If you are familiar with Cricut, you will know that the Cricut Machines are fantastic craft tools, particularly for scrapbooking and card making.

Provocraft Cricut Expression Cutting Mat

Cricut Expression Cutting Mat

The accessories are however costly, so it is well worth knowing a few tricks to help you prolong the life of a Cricut Cutting Mat by improving or restoring its stickiness.

First of all, I recommend that you follow the instructions provided on the Cricut website:

If there is a build up of lint or paper dust on the mat it can be washed with warm water and gently rubbed by hand to refresh the mat.

  • Wash the mat under warm water for approximately one minute (no soap).
  • Let it air dry.
  • If the mat is still not sticky enough, use a plastic scraper to roughen up the surface of the mat.
  • Repeat the scraping as needed to improve the tackiness.

Important: Do not use any cloth to clean or dry your mat as this will just leave fibres on the mat – which are the very things you need to get rid of !

You may find that once you have followed this process to refresh your cricut cutting mat a couple times that it doesn’t actually make much difference.  So, the next step is as follows:

You will need:
Quilter’s Basting Spray (a 250ml – 500ml can e.g. 505 typically costs £5-£10 & will last for numerous applications) or
Stencil Spray Adhesive  (a 150ml can is approx £3.75),
A roll of masking tape.

  • Pull off as many paper fibres as you can with your fingers.
  • Wash your cricut mat in hot water, but this time use a MILD liquid soap.
  • Again, it is important that you then let your mat air dry.
  • Once fully dry, prepare your mat for spraying by placing masking tape over the 4 edges of the Cricut mat. If you fail to cover the edges you run the risk of ruining your machine by having sticky edges!
  • Make sure you are in a well ventilated area.  Hold the can at least 12 inches away from the mat & evenly spray the mat with a thin layer of the basting spray.
  • Let the mat air dry again for at least 20-30 minutes before using.

Please note that if you decide to use either of the above methods to refresh your Cricut Mat you do so at your own risk. Craft Making Ideas cannot be held responsible for any adverse affect it may have on your mat or Cricut Machine.

“Cricut” is a trademark of Provo Craft & Novelty Inc. CraftMakingIdeas.com is not affiliated with Provo Craft & Novelty Inc