What Foil Works with the Foil Quill?

The Foil Quill is an amazing new tool for foiling projects using your electronic cutting machine. But do you have to use the foil that comes with the Foil Quill? I put four foils to the test to learn what foil works with the Foil Quill…and what doesn’t!

Earlier this month I tried the new Foil Quill from We R Memory Keepers (WRMK). It’s a foiling tool that goes inside your electronic cutting machine, allowing you to beautifully foil your projects. You can check out my unboxing video, my overview of the Foil Quill, and how to use the Foil Quill with a tutorial for some gorgeous celestial artwork.

[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”KlCx74TB” upload-date=”2019-04-13T18:12:31.000Z” name=”How to Use The Foil Quill from We R Memory Keepers” description=”The Foil Quill is a revolutionary heating tool that works in all major cutting machines to beautifully foil projects on a variety of materials! Here’s how to use the Foil Quill, tips and tricks for getting the best results, and a few ways to troubleshoot if you’re having problems.” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]

I’m getting a lot of questions about the Foil Quill, but the one that keeps coming up is “Can I use other foils with it?” So I thought I’d order some different foils that are on the market today and try them out.

What Foils Did I Test?

For this test, I am using four different foils:

• WRMK Heat Activated Foil (this is designed to work with the Foil Quill)
• Heidi Swapp Minc Reactive Foil
• iCraft Deco Foil
• Spellbinders Glimmer Hot Foil

If you have an additional foil you’d like me to test, tell me in the comments. Based on what I’ve learned, I can give you an educated guess on whether or not it will work with the Foil Quill, but I’m also happy to test additional foils and add them to this post.

What Foil Works with the Foil Quill?

So let’s see how each of these foils stacked up. I used an identical file from the Heidi Swapp Design Drive and identical Bazzill cardstock for each. Here’s how they fared.

We R Memory Keepers Heat Reactive Foil

Unsurprisingly, the We R Memory Keepers heat reactive foil worked perfectly with the Foil Quill. It was designed to work with it and once again, I saw flawless results. Guys, it is so pretty—I can’t capture the shine of the foil accurately in photos; it really is gorgeous.

Heidi Swapp Minc Reactive Foil

The Minc reactive foil was…less than reactive with the Foil Quill. In fact it did not react at all when the Foil Quill did its pass over the foil.

This is because the Minc foil is adhesive reactive, meaning that it needs something to bond it to the base material. Most often, this is toner—this is why many Minc projects require you to print out your project using a laser printer or copy machine (an ink-jet printer will not work). When the Minc foil is run through the Minc machine or other laminator, the toner basically melts and the foil adheres to the melted toner. It also works using other adhesives, like their toner pen and adhesive mist.

iCraft Deco Foil

Similarly to the Minc foil, the Deco Foil didn’t work with the Foil Quill.

Deco Foil is also adhesive reactive, making it incompatible with the Foil Quill. You can use Deco Foil with other adhesives, though—they have a ton of options.

Spellbinders Glimmer Hot Foil

Finally I found one other heat-reactive foil, Spellbinders Glimmer Hot Foil, and tested it with the Foil Quill.

It worked! And it worked beautifully. The biggest difference between this foil and the Foil Quill foil is that it only comes in 6″ rolls, vs the larger 12″ rolls that WRMK sells. Depending on the size of the designs you want to foil, it may be easier to use the larger WRMK foil sheets.

Can I use Foil Quill Foil in my Minc?

If you print out a design on an laser printer and try to foil it using the Foil Quill or other heat-reactive foil and the Minc, you’re going to get a big square in the shape of your foil. The Minc will heat the foil and because heat = reaction in the Foil Quill foil, it will activate the entire piece of foil. Technically you could cut out simple shapes and foil them using this method, though I think getting placement correct would be tricky.

Why Isn’t the Foil Working with my Foil Quill?

If you are using a brand of foil and are wondering why it’s not working with your Foil Quill, there’s a good chance that your foil is not heat reactive, it’s adhesive reactive. Make sure you’re using the right kind of foil for the Foil Quill!

I hope you found this post helpful when deciding which foils to use with your Foil Quill. As always, I’d love to see your projects—tag me @heyletsmakestuff on Instagram!