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Getting a clean Cricut Mat is easier than you think. Use a little spray cleaner and gently scrape with your Cricut scraper, rinse, and allow to dry.

You have to scrape gently so that you don’t lose the adhesive on your mat. The video below shows you my process. With this method, you don’t need to know how to restick the Cricut Mat.

When all you really need to know is how to clean a Cricut mat. In this video tutorial, I show you how to clean your Cricut mat so that it sticks again. No messy spray adhesive to restick the surface of the sticky mat.

Cricut fabric mat is notorious for having lots of stuff left behind. Especially when you are cutting denim and other cotton fabrics. When cleaning large debris, you can use a pair of tweezers to remove the large pieces over the entire surface of the mat.

cleaning a purple strong grip cricut cutting mat with a plastic scraper

The first method I show in the video is, the best way to clean the surface of the mat. You just need some awesome spray cleaning product, a paper towel, a Cricut scraper tool, a plastic gift card, or an old credit card.

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How To Clean A Cricut Cutting Mat?

Of course, there are other cleaning methods, like the second 1, I show in the video using alcohol-free baby wipes. I use these for the more quick clean-ups. But for my fabric mat, I always have to use the method with the scraper.

In the past, when I was using the old 6-inch Cricut (this was well before the Cricut Joy) you had to put a cartridge in to make it work. The way we did it was to clean all the adhesive off with goo gone, or another remover that won’t eat through the plastic.

There was a lot of clumsy fiddling with the painter’s tape trying to get it right on the edges of the mat. Then I had to use an adhesive spray, or other adhesives to restick the mat. After all that work, it just made more sense to go and grab a new Cricut Mat. Overall it just wasn’t a good idea.

How To Clean A Cricut Mat With Awesome

There are actually a few ways to do this but only two ways that I do it. I have only heard of the other methods to clean a Cricut mat but have not tried it. One of those is dawn dish soap or other soap and water. You take the soapy water, lather your mat, and then rinse with lukewarm water and allow it to dry.

clean Cricut cutting mats, green standard grip, purple strong grip and blue light grip

How To Clean a Cricut Mat and Make it Sticky Again

1 way to clean your Cricut Mats is with baby wipes and the other is using Awesome spray. The only time I use the baby wipes only when it’s not too bad, as long as there’s no paper stuck to it and stuff.

Basically, you take the baby wipes, or Clorox wipes work also, and you wipe off in a circular motion the debris that you see. Gently.

Then allow it to dry and put the protective sheet back on, and that’s it!

And once you get all the dust and dirt off, your mat is sticky again. No need for adhesives, painter’s tape or anything else to clean your mats.

What To Do If Your Cricut Mat Is Not Sticky After Cleaning

Cleaning a Cricut mat takes some care. If the Cricut mat is not sticky after cleaning, it usually means you have scraped too hard.

You don’t need a ton of pressure to get all the dirt off. You only need enough pressure to remove the residue. But you need to leave the glue adhesive that is on your mats when you buy them behind.

cleaned green standard grip vinyl cutting mat

I always pay very close attention to the edges. Because, for me, they’re the worst and I’m horrible about putting the protector back onto my mat. Again I only use this method when the mat isn’t too bad. But just bad enough for it not to stick very well anymore.

dirty vinyl cutting mats sprayed with totally awesome dollar tree spray

How To Clean Cricut Mats

Because I use it so often I usually clean my green mat with Awesome. Which you can get from Dollar Tree. You’ll need:

  • Totally Awesome Spray
  • a spray bottle
  • water
  • paper towels
  • plastic scraper or credit card
clean Cricut cutting mats, green standard grip, purple strong grip and blue light grip

You mix them one to one. This means 1 part water to 1 part Awesome spray.

You also need a plastic scraper, paper towels, and a blow dryer. And you just saturate with this spray. Optionally you can use a lint roller to remove larger chunks beforehand.

I pay close attention to the edges and I scrape in a circular motion, very gently, but with enough pressure to get the gunk off. You just keep scraping, until you have done the whole mat.

I’m horrible about putting my protector back on. So the edges of my Cricut mats are always the worst, right at the edge where the adhesive starts. Also Awesome is pretty strong so you want to make sure you’re doing this in a pretty well-ventilated area.

close up of standard grip cutting mat with dirt and debris on it

How To Clean A Vinyl Cutting Mat?

And once you think you’ve gotten it completely clean, you’re just going to take a couple of paper towels and wipe it clean. Then you can rinse with warm water.

Obviously, it’s not going to be sticky while wet. I like to let mine air dry, or just put them in front of the fan, depending on what I’m doing. But for this video, I did use a blow dryer to blow it dry.

You need to clean your mat on a flat surface and very, very gently scrap so that you don’t scrape off the adhesive that is there. This cleaning process is a great way to extend the life of your mat.

Troubleshooting:

  • My mat isn’t sticky anymore: You are scraping too hard, and you need little to no pressure when removing the dirt from your Cricut Mat.
  • The color is coming off my mat: That is going to happen, it doesn’t affect the performance of the mat or the Cricut Machine.

Materials

  • Awesome spray
  • Paper Towels
  • Plastic Scraper

Tools

  • Cricut Mat (dirty)
  • Spray Bottle

Instructions

  1. In a spray bottle mix, awesome spray 1 part water to 1 part awesome.
  2. Spray the Cricut Mat saturating thoroughly. dirty vinyl cutting mats sprayed with totally awesome dollar tree spray
  3. Using a plastic scraper or a credit card, you want to gently scrape in a circular motion to remove stuck-on debris.cleaning a purple strong grip cricut cutting mat with a plastic scraper
  4. Once you are satisfied, rinse with lukewarm water and pat with paper towels.
  5. Allow drying completely before using.

I usually work my way down to one of my mats and then I clean them all at one time. If you are looking for more info on cutting machines check out Cricut VS Silhouette | Side By Side the Cameo 4 Vs The Maker. Another great post is How To Use Infusible Ink With The Cricut Mug Press.

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4 Comments

  1. I do appreciate all the help with crafts and hearing who needs help or looking at things made. Right now I don’t have a Cricut machine but the ones who do this is so helpful Im sure… So much to do on this machine for people who really get into alot of crafts school homework etc. thanks I do enjoy this site

  2. I have been crafting with my Cricut machine for about 4 years and just this week put a mat into “retirement” by cutting it up to use in a project. I always clean my mats. True, the sticky diminishes a little each time, but it sure beats buying new mats all the time. After a mat has seriously lost its stick, I do use use a product called “Pixie Spray” to re-stick them, but you have to be careful and not get too much of the spray on them or they stick too much! Cleaning mats is a must, and this article’s information is great!

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