The Letter reports another approach to grow vertically aligned millimeter length multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) using chemical vapor deposition technique. In this stack growth, the first grown MWCNT layer is observe to have been lift-off from the substrate surface by the newly grown underneath layer as a result of the diffusion of iron catalyst and carbon source through the first layer. The first grown layer acts as a permeable membrane allowing the catalyst vapor and carbon to reach the bottom layer and the top surface of the substrate, resulting in the growth of another layer of MWCNT underneath it. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.