Question about Cricut Mats About This Page:

[ripkensnana]

I'm not sure where I read it, but somewhere or other online, I read something about "refreshing" or "renewing" the sticky mats used with the Cricut. Apparently there's something you can do to restore the stickiness after it's lost it's clingyness....Anybody have a clue?

[agnes1956]

Cricut has a website and I saw the answer there but haven't tried it yet.
First, they scrubb them in the bathtub with a small brush, soap and water. Then hang them up to dry.
Second they spray the mats with a adhesive spray such as stencil spray. There are several types of adhesive sprays that were mentioned.
I too have several mats that I would like to get the gook off and renew. Just been more into here then scrapbooking or card making. But I will certainly need to clean them up and scrapbook when we get back from our trip and have new photos to save.

[scmiller777]

Clean your mat with wet wipes (rub hard) then let it dry. This will sometimes help make it a little sticky again. Also, I have sprayed my mat with a quilt basting spray from Wal-mart. It says it will not gum up needles so I figured it wouldn't hurt the blade. Other people use different types of sprays too. The cricut board has lots of ideas.
Just remember: MASK OFF THE EDGES OF YOUR MAT OR IT CAN DAMAGE YOUR MACHINE.

[GATechGal]

I made mine resticky with just baby wipes. Seriously, just rubbed them good with a plain old baby wipe and voile the were sticky again.

[agnes1956]

Good to hear the other posts. I am for the easy way first so will try the wipes first.
Hope everyone's hints help you.

[shiloh]

My aunt uses vellum adhesive spray to refresh her mats. I never thought to try and wash them first!

[MarmaladeRiver]

Just came from a demo by Cricut Dan -- google him, his blog is helpful. he pretty much knows everything there is to know about using a Cricut.

Wash your mat with warm soapy water. Dry it, then see if it needs additional help -- this may be all you need. If not, refresh it with an E-Z Dots repositionable applicator (by Scrapbook Adhesives.) Be SURE it's repositionable.

Don't use sprays -- they just get it gummy.

The real trick is that a new mat needs to be prepped. Take off the cover, then pat it all over with both hands, over and over, for several minutes. Then take a sheet of paper and cover the mat, and press it down all over. Remove and repeat several times, until the paper comes off without making too much of that sucking sound it makes at first.

I know this sounds crazy, but it works. Nobody seems to know why the Cricut people don't tell us this, but it will make a mat last much longer, not to mention working better at the beginning.

BTW, it is crucial that the pressure and blade setting be balanced. Cricut Dan says use High/5 on the big Cricut, and 5/4/5 on the old little one, for nearly everything. If you get a cutting mark on your mat, it isn't balanced correctly.

OTOH, if you really don't want to go to all this trouble, just stick your paper down with stencil tape, or some other low-tack tape. Works fine.

[Shell_of_the_South]

Thanks for this info Marmalade River. I used the spray on my mats and had horrible results. I may try this on new mats.

[hockeyguysmom]

I have cleaned mine with baby wipes. On the cricut boards there are postings on adhesives that people have used but I haven't tried that yet.

[mojjo]

YouTube - Episode 69- Making your Cricut mat sticky again

[wendybell]

I've done the baby wipe trick and it does work...you just have to scrup it hard and let it air dry.