Heidi Swapp Minc Review + Free Print

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I haven’t been this excited about a new crafting tool in years! No joke. The NEW Heidi Swapp Minc Foil Applicator is all that and a bag of chips. Trust me! Its pretty sweet. {see my Instagram} Its perfect for invitations, home decor, gift warp, cards, and lots more!

Haven’t heard of the Minc Foil Applicator? {you can find it here} Well, I’m going to show you an awesome crafting tool that is going to change your crafting world! This is my official Minc Review, so hang tight for the low down on this cool new crafting tool.

Minc Review and Free Printable

DIY Foil Gift Wrap using the Minc tool || click to learn more

Above I added pink foil to a sheet of glossy black and white polka dot paper and turned it into the most amazing pink polka dot DIY Foil Gift Wrap in a matter of minutes using my new Minc! I also added gold foil to a tag for a beautiful gift tag. Wouldn’t this be an awesome way to package a gift for Mom this Mother’s Day??

foil-gift-wrap

What does the Minc do?

The Heidi Swapp Minc applies foil over Laser Ink and Toner ink. NOTE: It does not work with an Inkjet printer. The Minc acts sort of like a laminator, but instead of laminating, it magically adheres foil over top of the black ink. 

Do I need a Laser Printer to Use the Minc?

No, Heidi Swapp has come out with a great line of preprinted sheets, tags, cards, envelopes, etc that you can run through your Minc to add foil to.

Is the Minc difficult to use?

No, it is super user friendly and easy to use! You’ll be foiling within minutes of opening the box.

How wide can it foil?

The Minc accepts materials up to 12″ wide.

How big is the Minc? 

The Heidi Swapp Minc tool is 19.5″ long by 5″ wide. Pretty small and compact. Which is good news when it comes to storing it!

What materials can it add Foil to?

Paper, card stock, vellum, chipboard, and thin wood veneer.

Where can you buy the Minc?

Some craft stores and Amazon {free shipping}.

Make your own DIY Foil Gift wrap and gift tags with the Minc Tool! Super easy

Ok all you Brides-to-Be, I know what you’re thinking and I like it! YES, the Minc would be Fantastic to add foil to your invitations! Oh, and soooo much cheaper than paying a printing company to do it! And place settings with foil? That’s a No Brainer!! Check out all the foil colors below.

heidi swapp foil colors

There are lots of foil colors to pick from. Everything from basic to pastel to gold and silver.

How to Use Minc Foil Applicator

Here is a quick visual on how to use it. Below the collage, I’ll explain it in more detail.

Minc Review + How to use Minc Foil Applicator || Add foil to paper, card stock, vellum, and wood veneer with the Heidi Swapp Minc

1. First you turn on your Minc tool and press the Gold button to select heat setting. {there’s a table in the owners manual that has heat setting recommendations for different materials.} I used heat setting 4 for all pictured foiled items.

2. Cut foil to be about 1/4″ larger than your project.

3. Slip your project with foil on top, foil side up, inside the transfer folder. Make sure all toner is covered. Then feed the transfer folder through the Minc. Do not push or pull the transfer folder through the machine!

4. After the folder has made it all the way through the Minc, open the transfer folder and lift off the excess foil. *Note: Yes, you can reuse unused foil.

You can watch a quick video of the Minc in action on my Instagram here.

Free Clean House Quote Printable

Free Printable! 'Memories will last, a clean house won't" LOVE this! 

I made this print to help remind me that the time I spend with my kids is the most important. Those memories I make with them will last so much longer than a clean house! I wanted a reminder that the house work can wait sometimes. When my kids ask me to play with them, it is more important than finishing sweeping the kitchen floor or washing dishes. Its easy for me to look around my house and see all the messes, the mountain of laundry, and the never ending to-do list and feel swamped with homemaking. When the most important thing I can do is make my house a loving place for my kids. I pondered this thought, ‘Memories will last, a clean house won’t’ and thought it was a perfect reminder.

Good mom quoteI am sharing this free printable with you. It will print black and white and if you use a laser printer or make a copy at the print shop, you can run it through your Minc Tool and add foil to it like I did.

