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If you love nothing more than spending an afternoon letting your creative juices flow with some Cricut crafting, then we’re sure that you’ll agree with us when we say that your Cricut mat is one of the most essential components of the crafting area.
Your Cricut mat serves as a workspace upon which you place all your materials that will soon become your awesome creations – so it only makes sense that it should eventually begin to get a little bit dirty and lose it sticky texture.
So, what can you do to keep your mat sticky? If your mat’s tackiness isn’t what it used to be and you’re not too sure what to do, rest assured that you don’t have to throw in the towel and purchase a new mat just yet.
Instead, all you have to do is give your Cricut mat a good cleaning and it’ll be back to pristine condition in no time at all. Read on!
Pro Tip: In order to make sure that your Cricut mat stays in good condition for as long as possible, we strongly recommend that you take the time to replace your Cricut’s mat adhesive cover after every use.
Not only will this prevent different fabrics from getting stuck to one another per each design you make/cut, but it will also ensure that your Cricut mat stays free from dust, debris, and general dirt for a longer period of time! You’ll thank us later.
How To Clean Your Cricut Mat: Step-by-Step Instructions
Before we jump any further into this article, we strongly recommend that you ensure to clean your mat at least every 3-4 times that you use it.
That way, you’ll ensure that your Cricut stays in tip-top condition without having to worry about going through the hassle of cleaning it after every use.
As a side note, we strongly recommend that you do this if you tend to use materials/fabrics that can leave quite a bit of mess in their tracks, such as glitter or something similar.
Nevertheless, when you feel that it’s time to give your Cricut a good clean, you should follow the steps below to make sure that you do it correctly:
Get Rid Of Excess Material
First things first, you’re going to need to make sure that you get rid of as much excess material/fabric that you have used as possible, as this will ensure that you are able to clean your Cricut mat more easily.
For the best results, we strongly recommend that you either take a pair of tweezers (or your fingers if you do not have any to hand) and simply pick up all of the material that you can see on your mat.
Alternatively, if you can see large, excess pieces of fabric that just won’t come off, then you could alternatively opt to use a lint roller, as this will help to “stick” to the material and pull it away from your Cricut mat so that you can then dispose of it effectively.
Run Your Mat Under Warm Water
After you have taken the time to remove all of the excess fabric and material from the mat, you will then need to take your mat and place it under warm water, preferably lukewarm.
From there, you will then find that you are able to get rid of all of the smaller, trickier pieces of dirt, debris, and fabric stuck to the mat.
In addition to the running water, we strongly recommend that you take a bristle brush and gently yet firmly begin to work rigorously over the mat’s surface until you can see that the entirety of the mat’s surface has been cleaned of any dirt and debris that got stuck to the surface.
As a side note, if you happen to find that there are some tricky bits of debris that won’t seem to come away from your Cricut mat’s surface, then we recommend that you scrub vigorously in a circular motion to get rid of the more stubborn spots.
Refresh With Sticky Spray!
Once you have gotten all of the dirt, debris, and unwanted fabric/material from the surface of your Cricut mat, you will then need to reinvigorate the surface of your Cricut mat with some sticky spray.
For the best results, we recommend that you take some sticky tape and line the sides of your mat so that the spray does not get anywhere that you don’t want it to be.
After you have done this, you can then take your chosen adhesive spray, give it a shake and then spray it directly over your Cricut mat until the entire surface has been covered.
In order to do this evenly, we recommend that you spray in one, flowing motion in order to ensure that all of the Cricut mat has been covered, while also helping to make sure that it has been distributed evenly throughout the surface of the Cricut mat.
As a side note, adhesive, sticky sprays can be highly flammable, which is why we recommend that you follow any specific instructions given to you by the glue manufacturer.
More often than not, these tailored instructions can usually be found on the back of the can, however, if you ever have any concerns, you can also opt to reach out to the brand’s customer service team.
Need a recommendation? No problem. If you’re currently in the market for some sticky spray and you’re not sure which one to get, then we recommend that you buy the KRYLON Easy Tack General Purpose Fabric Adhesive Spray.
This awesome adhesive spray can be quickly and effortlessly sprayed over the surface of your Cricut mat in order to refresh it with a new, fresh layer of adhesive that’s free from debris and ready to be used during your next crafting session.
What’s more, you can even use this adhesive spray for a variety of other purposes.