pockets can be
punctured with a needle from one side to release trapped air (but
are best avoided in the first place... practice makes perfect)
 
15) Starting from one edge, gently peel away the plastic backing.
You will want to be careful at sharp edges (like the points on the
laser star, and the tips of the saw blade/teeth in these overlays)
to not peel the overlay away from the work surface. The overlay's
glue will gain strength over the next 24 hours, so it's best to
be gentle with it at first and make sure that all edges are stuck
down securely. If a small area peels away from the work piece, you
can do a little spot clean and add glue again to stick it back down.
 
16) With the plastic removed you are almost done with your overlay.
Just some clean-up to go. NOTE: I have also applied the photo-negative
of the scull overlay. For more info
on using your off cuts as overlays click here.
 
17) Back with more thinner to clean up the excess glue on your work
piece. Make sure to clean along seams instead of across seams to
help to not peel your overlay off of your work. Carefully clean
glue out of negative spaces in your overlay with small circular
motions. Remember to clean glue out of your rag frequently by dipping
in fresh thinner and squeezing out the glue you have picked up from
your overlay.
 
18) As usual, the thinner will cause the overlay to curl up on you
for a short time. Let your work sit for a few minutes for the thinner
to evaporate and your work will un-curl/flatten.
19) 5-minutes later we have a smooth, clean, flat overlay ready
to go! Just one last step...
20) Once your project is nice and dry, brush or sprinkle a little
bit of Talc powder on to help protect the surface and stop the latex
from sticking to itself during the rest of your work with it.
That's it! Your overlay is done, and when cleaned
of powder and shined up, it will look spectacular on your next project!
The sky is the limit for laser cut overlays... so have fun, and
let us know how we can help you make your next masterpiece!
Questions? Comments? Concerns?
Email us: info@laserlatex.com
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