Research the whole thing you may wish to study Cricut chopping mats with this entire beginner’s data. We’ll cowl all the fundamentals about Cricut mats, along with the completely totally different sizes, colors, and strengths.
By the highest of this data, you’ll increased understand strategies to make use of Cricut machine mats, and know which mat to utilize with which supplies.
Whether or not or not you’re a Cricut beginner or a Cricut skilled, you understand how important it is to have the acceptable chopping mat in your enterprise. Nonetheless what are all the numerous sorts of mats, and which one would you like in your specific provides?
Within the occasion you’re capable of research further about Cricut chopping mats, you’re within the appropriate place. This beginner’s data to Cricut mats will educate you the whole thing you may wish to know to get started – how they work, what kinds there are, which ones are greatest for you – along with totally different useful concepts and strategies like caring in your mat so that it lasts longer and doesn’t warp over time from use.
This article is going to cowl widespread questions on Cricut mats, harking back to:
- What’s a Cricut mat?
- When do you make the most of a Cricut mat?
- What are all the types of Cricut mats?
- Which mat do you make the most of for which provides?
Protect finding out to the highest, the place I’ll give you some recommendations on strategies to keep up your mats sticky for longer, and strategies to clear and “restick” mats that get dirty.
New to Cricut? Chances are high you will have to study this major: What’s a Cricut Machine, and What Can it Do?
Undecided which Cricut machine is greatest for you? Check out this detailed Cricut Comparability Info.
What are Cricut Mats?
First points first, let’s discuss what a Cricut mat is, and everytime you’d want to make use of one.
A Cricut mat is a flexible, reusable chopping mat that you’ll want to use alongside along with your Cricut machine to cut duties.
Each mat has an adhesive house that holds your supplies in place all through chopping. And when the decrease is full, it’s easy to remove the decrease supplies from the mat and retailer it away in your subsequent enterprise.
Cricut chopping mats will be present in a lot of sizes and grip strengths (or stickiness ranges), so you can on a regular basis uncover the appropriate mat in your particular supplies and enterprise design.
Kinds of Cricut Mats
When trying to find Cricut mats, you’ve possibly noticed that they arrive in a variety of colors and sizes. It might be a little bit bit tough to know which mat your ought to make use of in your particular machine and supplies – so let’s break down the variations.
4 Mat Colors
Cricut chopping mats will be present in 4 completely totally different grip strengths, all types designated by its private color. Each of the 4 mats has a definite amount of “grip” designed to work fully with a definite class of provides.
LightGrip mat – Blue
The blue LightGrip mat has a fragile adhesive that’s designed to work successfully with lightweight provides. I wish to advocate using the LightGrip mat for conventional paper, scrapbook paper, delicate cardstock, vellum, sticker paper, and even skinny vinyl.
The LightGrip mat is my go-to mat for chopping paper as a result of it so merely releases the paper as quickly because the decrease is full.
StandardGrip mat – Inexperienced
The inexperienced StandardGrip mat has a medium-strength adhesive that’s designed for provides like medium-weight and heavy cardstock, adhesive vinyl, iron-on vinyl (HTV), and stencil vinyl.
You might as nicely use the StandardGrip mat to cut bonded fabric, pretend leather-based, and suede.
I uncover myself reaching for the StandardGrip mat to cut adhesive vinyl and iron-on (heat-transfer vinyl) duties. The adhesive is probably a little bit bit stronger than I’d need for the first few cuts, nevertheless after I break it in, the grip diploma is sweet.
The fantastic thing about the inexperienced mats is that they’ve a long-lasting adhesive, they normally’re usually probably the most value efficient, too. Within the occasion you’re unsure which mat to utilize in your enterprise, I wish to advocate starting with the inexperienced mat.
StrongGrip mat – Purple
The purple StrongGrip mat has the strongest diploma of adhesive designed to be used with heavyweight provides like glitter cardstock, chipboard, poster board, magnet sheets, balsa picket, and leather-based.
The adhesive on the purple mat is de facto strong, so it’s wonderful for provides which can be prone to shift spherical whereas being decrease. As an illustration, you’ll want to make use of the purple mat anytime you’re chopping thick provides in your Cricut Maker using the Knife Blade.
