How to Clean a Cricut Mat and Make It Sticky Again
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There was a question in my Cricut Freebies Facebook group the other day on how to clean Cricut mats and make them sticky again.
I tend to get more questions most Cricut mats in detail, but this guide will apply to any sort of similar cutting mat with an agglutinative, including Silhouette mats.
Having a sticky Cricut mat is important because you don't want the material y'all are using to slide around while the machine is cutting. This can lead to wasted materials and a jammed cutting machine.
Mats only tend to stay gummy for a little over a dozen cuts, more than or less depending on the materials you use. If you employ your Cricut a lot, this can really add up because cutting mats aren't cheap!
This guide will help yous learn how to make clean debris off of your mats, and restick them so that they piece of work skillful equally new.
How do you know when it's time to make clean your mat?
When you first open your Cricut mat, you'll detect that they are SUPER gluey. Often times I detect that I take to dull the adhesive using a shirt or towel so that information technology doesn't damage my materials.
However, in doing so, this accelerates the wear on the agglutinative. After a dozen or so cuts, mats will lose their sticking power.
You can tell information technology'south time to clean your mat when your materials no longer firmly stick to the mat.
Sometimes it will announced that materials are stuck to the mat, but when the machine starts cut, they begin sliding around or creating bubbling.
This will decrease the accuracy of your cuts, leading to the waste of materials, a possibly jammed or damaged machine, and an unsuccessful craft projection.
How to Clean your Cricut Mat
It's very likely that you volition non demand to follow every pace on this list. If your mat isn't very dingy, you may be able to go away past just doing the start couple steps and non have to restick the mat at all.
However, don't worry if the agglutinative is removed in the process of removing clay and debris. It's very uncomplicated to restick the mat once it is make clean, and after you have the materials, yous'll notice that it'southward much cheaper to restick the mat than constantly buy new ones.
Use a Scraper
The first thing you'll want to practise is grab your scraper if you have one. If non, grab an old credit card or something similar. Run your scraper along the surface of the mat, removing any debris or buildup. If your mat has a lot of paper fibers or debris, this may take a few passes.
Employ a Lint Roller and Babe Wipes
For stubborn buildup, many crafters recommend using a lint roller. Any kind of lint roller will do, equally long equally it is sticky. After giving information technology a few passes on the mat, you might be shocked how much debris a Cricut mat can collect!
Once nearly of the debris is removed, I recommend using baby wipes. You'll want to use infant wipes that are both alcohol and bleach free, or you'll take a chance ruining the adhesive of the mat.
If your mat doesn't have a ton of buildup, these steps may render it to its former glory. Still if your mat still isn't sticky, go along with the rest of the guide!
Use Lather and Water
If your Cricut mat has truly seen ameliorate days, information technology might be time for a bathroom in some dish soap and water.
Let your mat soak in warm soapy h2o for 10 minutes, then remove. If your mat still needs some TLC, then you can apply a sponge, castor, magic eraser, or dishrag to remove the debris.
In some cases, if a lot of scrubbing is required, you may have to restick your mat when you lot are finished. Allow the mat to air dry when you are finished.
For Very Stubborn Debris, try Goo Gone
Using a paper towel, spread effectually a scrap of Goo Gone or adhesive remover. Permit it sit down for well-nigh x-15 minutes, then scrape information technology off with your scraper. This will remove the buildup too equally the adhesive on your mat, so you will demand to restick your mat later this step.
Allow the Mat Air Dry
After removing the buildup, allow your mat to air dry. You might be pleased to find that later on these steps, your mat is quite sticky again, and yous can go back to using it with your Cricut.
If you lot had some stubborn debris and you had to exercise a deeper clean, then you might have to restick your mat. Don't worry, this step isn't too hard, and once you're finished, your mat should be as good as new!
Resticking your Cricut Mat
Cricut mat not sticky anymore? Follow these steps to help information technology become back to its onetime glory.
Make Certain Your Mat is Clean
Before resticking your mat, make certain the surface is clean and doesn't take whatever debris. Follow the steps above to make sure you take a surface that's ready for some fresh adhesive. I recommend using soap and water or Goo Gone to remove the old adhesive layer.
Tape the Edges
Take hold of some tape and tape the edges of the mat where y'all don't want adhesive. On a Cricut mat, these are the margins where the Cricut rollers motion the mat dorsum and forth.
You'll desire to make sure that these edges don't get sticky with the new adhesive, or else you lot will risk damaging the rollers on your car.
Any kind of tape should work fine for this. When I do it, I tend to use blue painters or masking tape, however information technology is entirely upwards to you.
Cover Mat with Adhesive
At this phase you'll want to cover the mat with some adhesive. Y'all can use a spray agglutinative or a mucilage stick.
Here'due south some adhesives I would recommend:
Aleene's Tack-It Over & Over Liquid Glue
Mix the liquid gum one:ane with water and coat the cricut mat. Depending on how sticky yous desire the mat, you lot may desire to coat it multiple times.
Kuretake ZIG 2 Style GLUE
With this gum, you don't fifty-fifty have to tape off your mat! Afterwards cleaning, just employ the glue stick on the grid role of the mat, and expect for information technology to dry articulate before using.
Stencil Ease Repositionable Stencil Spray Adhesive
Lightly spray onto mat from a distance after taping the edges. If it is as well glutinous, you may accept to place and remove something (like a t-shirt or towel) on the mat a few times to loosen the grip.
Let the Adhesive Air Dry
Later spraying or using a glue stick, allow the mat to air dry. Once the mat is dry out, you can so remove the tape, and your mat should exist every bit skillful as new!
You can test a small corner of your mat to make sure information technology is as sticky as you would like. If the mat is too gluey, you can utilize a t-shirt to slightly wearisome the adhesive.
These steps should increment the life expectancy of your mats by quite a bit. You lot'll be able to save some money and frustration by cleaning your mats instead of constantly ownership new ones.
I hope this guide was helpful! Practise y'all have any Cricut mat cleaning tips and tricks that weren't shared here? Let us know in the comments!
Looking for other ways to save money on your Cricut? Check out viii Money Saving Tips for Cricut and Silhouette
Source: https://www.digitalistdesigns.com/how-to-clean-and-restick-cricut-cutting-mats/
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