When your Cricut mat gets dirty and loses its stickiness, you may wonder: how to clean a Cricut mat? Or just throw it in the trash and buy a new Cricut mat? A sticky Cricut mat is a key to success in doing the best craft projects with a Cricut machine. The best way to keep Cricut mats sticky is to keep them clean. But, as we use mats and cut more and more things, the mat wears out and becomes dirty, causing them to lose their stick. This causes the material to slide around while cutting, resulting in a bad cut. So, we will guide you on how to clean a Cricut mat at home with some tips and tricks.
The life of Cricut mats will vary depending on the material used or cut and how often the Cricut mats are cleaned. But with regular attention, you can keep Cricut mats in tip-top condition for a long time and save your time and money by stopping another trip to the store.
How Often Should You Clean Cricut Mats?
First, let’s talk about taking care of Cricut mats before “fixing” them. If you craft daily with your Cricut mats, you need to clean your Cricut mats more often if you craft once a week. The better you take care of Cricut mats during your daily craft projects, the longer they will last for you to use.
Depending on your material, most Cricut mats require cleaning after 2-4 cuts. We suggest cleaning Your Cricut mat whenever you see that the material doesn’t stick as well as before.
You may need to clean your Cricut mat more often if you use a material that leaves a lot of debris, such as felt, glitter vinyl, denim, or leather. You must clean your Cricut mats after cutting wooden material with a knife blade. But, if you stick to smooth materials like paper, vinyl, and cardstock, you can probably get away with less cleanup.
Every Cricut mat includes a clear protective sheet from StandardGrip and LightGrip to FabricGrip, StrongGrip, and even Card Mats. These sheets aren’t for shipping or retail packaging; they are intended to be kept and used throughout the lifecycle of the Cricut mat.
These sheets serve two main purposes:
It covers and protects the adhesive surface of the Cricut mat, so it does not stick to other items when the Cricut mat is not in use. These sheets eventually let you stack Cricut mats on top of each other, put them in baskets, on shelves, etc.
Also, it keeps environmental dust from sticking to the Cricut mat. Leaving mats uncovered allows dust to collect on them, which reduces their stickiness more quickly.
Method 1: How To Clean a Cricut Mat with Baby Wipes
Do you know that you can give a new life to your Cricut mat to make it sticky again? To clean a Cricut mat, simply use alcohol-free baby wipes or wet wipes handy to wipe down your Cricut mat.
If it’s dirty with fibers or whatnot (other particles), wipe in small circles around your entire Cricut mat until it’s clean, then let it dry, which takes about 10 minutes or more. You can lay them flat while they dry or hang them on a drying rack; make sure to take them down when they dry so they don’t deteriorate over time. Baby wipes not only clean your Cricut mat but also help it retain some of its stickiness. So wiped it off the old one with wet wipes, and it became sticky and usable again.
Method 2: How To Clean a Cricut Mat with Dish Detergent
You can also use a gentle dish detergent to clean a Cricut mat if you don’t have baby wipes or wet wipes. To do this, run a small amount of dish detergent, such as Dawn dish soap, with warm water (not hot water) on your Cricut mat.
Cricut says that you can use a plastic, stiff-bristled brush to gently scrub with warm soapy water until the entire surface of your Cricut mat is clean. But, make sure you scrub gently, as it’s possible to scrub off the adhesive, so you must use a brush, not a scrubbing sponge. When done, let it dry with a paper towel, and then allow your Cricut mat to air dry thoroughly, and it should be sticky once again.
Method 3: How To Clean a Cricut Mat with a Stick Lint Roller
Always be gentle with your Cricut mats; they can also last you through many rounds.
To clean a Cricut mat, run a sticky lint roller (or a loop of masking tape) over your Cricut mat to remove dust, fibers, bits of paper, and hair. This can be done daily, between projects, when you forget to cover your Cricut mat overnight, or when you see bits and fibers on your Cricut mat. This is the best method to remove any leftover bits or pieces of paper. When the lint roller is stickier than your Cricut mat, it pulls all the offending hairs and pieces of paper right off your Cricut mat. It works quite well on less sticky Cricut mats.