That acknowledged, be careful – the adhesive is so tacky that it’s going to most likely tear lightweight provides. Merely go sluggish and use your spatula machine, and likewise you’ll be good.
FabricGrip mat – Pink
The pink FabricGrip mat is a more moderen mat with a selected adhesive designed for materials. It’s wonderful to utilize with the Cricut Maker and the rotary blade to cut unbounded fabric for quilting or stitching duties.
The Pink mat has a definite adhesive than the alternative three mats – so that you just’ll must cope with it a little bit bit differently by way of cleaning the mat. We’ll discuss strategies to clear the mats in a later half.
Cricut Mat Sizes
The Cricut mats can be found in numerous sizes to go well with the completely totally different Cricut machine fashions.
The Cricut Maker sequence and the Cricut Uncover sequence machines are appropriate with two sizes of chopping mats:
- 12″ x 12″ mat, with a most decrease house of 11.5″ x 11.5″
- 12″ x 24″ mat, with a most decrease house of 11.5″ x 23.5″
The Cricut Pleasure is appropriate with two sizes of chopping mats, as successfully:
- 4.5″ x 6.5″ mat, with a most decrease house of 4″ x 6″
- 4.5″ x 12″ mat, with a most decrease house of 4″ x 11.5″
The Cricut Pleasure moreover makes use of a selected Cricut Pleasure Card Mat, which you’ll want to use to make folded greeting taking part in playing cards. We’ll converse regarding the card mat throughout the subsequent half.
Specific Mats – Card Mat
There’s one other mat that is distinctive to the Cricut Pleasure model. It’s often called the Cricut Pleasure Card Mat, and it’s wonderful for chopping the doorway of folded greeting taking part in playing cards.
It’s best to make the most of the Card Mat with the actual Pleasure card inserts, or your private folded cardstock.
Which Cricut mat must I make the most of?
That’s the question on all people’s ideas: “What color mat do I would love for my enterprise?”
Here is an inventory of the acceptable mat to utilize for the commonest provides.
- Biggest Cricut mat to utilize for paper or delicate cardstock: Blue LightGrip mat
- Biggest Cricut mats to utilize for cardstock: Blue LightGrip mat or inexperienced StandardGrip mat
- Biggest Cricut mat to utilize for glitter cardstock: Purple StrongGrip mat
- Biggest Cricut mat to utilize for vinyl: Inexperienced StandardGrip mat
- Biggest Cricut mat to utilize for iron-on: Inexperienced StandardGrip mat
Here is an inventory of provides which you might decrease with each of the 4 Cricut chopping mats.
Blue LightGrip Mat
Use the blue mats alongside along with your Cricut Maker, Cricut Uncover, and Cricut Pleasure machines to cut numerous lightweight provides:
- Printer paper
- Mild cardstock
- Vellum
- Growth paper
- Vinyl
Inexperienced StandardGrip Mat
Use the inexperienced mats alongside along with your Cricut Maker, Cricut Uncover, and Cricut Pleasure machines to cut quite a lot of medium-weight provides.
- Medium and Heavy Cardstock
- Embossed or Textured Cardstock
- Iron-on Vinyl
- Adhesive Vinyl
- Stencil Film
- Bonded Materials
- Pretend Leather-based-based
Purple StrongGrip Mat
Use the purple mats alongside along with your Cricut Maker and Cricut Uncover sequence machine to cut thick or heavyweight provides.
- Glitter cardstock
- Magnet sheets
- Chipboard
- Posterboard
- Stiffened fabric
- Leather-based-based
- Balsa picket and Basswood
Pink FabricGrip mat
Use the pink mats alongside along with your Cricut Maker or Cricut Uncover sequence machine and Rotary Blade or Bonded-Materials Blade. Decrease any fabric, along with:
- quilting cotton
- cotton canvas
- denim
- knit
- felt
- flannel
- and loads of further.
What if my mat is TOO sticky?
Have you ever ever ever felt like your new Cricut mat was too sticky? I do know what you suggest. Typically it’s laborious to get delicate provides to launch from a mannequin new mat.
If that’s the case, you can scenario the mat and make it reasonably much less sticky. Take a transparent t-shirt and tap it throughout the ground of the mat. A few fibers from the t-shirt will comply with the adhesive, and cut back the stickiness diploma merely enough to make it easier to remove provides from the mat.
