how to clean cricut mat

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One of the things that new Cricut users ask again and again is How To Clean A Cricut Mat, or how to restick the Cricut mat. Because who really wants to go out and buy a new mat for your Cricut machine after each project.

When all you really need to know is how to clean the Cricut cutting mat. In this video tutorial, I show you how to clean your Cricut mat so that it sticks again. No messy spray adhesive to restick the surface of the sticky mat.

The first method I show in the video is, in my opinion, the best way to clean the surface of the mat. All you will need is some awesome spray cleaning product, a paper towel, and a Cricut scraper tool, a plastic gift card, or an old credit card.

How To Clean Cricut Mat 2 Ways

Of course, there are other cleaning methods, like the second 1, I show in the video using alcohol-free baby wipes. Which I use when my sticky cutting mats aren't too bad. But my fabric mat I always have to use the method with the scraper.

In the past, when I was using the old 6 inch Cricut (this was well before the Cricut Joy) that you had to put a cartridge in to make it work. The way we did it was to clean all the adhesive off with goo gone, or some kind of adhesive remover that won't eat through the plastic.

There was a lot of clumsy fiddling with painter's tape trying to get it right on the edges of the mat. Then I had to use an adhesive spray, or other repositionable adhesive to restick the mat. After all of that work, it just made more sense to go and grab a new Cricut Mat. Overall it just wasn't a good idea.

How To Restick Your Mat

There are actually a few ways to do this but only two ways that I do it. I have only heard of the other methods to clean a Cricut mat but have not tried it. One of those is dawn dish soap or other soap and water, you take the soapy water, and lather your mat and then rinse with lukewarm water and allow it to dry.

How Clean a Cricut Mat and Make it Sticky Again

But the way I do it is, 1 way with baby wipes and the other is using Awesome spray. The only time I use the baby wipes only when it's not too bad, as long as there's no paper stuck to it and stuff.

But, basically, you just take the baby wipe, or Clorox wipes work also, and you just wipe off in a circular motion the dirt that you see. Gently.

And once you get all of that gunk and dirt off, your mat is sticky again. No need for adhesives or painter's tape or anything else to clean your mats.

I always pay very close attention to the edges. Because, for me, they're the worst and I'm horrible about putting the protector back onto my mat. Again I only use this method when the mat isn't too bad. But just bad enough for it not to stick very well anymore.

Can You Wash A Cricut Mat?

Once I'm completely done wiping with the baby wipe, and sometimes you have to use more than one. I think I went through three baby wipes cleaning my last Cricut Mat. But still way less expensive than replacing the mats every time that they don't stick anymore or trying to rig new adhesive on a mat. I've done that before too.

If it's a little damp you can take your blow dryer and blow it dry. And once you've wiped it with the baby wipes and you blow it dry, you have the sticky again. I do this over and over and over again before I ever have to replace a mat.

How To Clean Cricut Mats

Because I use it so often I usually clean my green mat with Awesome. Which you can get from Dollar Tree. You'll need:

• Totally Awesome Spray
• a spray bottle
• water
• paper towels
• plastic scraper or credit card

You mix it one-to-one. Meaning 1 part water to 1 part Awesome spray.

You also need a plastic scraper, paper towels, and a blow dryer. And you just saturate with this spray. Optionally you can use a lint roller to remove larger chunks beforehand.

I pay close attention to the edges and I scrape a circular motion, very gently, but with enough pressure to get the gunk off. You just keep scraping, until you have done the whole mat.

I'm horrible about putting my protector back on. So the edges of my Cricut mats are always the worst, right at the edge where the adhesive starts. Also Awesome is pretty strong so you want to make sure you're doing this in a pretty well-ventilated area.

How To Clean A Vinyl Cutting Mat?

And once you think you've gotten it completely clean, you're just going to take a couple of paper towels and wipe it clean. Then you can rinse with warm water.

Obviously, it's not going to be sticky while wet. I like to let mine air dry, or just put them in front of the fan, depending on what I'm doing. But for the purposes of this video, I did use a blow dryer to blow it dry.

You need to clean your mat on a flat surface and very, very gently scrap so that you don't scrape off the adhesive that is there. This cleaning process is a great way to extend the life of your mat.

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Troubleshooting:

• My mat isn't sticky anymore: You are scraping too hard, you need little to no pressure when removing the dirt from your Cricut Mat.
• The color is coming off of my mat: That is going to happen, it doesn't effect the performance of the Cricut mat.

I usually work my way down to one of my mats and then I clean them all at one time. If you are looking for more info on cutting machines check out Cricut VS Silhouette | Side By Side the Cameo 4 Vs The Maker. Another great post is How To Use Infusible Ink With The Cricut Mug Press.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Active Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Estimated Cost: $1

One of the things that new Cricut users ask again and again is How To Clean A Cricut Mat, or how to restick the Cricut mat. Because who really wants to go out and buy a new mat for your Cricut machine after each project.

When all you really need to know is how to clean the Cricut cutting mat. In this video tutorial, I show you how to clean your Cricut mat so that it sticks again. No messy spray adhesive to restick the surface of the sticky mat.

Materials

• Awesome spray
• Paper Towels
• Plastic Scraper

Tools

• Cricut Mat (dirty)
• Spray Bottle

how to clean cricut mat

Source: https://colormecrafty.net/how-to-clean-cricut-mat/

Posted by: gunndentoory1961.blogspot.com

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