All about the new Cricut EasyPress 2 - A Review and Comparrison

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Have you ever completed a DIY iron-on project? Iron-on is one of my favorite materials to work with. It’s a lot more versatile than you might think, too! While I do love to add a great iron-on image to clothing and fabric, did you know you can also use the iron-on material on other surfaces like wood, and canvas? Wood is my favorite surface to add heat transfer vinyl onto. You apply HTV to wood surfaces the same way you would to fabric, with an iron, or press. My very favorite tool to apply it with though is my EasyPress! I don’t very often use my blog to endorse products unless I really love them. So when Cricut asked their bloggers to try out the new EasyPress and talk about it, I was eager to help out! It was a game changer in my iron-on experience.

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I’ve looked into purchasing a heat press before. They looked big, bulky, and expensive. So for years, I just stuck to using my regular old iron.

That worked mostly ok. It took a while to complete larger designs, and the surface of the iron was hard to use consistently over the design. I’d find bubbles in my HTV designs or portions of the design that wasn’t pressed on quite good enough and would peel. It was frustrating half the time, rather than fun.

When Cricut released the first model of the EasyPress, I received one to try and it was aaaamazing! They’ve just released the EasyPress 2 now, and the upgrades are impressive, and even though I didn’t think they could improve on much, they managed to make the second model even better. Plus, now it comes in three sizes!

I have the 10×12 size, and the adorable little 6×7 size. I love that I can make big projects easily like this tablecloth I did.

Or smaller projects. I especially love that the smaller size EasyPress 2 fits inside wooden trays! (Wood Tray from Walnut Hollow)

I made this tray for my Holiday decor with my little press. My iron fit inside wood trays too, but the results were never as good. The temperature just wasn’t consistent enough!

The first EasyPress model heats up pretty fast. I timed it at reaching 340° F in 2 minutes and 41 seconds.

But the EasyPress 2 was just slightly faster reaching 340° in just 2 minutes and 34 seconds! The smaller one heats up just a little bit faster than that even.

Both are promised to heat in under 3 minutes, and they keep that promise. I love that the new EasyPress gets a little bit hotter too, at a maximum temperature of 400° F that’s pretty hot! They have a handy guide you can plug your info into and it will tell you what settings you need. Bookmark this page for sure!

Even though the surface area in the wood tray was restricted by the tray edges, the little press maneuvered just fine inside and attached both the Everyday Lite Iron-On and the Glitter Iron-On to the wood surface just fine. (You can get the design I used in Design Space here)

Some of the other features I love about the new EasyPress 2:

I love the safety bases they come with, that protect both your EasyPress and the surface they are sitting on.

The thick hot plate heats uniformly so I don’t have to slide it around over my image while I’m pressing it. Just press, hold, and lift! Super easy for anyone! Plus, I did not find even the big size EasyPress to be too heavy. The weight is very reasonable.

The handle across the top is well placed, and the buttons are very easy to navigate.

Overall I was very impressed by the awesome iron-on capabilities of the new EasyPress 2 in both of the sizes that I tried! If you love to use iron-on HTV material, I would highly recommend any of the three sizes this amazing machine comes in! Have you tried using Iron-On Vinyl yet? What is your favorite surface to apply it to?

You can Purchase an EasyPress 2 and these essentials at your local craft store, or by clicking one of these links below:

Here are the instructions to add an Iron-On Design to a wood tray:

Step one:

Sand, Stain or Paint your wood tray. I stained my tray. Sometimes stain can make the iron-on not adhere as well, but in this case, it worked ok.

Step two:

Choose and cut out your design. You can copy my design from the Cricut Design Space here.

Step three:

Place your design in the desired location in the tray, and press into place.

For wood surfaces, a temperature of 300 degrees is recommended, hold for 40 seconds. You may need to press it twice, or hold for just a little bit longer to get the HTV to adhere to the slightly oily stained wood surface.

Step four:

Peel off the protective film and enjoy your pretty new tray! Both Iron-On vinyl types that I used were warm peel, so I peeled the plastic backing off as soon as I had pressed.