Lowering With out a Mat
Have you learnt that the latest Cricut machine fashions can decrease with out a mat? It’s true!
The Cricut Maker 3, Uncover 3, and Pleasure are all appropriate with Cricut mannequin Wise Provides which will probably be decrease with out a mat.
Merely to clear up some attainable confusion – you can nonetheless use mats with the Maker 3 and Uncover 3 in the event you want to. You merely have the selection to go matless with the Wise Provides, too.
Recommendations on the right way to Retailer Cricut Mats
Probably the greatest methods to extend the lifetime of your chopping mats is to retailer them accurately.
Keep in mind how all mats embrace a clear plastic cowl sheet? On a regular basis trade the cover sheet everytime you’re carried out using the mats. Retailer the mats with the cover sheet on to protect them from any mud or lint that’s maybe hanging spherical your craft desk.
This will likely preserve your mats clear and sticky for longer.
How prolonged do Cricut mats closing?
Sadly, Cricut chopping mats do not closing perpetually. They’re going to start to put on down and lose their stickiness over time.
Usually, a Cricut chopping mat must closing for 40-50 makes use of sooner than it begins to put on down.
Nonetheless, you can extend the lifetime of your mat by cleaning it when it’ll get dirty and defending it between makes use of.
Recommendations on the right way to Clear Cricut Mats
Within the occasion you uncover that your provides aren’t sticking along with they used to, it’s maybe time to clean your chopping mats.
Listed under are a lot of the greatest strategies to clean Cricut chopping mats.
- Take away leftover supplies with a lint roller. Use a up to date lint roller sheet, and gently roll the best of the mat to pick up any small bits of material left over out of your latest enterprise.
- Clear the mat with a plastic scraper machine. Use a Cricut scraper machine or an outdated plastic current card to remove fuzz and bits of material out of your chopping mat. Merely run the sting of the cardboard all through the ground of the mat to launch scrap objects.
- Wipe with alcohol-free baby wipes. Gently wipe the ground of the mat with 1 or 2 wipes until you’ve got bought cleaned the whole ground. Let the mat air dry totally sooner than using it as soon as extra.
- Wash with lukewarm water and a drop of delicate dish cleansing cleaning soap. Let the mat air dry totally sooner than using.
For tons further particulars about cleaning Cricut mats, study this textual content: Recommendations on the right way to Clear a Cricut Mat and Make it Sticky As soon as extra
Recommendations on the right way to Clear the Pink FabricGrip Mat
The pink mat’s adhesive is completely totally different and additional delicate, so that you just’ll ought to cope with it further gently. Most importantly, you can’t use a scraper machine on the pink mat, in any other case you’ll scrape up the adhesive itself.
In its place, use tweezers or the spatula machine to remove as quite a lot of the leftover fabric as you can.
And check out to not concern ought to you possibly can’t take away every closing thread from the pink mat – it ought to work merely as successfully, even when there’s nonetheless a little bit bit leftover fabric or fuzz which you might’t take away.
Recommendations on the right way to Make Your Cricut Mats Sticky As soon as extra
Probably the greatest methods to keep up your mats sticky is to protect them with the clear cowl sheets, and preserve them as clear as attainable. The following best methodology is to clean them with the scraper machine or a moist wipe or a fragile baby wipe.
Nonetheless must you try these methods and nonetheless need your mat was stickier, you can try making use of latest adhesive. Some people have seen success with basting adhesive, tacky glue, or totally different repositionable glue sprays.
Mandatory: I’ve to warn you that making use of adhesive spray to your mats might void the Cricut machine’s assure. When you add glue to your mat, you run the hazard of jamming up the machine with further adhesive. So, please proceed with warning!
Within the occasion you’re like me and suppose resticking the mat seems as if further hassle than it’s value, you can on a regular basis buy a model new mat!
When To Get a New Mat
In case your mat is damaged, torn, or misplaced all of its adhesive power, it’s time to get a model new mat. Just a few of those chopping mat multipacks will probably be surprisingly cheap – or on the very least cheaper than dropping a bunch of fancy vinyl on a mat that doesn’t work anymore.
Additional Cricut Guides and Tutorials
For further particulars in regards to the Cricut devices you really need, study my Remaining Info to Cricut Devices and Gear.
Then, research further about your Cricut machine with these related Cricut articles.
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