Click here to Download Free Printable. {prints without watermark}

 *All Printables on Craftaholics Anonymous® are copyrighted and intended for personal use only and may not be reproduced or redistributed in any way. Please be respectful of the artist.* 

Bottom line on the Minc Foil Applicator: If you like the look of foil, then this tool is for you. You will use it to foil everything in sight! Its quick, easy to use and tons cheaper than paying for foiled paper products from a retailer or printer.
You can find the Minc Foil Applicator here. You can watch a quick video of the Minc in action on my Instagram here.
Linda
Hi! I'm Linda, the craft addict behind Craftaholics Anonymous®, a craft blog. Crafting is cheaper than therapy, right? When I'm not DIYing something, I can be found taxiing around our 4 crazy kids or working out. Or shoe shopping... because you can never have too many shoes! Happy crafting! ♥
Linda
Linda

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Comments

  1. 1

    Linda, thank you for the printable. I absolutely love it!!! I can’t wait to frame it and put it out. Hope you have a wonderful day!

    1. 1.1

      Thank you, Debbie! Enjoy!

  2. 2

    I Love it! Looks very stylish and cool!

    1. 2.1

      Thanks!

  3. 3
    lesley

    i got my minc the first available time it was released and it is addicting!!!!! i LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

  4. 4

    Love love love the gift wrap! So cute! And what a cool tool!

  5. 5
    Mindi

    Hi! Thank you so much for your review! I’m about to buy this but was wondering if you can tell me- How long do the transfer folders last?

    1. 5.1

      I used mine a lot and the folder has lasted just fine! I think it will last a really long time, or until I lose it haha ;)

  6. 6
    Leah

    I read your review with interest since I have recently purchased a Minc. But it’s not small and compact. It’s basically an A3 laminator. Which kinda has me internally justifying the price I paid for it but it does produce pretty things. It and the products are very expensive though.

  7. 7
    Jenna

    Hi, just wondering what the thickest paper it will take?

    1. 7.1

      I’m guessing chipboard would be about the thickest you could run through it. The opening is about 0.25″ wide.

  8. 8
    Karen Quinn

    The Minc is just a heat laminator. You can do the same thing with a regular laminator. Just sandwich the printed materials and foil between a sheet of white copy paper. Check out tutorials on Thermoweb for using their products. You can buy a laminator really inexpensively or if you have a YourStory you’re all set!!

    1. 8.1

      Thanks for the tip!

  9. 9
    Debra Milam

    Has anyone tried rubberstamping an image with toner ink? Then foiling.

    1. 9.1

      That should work as long as you use toner ink.

  10. 10
    Jimmie

    I bought the Minc machine and a laser printer, however I can’t find instructions on how to use the toner to cover the cardstock. I would appreciate it, Linda, if you could please explain this process for me. I was thinking that perhaps we have to run the cardstock through the printer. Is there something else we need to do? Thank you for sharing how to use the Minc machine.

    1. 10.1

      Hi Jimmie, If you want to create your own design to add foil to with the Minc, you will need to print it out with a toner printer OR print it with an ink jet and take to a copy store and make a copy with their copy machine because copy machines use toner :)

    2. 10.2
      Margie voss

      If you want to use your dies with you Ming just go to the copy center and ask them to copy just the glass you will get a copy with toner.after you get home just foil the black card stock with foil and then cut your dies..you will love the results

  11. 11
    Indira

    What if the rollers in the machine is broken? How to fix it? Thank you

    1. 11.1

      I’d contact their customer service. I’m sure there is a warranty or something.

  12. 12
    s

    How do you prevent the black spots?

    1. 12.1

      Make sure you use the correct heat setting for your material.

  13. 13
    Dr G

    As the saying goes….”Never read a book by its cover”
    .
    The Minc is nothing more than a “pretty” laminator,…as a foiling specialist I am always interested to see why people claim the Minc machine offers something unique to other machines…the reality is that the inner workings of the Minc are no different to standard MADE IN CHINA laminators…the Minc is made in China and mechanically it offers plastic drive gears, small drive motor, small rubber rollers and cross bar spring tensioner…just .like most other entry level laminators whether these are 2 or 4 roller models…so don’t be fooled by the good looks of the Minc it is nothing special in reality.

    Dr G – Foiling Specialist {35 years experience}

    1. 13.1
      Judy

      Dr G I think you have answered my question – I have a NOT cheap ($300) laminator – and I bought a Minc thinking I needed it to apply foil. Sounds like I could return the Minc and use foil in my laminator. Is that correct? Any recommendations on where to learn the best way to use a good laminator to apply the foil?

