I felt so confused when I first got my Cricut.
I feel overwhelmed with all of the differences between Cricut Mats, what materials you should use with each one of them, and how to clean and care for them, you are in the right place.
The purpose of this article is to help you avoid the same doubts I had about the Cricut Mats and provide you with the right knowledge about them. If you read this article, you will be a PRO!
Today we are going to tackle one of the most frequently asked Cricut questions, let’s learn what a Cricut Mat is and which ones are available.
Cricut makes 4 different mats to use with their Explore Air machines: Cricut® LightGrip Cutting Mat, Cricut® StandardGrip Cutting Mat, Cricut® StrongGrip Cutting Mat, and the Cricut® FabricGrip Cutting Mat.
Each of these mats is used to cut many different types of materials (from lightweight materials like printer paper and washi tape sheets to heavyweight materials like faux leather and corrugated cardboard). If you don’t use the correct mat for your project, you risk running your materials and then have a tough time removing them from the mat.
What do you need Cricut Mats？
Many people wonder if mats are needed for all our DIY projects.
Well, the answer is yes, you will always need to use a mat for each project. This is because every material you cut needs to be stable and solid on the surface; otherwise it will move, which is the source of the disaster.
Before I got the Cricut Mat, I have never understood why there are different colors of mats, if you don’t know what Mat does like me, this is a interesting thing for you to know.
- StrongGrip Mat (Purple): Provide a strong adhesive surface perfect for securing heavyweight materials. such as thick cardstock, specialty cardstock, magnet material, chipboard etc
- LightGrip Mat (Blue): It is specially formulated for lightweight materials, such as office paper, pearl paper, printer paper, vellum, vinyl, washi sheets etc.
- StandardGrip Mat (Green): Perfect for a wide range of medium-weight materials, such as cardstock, printable iron-on, pearl paper, vellum, printer paper, window cling, printable fabric etc.
- Fabric Mat (Pink): Made from higher-quality, higher-density PVC to withstand the increased pressure of the Rotary Blade
You have the option of either purchasing the 12 x 12″ Cricut Mat or the larger 12×24″ Cricut Mat. Both of these sized mats work in all the Air Explore Machines as well as the Cricut Maker machine. So sizing is truly dependent on the size of the projects that you will be working on.
Here is a quick explanation of the mats, their grip and the material you should be using with them:
StrongGrip Mat (Purple)
The StrongGrip mat is brilliant for heavyweight materials.
You need the strong sticky grip in order to keep the thicker material as the machines have to apply more pressure to cut through these materials.
- Glitter cardstock
- Specialty cardstock
- Magnet material
- Chipboard
- Poster board
LightGrip Mat (Blue)
The blue LightGrip Cutting Mat has just enough sticky grip to hold material firmly in place during cutting, yet it allows for easy removal of the lighter weight material when you are finished cutting.
- office paper
- cardstock
- light cardstock
- construction paper
- printable iron-on
StandardGrip Mat (Green)
StandardGrip Cutting mat is perfect for cutting medium-weight materials, and it also has the perfect amount of grip that makes for easy removal of your material.
- Vinyl
- Pearl Paper
- Vellum
- Printer Paper
Fabric Mat (Pink)
The pink FabricGrip mat has specially been created to allow those with a Cricut Maker to cut through even the thinnest of materials without the need for fabric stabilizer, just on its own with the Rotary blade and the Cricut Maker.
- Bonded fabric
- Any type of fabric with the rotary blade
Where can I buy Cricut Mats?
I am pretty sure that every craft store has them on hand. Plus I am quite busy and going to the store is not an option for me. However, I always buy these products online so I can compare prices.
When I first got my Cricut, I got this pack on amazon because It has all four mats.
It’s always a good idea to check out the Official Cricut website. They have everything and sometimes outstanding deals.
How to care for and clean my Cricut mat?
Taking good care of your mat is very important to ensure that your cuts are always nice and smooth.
We have published such an article in the previous post. Check out the method here.
Special gift to you
This is two new products launched by our LinkedGoVinyl, it suitable for Silhouette Cameo and Cricut Explore One/Air/Air 2/Maker
It has been sold on Amazon.com, and we have received a lot of good reviews from customers.
- LinkedGo cameo cutting mat 12×12 inch work perfectly in Silhouette Cameo 4/3/2/1 and Cricut Explore One/Air/Air 2/Maker
- LinkedGo cutting mat square gridded area size: 12 x 12 Inch, minimum accuracy: 0.25 x 0.25 Inch contain exact grid lines, which will greatly help the cutting process.
- 12×12 inch cutting mat is a multi-purpose mat that is perfect for a wide range of huge size materials.
- LinkedGo cutting mats are 3 PCS in pack. Our replacement cutting mats are made of PET which is durable and environmental-friendly.
- Keep the clear film cover on the cutting mat when storing to keep cutting mat stickiness free from scraps and dust.
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