Mat 'glue balls'

[talanhart]

I clean my mats instead of regluing them. I use the baby wipes and I can't believe how sticky they are once I clean the mats and let them dry. A freshly cleaned mat holds my vinyl so well, that some of the paperbacking of the vinyl sticks to it.

[cydnew]

I have only had a few glue balls, and cleaning does help at first, but after that, I agree with SandyJ that my Easy tacked mats are better than the original glue. I am always sad when a mat has been used & resprayed so much that it finally just wears out & I have to use the "real-glue" mats.

[lindamac]

To remove all the glue from my mat, I use a product called De-Solv-it which you can find in the laundry aisle in Walmart. Spray it on, let it sit for a minute and them use a scraper of some sort and go over the mat. I use a plastic spatula that you use to put putty on something. It has a sharp edge. Then use dish soap to remove the rest of the De-solv-it. Works like a charm. I just bought the repositionable Xyron film to restick my mat and am very impressed with it. I didn't even use the Xyron machine, just opened the film and stuck the sticky stuff on my mat. I also have used the Pazzle mat and like it much better than the Cricut mat. It lasts much, much longer. You have to cut a little off the edge for it to fit in the Cricut.

[sandyj]

After studying my mats, I've concluded glue balls are just about unavoidable. The original glue looks like it is sprayed on in big 'blotches' (rather than a fine spray) that are flat to start with. What I think happens is that each time something is put on the mat and pulled up, it tugs on the glue splotch and the edges of the splotch get pulled up until it finally turns into a glue ball (sorta like that rubbery glue gunk they use to hold stuff together in the mail).

SOOooo, I don't fool with it anymore. As soon as I get a new pack of mats, I WD40 them, then hit them with Krylon easy-tack. Makes the mats so easy to use, I've forgotten about the stupid glue balls. Good riddance, I say!

[btails]

Todd you had posted the baby wipe before and have used it and works great...renews my mats....even dryed out baby wipes with a little water added and for me you can't beat them