If you’ve been with me for a while, you know I have this thing about Sticky Stuff. In fact, if I had a nickel for every time I shouted the praise of Sticky Mats and Sticky Spray, I would be sitting under a palapa in Mexico instead of looking at the snow outside my window. But… I digress…
What I really want to tell you today is that I’m adding a New Sticky Thing to my toolbox. It has been sitting next to my desk for almost 2 years, but I didn’t even think about how useful it might be until a few days ago.
So what’s my new Secret Weapon? It’s the Sticky Cutting Mat from my Silhouette Cutting Machine. And, you are probably thinking… What’s the big deal? Let’s just say that I never considered using this self-stick wonder separate from the cutting machine.
My big “aha” moment came as I was doing experiments with the cutting machine — and comparing the results to doing the same task by hand.
Clearly, it’s more accurate to cut circles with a computer-driven cutter. The paper goes onto the sticky cutting mat, the mat goes into the machine and the machine does it’s magic.
As I watched, I wondered if the sticky cutting mat would help me make more accurate circles with Olfa’s Circle Cutter. Hmmm… off to the studio with a Sticky Cutting Mat and a stack of freezer paper.
I gave myself a few sheets of paper for practice. (I always seem to put too much pressure on the circle cutter.) I stuck the paper on the cutting mat, shiny side down, cut the circle and peeled up the paper to see how well it worked.
After getting warmed up, I peeled the paper off my last attempt…
… and found just the smallest bit of mis-match at the start/stop point of my circle. Not bad!
For comparison, I put a sheet of the freezer paper on a regular cutting mat and cut another circle with the Circle Cutter. For me, using a plain (non-stick) mat was not nearly as accurate.
A New Secret Weapon?
I’m not convinced that a Sticky Cutting Mat is going to make it onto my short list of Secret Weapons, but I will definitely keep one in the studio. The mats won’t hold up to everyday rotary cutting, but there are times when they will be a perfect “sticky” solution.
Resources
I use a Silhouette Cameo cutting machine, so I am most familiar with the Silhouette Cutting Mats. Similar mats are available for Cricut machines (and most likely from any company that makes a computer-driven cutter). Both are readily available doing a quick search on Google for Silhouette Cutting Mat or Cricut Cutting Mat.
If you are not familiar with my favorite sticky tools, you can ready about them here.
Better Tools for Better Rubbings: My Favorite Tips explains how I use Sticky Mats and Sticky Spray when I make Paintstik Rubbings.
Tool Talk: Grip-n-Grip Mats has great information on how to clean those Sticky Mats
Your Turn
What would you do with a Sticky Cutting Mat? Post away! I’m sure you can come up with some ingenious possibilities.
My Silhouette mats have the same tendency to become unsticky as other sticky products do. Are there different tips for refreshing them, or should I try the ones in your Grip-n-Grip post?
Hi Barb, if you do a quick Google Search “sticky cutting mat” and you’ll find all kinds of suggestions. Since I have not tried any of these methods, I have no idea which work and which don’t. So, my best advice is to test a small area on your mat, or test with a mat you’ve already consigned to the “not worth keeping” pile. 😉
Why not just iron the fabric onto the freezer paper, then run it through the cutting machine?? Then your fabric circles are done! This works with my Cricut..
Hi Linda, thanks for chiming in!. Your idea would would work fine if I were cutting fabric. In this case, I was looking for a way to cut a bunch of circles in a large sheet of freezer paper. Think of it as making a stencil. The cutting machine is wonderful, but there are times when I want to cut things without sending them through the cutter. The sticky cutting mats will be great for those times when I don’t want the material to shift.
You can restore the stickiness to a Silhouette cutting mat for a short while by washing it gently with warm sudsy water and letting it air dry.
But nothing lasts forever. When it’s time to buy a new one, check the prices on Amazon before going automatically to the Silhouette store.
Thanks, Nikki. I’ll give that a try. I have a couple of mats that are getting pretty grungy.
I spray my old Silhouette mat with 404 when it’s losing its grip. Hard to peel off the first cut with freezer paper though!
Another great use for sticky spray! I just purchased a new 12×24 Silhouette Mat and had the same issue — very tough to peel up the freezer paper the first few times. It will get better as the mat picks up a bit of dust or lint.