How to clean Cricut mat - Crafter's guide

Cricut mat is something that comes into contact with the material while working with the cutting machine and it attracts lots of dust and small particles of the mat. If your mat is also not that sticky anymore like when you bought it and caught some dust, this post will help you on how to properly clean it.

As the Cricut mat is used to hold the craft material steady while making any cuts and generally mat loses the stickiness within few rounds, you will need to change it often. But, if you know how to clean it properly, you can increase the usability and lifetime of your mat. Let's start with the 5 easy steps to clean your mat professionally that will increase the use-time of your mat with no extra cost.

5 easy steps to clean your Cricut mat

1. Determine your mat type :

There are many different types of mat available with the different properties of stickiness and the material it is made of. So the very first thing is to find out which type of mat you are using. There are different 4 types of mat available as per the usage. Cricut provides them in different color themes so users can identify them.

Light grip: It has a light stickiness and is used for cutting paper, cardstock, or regular vinyl. This is the very light version of the mat that you can use with normal materials.

Standard grip: this type of mat contains a bit of medium-level stickiness. Mostly used for iron-on and glitter cardstock artworks. it comes with green color, so if you have a green mat, this is the type.

Strong grip: Purple color mat is the strong grip that is used for wood, thick cardstock, poster board, and leather cuttings.

Fabric grip: the pink color mat is created for fabric.

If you have a green, blue, or purple mat, you can clean it with baby wipes and other wet materials but if you are using fabric grip the pink one, it is not advised to use any wet and harsh material like a scraper. This may damage the mat so be careful.

2. Remove larger debris

You can use a set of tweezers to remove larger pieces from the mat. instead of scraping the mat itself that may push debris further into the sticky surface just use a set of tweezers and remove large pieces of materials from the mat.

3. Transfer tape and baby wipes

If you are using a pink type of mat, the sticky tape will be the best option instead of baby wipes or other material that may damage the mat. You can use the sticky tape on the mat surface, it will hold the small particles and fabric fibers with it. It will also transfer some stickiness from the tape to the mat which is a good thing.

For the other three types of mats, you can use non-alcohol wipes and a non-bleach baby wipe. it will clean light dust and dirt from the mat. please remember do not to use baby wipes on your fabric mat that is a pink mat.

4. Use soap and water

You can use soap and water mixture to clean the mat thoroughly. Just scrub the mat using a plastic brush while running the mat under lukewarm water. it will remove the stuck-on debris from the mat. If this not works, you can dip the mat into soap water for like 10 minutes and then use a brush to remove the scraps. Again, this method is not for the pink mat.

5. Air Dry

Now you can hang up your mat and let it dry. do not keep it in direct sunlight as it may affect the stickiness of the mat. Let it dry and the stickiness will return.

By following these steps I am sure you will add some more rounds of use to your mat before replacing it. Let me know in the comment if you face any issues or need any help with the process. You can also share the results with other users by posting photos on social media.