My experience with cleaning & re-sticking my Silhouette mat.

[Barbara Jay]

I made a mess of my mat with some very fibrous black card stock. I scraped until I took a lot of the adhesive off.

Several told me of ways to rescue this mat.
I bought the Crafter's Companion cleaner and spray adhesive. $19 with shipping
First it took two applications of cleaner to clean the mat. It has to sit for 30 minutes and must be cleaned with a rag. The scraper is not useful, because it is very liquid. I washed the mat with hot soapy water and let it dry. Then I sprayed it with adhesive which was uneven and a mess. It is clear and difficult to see if you have it perfeclty even

I re-cleaned the mat AGAIN and bought the Zig wide 2 way glue pen.
That was also a problem. It is difficult to judge how thick to apply the glue and the glue leaked under the masking tape on the edge of the mat that is not supposed to have adhesive . The mat was so sticky it took fibers off of Gina K card stock which has a hard finish. I had to use Undu to remove adhesive from the edges that should not have adhesive and repeatedly pat the mat with an old sweat shirt to make it less sticky.

Over 3 hours later I decided I will buy a new mat when I need one rather than try to rescue an old one. .
I spent more money on supplies to rescue the mat than it would have cost for a new mat. Plus the time and experimentation of doing this is not worth it
Just my 2� worth.

[Joan B]

I agree. Sometimes it is better to just buy something rather than try and rescue it.

[Leeann34]

I agree as well. But I will resort to my favorite method of mixing Aleen's tack it over and over glue if I need a quick fix, you don't need to scrape the mat first, just clean it with soap and water. I keep some already mixed with water but I haven't used it in a long time. I like that it's not overly sticky like new Cricut mats.

[Barbara Jay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leeann34

I agree as well. But I will resort to my favorite method of mixing Aleen's tack it over and over glue if I need a quick fix, you don't need to scrape the mat first, just clean it with soap and water. I keep some already mixed with water but I haven't used it in a long time. I like that it's not overly sticky like new Cricut mats.

What proportions of water and Aleen's Tack it Over and Over do you mix and use?

[lylacfey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leeann34

I agree as well. But I will resort to my favorite method of mixing Aleen's tack it over and over glue if I need a quick fix, you don't need to scrape the mat first, just clean it with soap and water. I keep some already mixed with water but I haven't used it in a long time. I like that it's not overly sticky like new Cricut mats.

I use Aleene's TIOO. I use 50/50 ratio. I use Cricut mats or quilting template to make all my cutting mats. I know this might be overkill for some but I let my mats dry 24 hours. I usually make a new mat when I am cleaning up all my supplies after a project.

This is something I noticed about the new Silhouette mats. They are a thin quilting template. The adhesive is double sided tape. A corner of mine peeled off that's how I noticed. I realized reconditioning those mats is just putting adhesive on top of tape. The old Silhouette mats were made differently. I always made new mats with a thicker quilting template.

BarbaraJay I am sorry you spent so much on supplies. When I did the spray I just used a big can of quilting spray I bought at WalMart for under $6.

I have used ZigWay but I used it on the Cricut mats which are thicker. ZigWay, for me, is not the most frugal option. I only use the pens mainly for small items. Buying the bigger pens to resticky a mat was not something I was willing to spend my crafting dollars on when there are other options that I can use in my supply arsenal.

If anyone is reading this because they are researching supply costs before buying a die cutting machine. I know it sounds like I must make ten billion mats a year, lol. I make about five a year. I cut a variety of materials. I like to keep my mats separate for it's specific material. My paper crafting mats can last over three years.

Hope that helps.