MONEY SAVING TIP FOR YOUR CRICUT MAT IS THE TIP OF THE WEEK (#25)

Hello Everyone!
Hope you all had an enjoyable Valentine's Day.

This week I wanted to bring you a tip on how you can prolong the life of your Cricut cutting mat. Depending on how much you use it you can really go through the mats but with today's tip that may be a thing of the past.

You will need to invest in 3 things: a foam brush, a medium sized plastic container with a lid & Aleene's Tack It Over & Over Glue. Aleene's is sold at Joanne Fabrics & Michael's. There are some online vendors too. It runs anywhere from $2.79-$3.99.

Using the Aleene's is definitely a lot cheaper than having to buy a cutting mat every other month.



Here are the steps to putting the tacky back into your cutting mat:

1- Remove the transparent sheet from on top of the mat & set aside.

2- Take equal parts water & Aleene's Tack It Over & Over glue & mix it in a plastic container. You will have created your sticky mat solution at this point.

3-Take your foam brush and dip it into the solution applying a thin amount. A little goes a long way so you do not need to apply a lot of the solution. Then brush even strokes as if you were painting a canvas making sure to cover the entire cutting surface.

4-Once the entire cutting surface is covered, set the mat aside to dry.

5-While it is drying rinse out your foam brush immediately, making sure to get all the solution out of it. By doing it right after usage you will be able to use it for this application everytime.

6-Once your mat has dried clear, condition it prior to use by applying firm, even pressure in a blotting motion with your hands on the entire cutting surface.

7-Then you can place your cardstock or cutting material on the mat & begin using the mat or if you simply wanted to prep it for future use it is now ready. Place the transparent sheet that came with the mat over it & store until you are ready to use it.
That's all there is to it.

Happy Crafting!