I love my Cricut, but I do not love how expensive the mats are and how quick they stop working. A few years ago I took a Cricut class @ AC Moore. It would have been a complete waste of my time and $10 except I met a lady there that told me how to re-condition Cricut Mats. She said they work as good as new. I think they only work about 90% as the new ones, but that’s good enough for me. She said she actually buys flexible cutting mats and uses those, but I've never tried.
You will need:
Zapps Lift off
Razor or paint scrapper
Aleene's Tack it over and Over
(It's fairly silly that I even bothered to take pics, since both the products are clear, but it seemed wrong to not have any pics, so here they are. At least they're in focus)
Check out the one on the right. It's my orginal that came w/ the machine. 
Step 1:
Cover the old mats with Zapps . The stuff stinks and must be toxic, so leave the windows open and make sure you’ve laid down lots of newspapers (it will damage paint, furniture etc.) Give it a couple of minutes to work.
Step 2:
Scrap all the old gunk off
Step 3:
Wipe of excess Zapps with lots of paper towels. Zapps is oil-based, so don't try to use water to rinse them off. It’s not even a bad idea to let them dry a little
Step 4: Put a very very THIN layer of Ailenes on the mat-harldly any. I think a sponge roller would be fabulous, but I just used a regular foam brush. If you put it on too thick, your paper will never come off the mat.
Step 5: Let it dry (at least an hour).
Trouble shooting:
***** If your paper’s not sticking, then add a little more Aleene's
*****If the paper won’t come off the mat, don't panic. Put a fleece or flannel blanket on it. The lint from the blanket will help it be less sticky. Use a piece of scrap paper the first time you use your new mat, just in case.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for sharing this! I went to 3 different stores last Saturday looking for a new Cricut mat (not wanting to pay for it in the first place) and there was not one in stock!!! BTW-I came across this blog from Sugardoodle posting about your brownies on Facebook. How fun!
ReplyDeleteHello, I am a new fan of your website, having just stumbled across it tonight. I, too, have needed a refurbished Cricut mat and found a very simple solution. Have you ever used spray glue? It is one of the best inventions of ALL time. It comes in different strengths, and a light coat of the wonderful stuff completely makes the mat useful again. No cleaning, no coating, and no mess if you do it outside! :) Just a spray like spraying a light coat of hairspray. -- Good luck! (Oh, and the best part is .... I found my last can of spray glue at Honk's dollar store!! -- It is usually spendy, but what a steal that was!)
ReplyDeleteI need to check out the spray glue
ReplyDeleteLovely your recent post and thanks for nice sharing
ReplyDeleteI refurbish mine with a 2-way glue marker. let it dry, then its good as new, no cleaning or bad smells.
ReplyDeleteYou're a rock star! Thank you so much for sharing this. I found you through another website (bad blogger, I don't remember who! but it was a link to your St. Patrick decor).
ReplyDeleteAnywho, love your ideas-I've started following you so now you only need 971 more :)
I saw a Cricut class video that showed how to condition your cutting mat for the first use. Take your hands and press them all over the mat. The oil from your hands cuts down on the stickiness of a new matt. Also I clean mine off with a lint roller whenever I have sticking issues. I will try one if not both of these re-sticking tricks in the future!
ReplyDeleteI forgot about the lint roller tip-that a good one and I use that too.
ReplyDelete