It s important to not make the edges sticky so they won t ruin the cutting machine.
Cricut light grip mat not sticky.
You can condition or prime your cutting mat to make it less sticky.
Using a clean t shirt or sheet repeatedly press the fabric against the sticky portion of your cutting mat.
That is the reason the mat is designed sticky or tacky.
Give your mat a light cleaning when it loses some of its stickiness.
When you first open your cricut mat you ll notice that they are super sticky.
Often times i find that i have to dull the adhesive using a shirt or towel so that it doesn t damage my materials.
Apply plain rubbing alcohol or goo gone on the surface then go over it with a scrapper.
Once the edges of the mat are taped use a spray adhesive or glue stick.
However in doing so this accelerates the wear on the adhesive.
Prepare your cricut mats before you use them to avoid my mistakes.
This is to prevent any adhesive that is added from getting onto the edges which may interfere with your machine s rollers.
Cricut mats are sticky and the level of stickiness dictates how secure the grip is.
When you first get your mat or after you restick your mat it will probably be too sticky especially for light or medium weight materials.
The rotary blade doesn t drag on the material the same way the standard fine point blade does.
The green standard grip mat is included with the cricut explore air 2 while the blue light grip mat is included with the cricut maker.
First scrape it off with a plastic scraper either cricut brand or any other type of hard plastic scraper.
Step 1 remove any remaining stickiness to ensure the adhesive spray will evenly coat the mat.
If your cricut mat is just a little dirty it might be best to start with a baby wipe to gently wash away any material build up that s been gathering.
The stronger the grip the heavier the material like chipboard or thick card stock you can cut and the lighter the grip the thin or lightweight materials like regular paper and vinyl you can cut.
After a dozen or so cuts mats will lose their sticking power.
The green mat is not too sticky and not too under sticky it s just standard.
But if can be too sticky for sure.
The fabricgrip mat is a bit thicker and stronger than the other mats but isn t as sticky it s intended to just keep the fabric in place as the rotary blade or bonded fabric blade travels over it.
The magic of the cricut machine is the fact that the material you are cutting or writing on stays put while it is being cut.
Though to be honest it can be a little overly sticky when brand new.
Secure the edges of your cricut mat using masking or painter s tape.
Then wipe an alcohol free baby wipe or roll a lint roller over the surface.
The cricut standard grip mat.
Before you restick your cricut or silhouette cutting mat it s important to tape around all the edges.
