Are you looking for the most appropriate and easy methods to clean your Circuit Mat? If yes, you have reached to the right article.

In this read, we are covering EVERYTHING that you should know about Circuit Mat and the best ways to clean it out. 

Whenever a Machine functions, these mats get filled up with some unwanted deposits and need to get free out of it on a regular interval

But, no need to worry! If you don’t know- How to clean a Circuit Mat, we have listed the TOP FOUR METHODS to make this job done with ease. 

But before moving ahead to the methods let us give you a clarity about on basics!

What Are Circuit Mats?

These are a type of sticky mats used in Circuit machines to collect unwanted residues. Here comes the need for cleaning to remove this dust and debris as they will likely stick on your Cutting Mat’s adhesive.

Although, they have a fixed lifespan of 25-40 uses, cleaning them will surely extend their lives to a few more uses. 

And hence, this already tells us Why to Clean Your Cutting Mat?

So, now the main question arises is ‘how do I clean my circuit mat? 

So, without wasting your time. let’s Get Started with the best ways!

How to Clean A Circuit Cutting Mat? 

Give your Cutting mat an extra life and save you money buying a new mat just go through the below-listed steps one-by-one as follows- 

  1. First, use tweezers and remove all large debris seen from naked eyes. 
  2. Don’t start scrapping the mat. If you start Scraping the dust and debris present on the top of the adhesive surface will get pushed inside.
  3. Now, wash the Circuit Cutting Mat using any of the cleaning methods listed below- 
  • Place the Circuit Mat directly into the sink in a flat position by giving it flat support by a firm surface.
  • Now on the entire flat surface pour lukewarm water as it will make the dust-free from the sticky surface. 
  • After running warm water use a plastic, or you can also use a hard-bristled brush to give a gentle scrub to the mat surface. 
  • This gentle scrubbing will clean the entire surface and the next you have to do is to pat dry using a paper towel.
  • Don’t resume it without drying it’s because a moisture-free dry mat will regain its stickiness back. 

Tip: If you ask for our recommendation, we recommend you clean your Circuit Cutting Mat after two or max to max four Knife Blade cuts. The frequency of cleaning should be increased if the material you are cutting leaves a very high amount of residue. 

Well, this is all about cleaning a Circuit Cutting mat, bringing the shine back. Find out!

MORE METHODS TO REJUVENATE THE STICKY SURFACES UNDER DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES

Source: paper crafts connection

It’s necessary to clean your mat and rejuvenate it because of its sticky surface. Now, it depends on you either to do light cleaning on a regular interval or a deeper cleaning when it gets loaded with excessive dirt. 

What Happens to its Stickiness after Cleaning? 

Well, after cleaning the mat is no stickier and will not work as before. 

We will discuss later how to make it sticky again, first have a look at these cleaning methods- 

  • Apply Light Cleaning- 

Effective method when it loses some of its stickiness. 

This is the most effective way to keep your mat sticky for a longer period with a regular cleaning. 

A regular cleaning doesn’t require deep scraping. For this, you just have to scrap the mat’s surface using a plastic scraper. 

Now, you must be wondering about Which Scrapper is the best? Well, you can use anyone either the Circuit brand or any other plastic scraper. 

After scraping the entire surface with applying low pressure you must wipe an alcohol-free baby wipe. 

Want It Stickier? If you want a clear surface with high durability, then you can move ahead with rolling a lint roller over the surface at last. 

A lint roller is usually recommended because it’s been said to be far stickier than the mat surface. This helps the roller to pull out nearly everything (debris) stuck on the mat surface. 

Note- A baby wipe is the first recommended step after scraping as it gently wet down the surface. More this it’s not limited to here it also removes the stuck debris without hampering the mat stickiness. 

  • Rubbing the Surface with Soap & Water- 

The second is to  apply soap only when you have used your mat repeatedly without any break. A regular use will undoubtedly reduce the stickiness of the surface and may need a light scrubbing to get its stickiness back. 

If you think these conditions match your mat situation then for sure the method is for you. Now, the question arises- How to Scrub?

It’s as simple as dishwashing, you just have to apply a small amount of dish soap and then pour warm water over the surface full of debris. 

Then gently start scrubbing using a soft brush and pushing the stuck debris to leave the surface. Lastly, use warm water to rinse the surface off and reattach the mat again in the machine. 

Note- We suggest you use Magic Eraser if you think a soft brush can’t help you out removing the debris. Magic Eraser is a sponge with a slight rough grip, but on the other hand, is gentle to the surface as well. 

  • Spraying Degreaser on the Mat Surface- 

This method is also used when you notice very less or no stickiness on the mat surface. This indicates that there’s a lot of dust on the mat surface and can’t be used further with the same state. 

Why To Degrease? The above situation clears out that in such conditions when no more stickiness is left on the mat, you must move ahead with a stronger method of cleaning. And this is among those stronger methods. 

Spraying degreaser on the surface will result in breaking the strong bond of dust and the mat which further get removed while spraying. 