  14. 14
    Mina

    Hi linda and all
    I’ve just had some invites printed at the local stationery shop. They are laser printed on a commercial MFD printer – so using toner. I have set my minc to level 5 but the foil isn’t sticking. Its just peeling straight off. Any thoughts? The HeidiSwapp website is down and has been for some time so there is no support from them – which isn’t very good.

    1. 14.1

      Did the printed paper get warm/hot prior to putting through the minc? The toner only reacts one time, so if it got heated to a certain level, it won’t work when you run it through trying to add foil. That’s my only idea. Other than that, as long as they used toner to print it, it should work just fine…

  15. 15
    syria

    Hi! I have a question, does it have to be black toner ? or what happens if it has another color on the background and then the black letters?
    what happens to the pink toner?
    thank you!!

    1. 15.1

      It can be any color of toner, I believe. It just has to be toner to react to the foil

  16. 16
    Sandra

    I’ve read a few blog articles and watched a few videos about applying foil to a card. I read that the Minc distributes heat more evenly and will not rub off. I will be printing invitations (Prom) and applying the foil to each invitation. I am planning on purchasing the Minc because I need to make sure the foil sticks to the card. Do I have to use Minc foil or will any brand of foil work? Also, I will be printing using a laser printer with magenta card stock. Have there been any issues with printing on darker paper? One more question…I will be creating 200 invitations. Can the Minc handle that much production? Thanks in advance for your help!

    1. 16.1

      Hi Sandra, I would imagine you can use other brands. You may need to play around with the heat settings as the foil might be slightly different, but I wouldn’t think it would be a problem. The Minc should work just fine applying foil over black laser printed ink on magenta paper. And yes, I think it would do just fine doing 200 invitations :) Best of luck!

      1. Sandra

        Thank you!

  17. 17
    fran

    I find that I get Black spots left behind. I ran the project through twice. On minimal prints I used settings from 3 to 5. Still spots. Really disappointed. I used the minc brand foil of 5 different rolls. Still the same outcome. Got my kit from HSN with all the pre-printed decorations.

    1. 17.1
      Jen

      I am having the same issue, any recommendations?

  18. 18
    Amy

    I bought the Minc to do my daughters wedding invitations. The machine will turn on but the light never turns green. Not sure what to do.

    1. 18.1

      Sounds like its broken. I’d take it back to the store and exchange for a new one.

  19. 19
    Margie voss

    Do you know the temp.that this machine runs at.i was given foil and I need the temp to be 260-280.

    1. 19.1
      Margie voss

      What is moderation

    2. 19.2

      Sorry, I don’t. Try contacting America Crafts who makes the Minc Machine.

  20. 20
    Shannon

    Can you buy one folder and reuse it over and over? Is it the same as laminating folders?

    1. 20.1

      Yes, you can reuse the folder over and over and over :) Its a lot thicker than a laminating folder.

  21. 21
    Sue

    I received a Minc machine as a gift. The machine heats up and the light turns green but the rollers do not seem to grab the transfer sheet. Have tried a few times. What should I do

  22. 22
    Lali

    It will ONLY be added to BLACK ink? if I print something with a colorful background and black letters, what happens?

    1. 22.1

      Hmm, good question. I would think any color of toner ink would react the same as the black, but I am not certain on that. Just make sure that it is toner, not ink jet ink.

  23. 23
    Alix

    Hi!

    Do you use your own laser printer for projects? Which one do you use?

    :)

    1. 23.1

      My hubby has a laser printer at this office that I use. I believe it is a Canon. I also use a lot of Heidi Swapp brand papers with Minc.

  24. 24
    Susan

    Which kraft papier did you used here?

  25. 25
    Natalie

    I’m having major problems with mine it doesn’t but transfer onto any paper that is even remotely textured is anyone else having the same problem?

    1. 25.1
      Lady

      Yes, I have the same problem! It transfers fine with a regular laminator on regular copy paper, but it will not transfer to any kind of cardstock. So disappointing because I was planning on printing my son’s graduation announcements on cardstock. This paper is way too thin and doesn’t work with a regular laminating machine. Maybe it only works with the Minc Laminator?

  26. 26
    Pat

    Hi Linda,
    I am Pat,
    My printer is injet, so how can I use the Minc without a lazer printer? Does it have a carrier sheet?

    1. 26.1

      The ink that an inkjet uses does not work with a Minc. The minc foil will ONLY activate with toner. So you need a laser printer or most copier machines use toner. So you could make copies at a copy spot and use those copies in your minc.