What Cricut Cutting Mat Should I Use?

Your Cricut Cutting Mat Guide + Free Printable!

Hello, crafters! I'm Courtney from Craft-e-Corner, and today, I'm thrilled to walk you through the world of die cutting mats. Cricut cutting mats are indispensable tools when working with Cricut machines. These mats are designed to provide a stable surface for your materials during the cutting process, ensuring precision in your crafting projects. In this video, we'll explore the basics, understand which mats are available, and discover what each mat is best suited for.

Mat Sizes and Compatibility

One of the key considerations is mat size and compatibility. For Cricut Maker and Cricut Explore machine series users, you have two primary mat sizes to choose from: the 12x12 inch and the 12x24 inch. 

Mats designed for Cricut Joy are also available in two lengths: 4.5x6.5 inch and 4.5x12 inch. Mats for Cricut Joy Xtra are sized 8.5x12 inch.

Types of Cricut Cutting Mats

Now, let's explore the different types of Cricut cutting mats:

• Light Grip (Blue): This mat has the lightest adhesion and is perfect for delicate, lightweight materials like vellum, copy paper, and some cardstocks. It's particularly ideal for cutting vinyl, a popular choice among crafters.

• Standard Grip (Green): The standard grip mat is designed for medium-weight materials. It works wonderfully with thicker cardstock, acetate, and infusible ink. It's one of the most commonly used mats for various crafting projects.

• Strong Grip (Purple): As the name suggests, this mat offers strong adhesion, making it suitable for heavier materials such as leather, basswood, and chipboard. While it's more of a specialty mat, it's essential for projects involving these heavyweight materials.

• Fabric Grip (Pink): This mat is designed to hold fabric, and it can be used with both the Cricut Maker and the Explore series machines. You can use bonded fabric with the Explore Air 2 on this mat, and if you have the Cricut Maker, you can apply fabric material directly to the mat without a backing. It's a fantastic choice for those who love cutting fabric or felt.

• Card Mat (Blue): The card mat works with Cricut Insert Cards and Cricut Cutaway Cards to help you craft beautiful birthday, thank you or just-because cards. Cricut makes a card mat sized for most Cricut cutting machines - 4.5x6.25 inch Card Mat for Cricut Joy, 4.75x6.625 inch Card Mat for Cricut Joy Xtra, and 13x16.25 inch Card Mat 2x2 for Cricut Maker and Explore series machines.

Visual Aid for Identifying Mats

To assist you in quickly identifying mats, you can download our free visual reference. Print it and put it in your craft room to help you remember the differences between the mats.

• Light Grip (Blue): Delicate materials.
• Standard Grip (Green): Medium-weight materials.
• Strong Grip (Purple): Heavy materials.
• Fabric Grip (Pink): Fabric and felt.

Understanding the world of Cricut cutting mats is essential for every Cricut crafter. If you have questions about choosing the right mat for specific materials or projects, don't hesitate to ask in the comments section. Also, we offer bundles of Cricut mats on our website, and you can find them in our Cricut Machine Mats collection. Thanks for watching!

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