Job Done? No, the applied degreaser can leave some residue and make the surface oily, to free the mat they can leave a residue, so the mat needs to be cleaned with soap and water after degreasing. 

Note- It’s been reported that a strong degreaser when used may result in diminishing the stickiness of the mat surface. What to Do Then? In that case, you can simply replenish the stickiness of the mat after drying it.  

This is all about how you can clean the Mat Surface with all possible methods available. Depending upon the condition of you can choose the most suitable method for this job.

But, What After Cleaning the Mat? After cleaning the mat, the next comes- 

Drying the Mat Surface- 

Once you are done cleaning the mat surface using any of the listed methods, put the mat on a drying rack. 

A drying rack or hanger will help you dry the mat completely from both surfaces. 

No Matter whatever cleaning you do, it’s very much important to dry the mat to make it sticky again and reuse it in the machine.

If your mat isn’t completely dried and left out with moisture, it will eventually minimize its stickiness and would even result in damaging the machine.  

Note- ALERT! Make sure not to use a towel for drying purposes because rubbing the surface with a towel will cover the stickiness with fibers. These fibers reduce exposure to dust and hamper its effectiveness.  

Some people get confused about- 

HOW DO YOU CLEAN A CIRCUIT MAT WITH DISH SOAP? 

Let’s Answer this out!

This is said to be the simplest and best way to clean a Circuit mat. With just two major things: Soap and Warm Water you can end up cleaning your mat and make it ready for next use.  

One thing that should be kept in mind is that the soap you use must be free of lotions because this lotion could gunk up your Circuit Mat. 

Now, let’s have a look at the question- HOW TO CLEAN CRICUT MAT USING DISH SOAP? 

To wash your Circuit mat full of dirt and debris with soap and warm water just go through the below steps as mentioned and don’t miss the WARNING note at the end. 

  1. Apply DISH SOAP- At first, take out your Circuit mat and then apply dish soap on it along with warm water. 
  2. SCRUB GENTLY- After applying the dish soap gently scrub it with a piece of cloth, or soft brush, or with a magic eraser, make sure to rinse it well.
  3. DRY IT- With completing the above steps your mat is now free of dust or any type of debris from its surface and now you have to make it dry.  

Why to Dry? Drying will bring the Stickiness of the mat surface back and make it fit to reuse. 

WARNING- Never use very hot water (above 70°C) as it’s been said using very hot water will damage the stickiness of the mat and wrap it a little. 

A Wrapped Circuit mat won’t fit in your machine and will be of no use.

Source: lemony fiz

Some Additional Tips-

  1. Simply washing your mat at a fixed interval of time will rejuvenate its original stickiness. 
  2. Test the stickiness of the mat using a scrap of material or your clean finger after your Cricut cutting mat is completely dried. 
  3. In case your mat has gone through any number of projects or uses and also washed several times then for sure you need to look ahead for some other cleaning methods.

This was all about cleaning a Cricut mat using dish soap, but some people also say we can clean these Cricut Mat using Windex also. 

So, Let’s find out- 

How do you clean a Circuit mat with Windex?

To be honest, Windex is a good cleaning product but alone it will not give you the perfect result. 

Well, there is a method that can save your money and help you make your mat’s life a bit longer. In this method Windex as a cleaner gives the best result. 

Let’s have a look at this method and go through the steps listed below for better results. 

Step 1. Take the Circuit mat and then clean it by rinsing. 

Step 2. After cleaning hang, it or keep it to get dry. Make sure you dry it from both sides.

Step 3. Then comes the wipe it procedure in which you can wipe it using a baby wipe without Windex or a normal wipe applying it. 

Note- A baby wipe is not as effective because it will simply remove the dust stuck up on your mat’s sticky surface, but not the others stuck deep in it. 

On the other hand, a squirt of Windex cleaner and quick wipes gives a far better result. Windex is a cleaning spray which easily gets available in supermarkets. 

Confused about Which One Is Better? Don’t be confused, if you ask for our recommendation then without hesitating, we will suggest you Windex to give your Circuit Mat a perfect cleaning. 

If such great methods of cleaning are available, then why put the dirty mat again in the machine. 

Now, have a look on- 

How to Make the Circuit Mat Sticky Again? 

Is thIs something tricky? Not at all, it’s far simpler than cleaning a mat. To make your Circuit Mat Sticky again apply a new Adhesive, we recommend you use a temporary repositionable adhesive like Spray n Bond Basting Adhesive. 

Note- After Applying for the adhesive leave it for drying at least for 10-15 minutes.

Final Words 

Here we came to wrap up our read with covering almost everything that you should know about cleaning a Circuit Mat. Starting from the cause and listing out the best ways with some additional tips of cleaning, we don’t think we left out anything uncovered. 

A Circuit Mat is a daily use product and reusing it after cleaning will save your money buying a new one. Do let us know which method you found the best and suggest to us if you have any new method to do the same in the comments.