Craft Edge

I just cleaned my two 24" mats tonight and I noticed that they have some areas that are starting to lose their tackiness. I think I will have to re-glue them pretty soon.

MadGrammy wrote:I use the Aileen's Tack-it over and over to restick my mats.

I have instructions on how to do it on my blog : http://www.craftychatter.com/2009/11/re ... -mats.html

I do the same thing. I wash the mat. Let it dry throughly then use a expired credit card to apply the glue. The trick it to use a very THIN layer of glue on the mat. (It only takes a tiny amount of glue to make the mat sticky again.) I let it dry for several days before using and it worked great. I was using Bazzill cardstock with it though so maybe that makes a difference vs using a Walmart Georgia Pacific or Joann's thin cardstock.

janmowvmom wrote:here is what I do to restick,I have tried about everything not zig yet.

First I clean my mat with hot water and dow scrbbing bubles bath cleaner and one of the mr clean magic sponge. You are not cleaning off the left on sticky stuff just dust, dirt and paper.

Let dry really good Over night.

tape off edges with wide masking tape then I tape it to a corner on a wall in my bathroom so it flaps back and forth.

Take my hairdryer on high heat and heat it until it is warm to the touch. then I spray it with Krylon easy stick. reheat and repeat.

Let it cool completely.

Works great and lasts a long time too.

Just wondering why you heat the mat?

Eva

I use the Elmers Repositionable glue stick. It's cheap and works perfect.

When you use the Elmers, how long after you do your mats do you wait for the glue to dry?

I tried the Elmer's stick glue with lousy results. I bought the Xyron repositionable 9 inch refill cartridge, separate the two papers of the cartridge and lay my mat on it and press real hard and then do it with the other half of the mat. Xyron is fantastic! I have tried quilt basting spray, repositionable spray glue, zig glue, you name it, I've tried it. I have found Xyron to be the best. It is expensive but with a coupon, not so bad. I can even wash the mat to clean it and the Xyron is still there and still sticky.

I use stencil adhesive but am careful to spray lightly....

lindamac wrote:I tried the Elmer's stick glue with lousy results. I bought the Xyron repositionable 9 inch refill cartridge, separate the two papers of the cartridge and lay my mat on it and press real hard and then do it with the other half of the mat. Xyron is fantastic! I have tried quilt basting spray, repositionable spray glue, zig glue, you name it, I've tried it. I have found Xyron to be the best. It is expensive but with a coupon, not so bad. I can even wash the mat to clean it and the Xyron is still there and still sticky.

lindamac- You Rock! I have tried almost everything except for the aleen's with varying results of not too bad to aweful .......I was just in the middle of trying the quilt basting spay when I read your post. I happened to have a 50% off coupon so I thought "why not"? This is a TOTAL cricut life changer! I have been working with the "restuck" mats for almost a week. The results are impressive. The price isn't that bad, really. You do get 40'.

I would be interested in how you work with the 9" width or do work with the 5" width.

For all who are interested this is how I applied it to my mat.

Do not transfer the sticky tape onto the cellophane. I just unrolled it an threw it away. I couldn't figure out how to take the rolls off the cartridge, so I just left them on.
The process is very similar to transferring vinyl to transfer tape.
1) taped off the mat with painters tape.
2) unrolled enough to cover .25" of the painters tape around the edge of the 9" x 12" length and width. (I did not precut it) Cut the amount with the craft knife.
3) pieced together the remaining 3 x 12" width and length with a little left over and a little waste. Trimmed and cut everything with my craft knife.
4) I used a squeegee and just use the same motion that you do with vinyl.
5) Peeled the wax backing off.
6)Viola! Ready to use!

CAUTION! The Xyron repositional glue transfers easily. So be careful where you put it or what it touches. It will transfer. For example if your Xyron tape touches something before it touches your mat your mat will have a bald spot of the place where there was no glue.

I use the Krylon someone else mentioned Light spray 2 times let dry....I have also used the zig pen also but save that stuff for other projects.

I have three mats.

Mat #1 has Ailene's tack it over and over. And it is a very aggressive glue, but it has held up great. I have only applied Ailene's once and used that mat excusivley this past weekend at a crop and for the past 9 months or so.

Mat #2 and #3 were bought at the same time and still have the original glue.

Mat #2 needs to be restuck.

Mat #3 just needs a good cleaning and I should be able to get a few more months out it before it needs to restuck.

Mat #2 will be my experiment with the xyron repositionable, later this week.

I have lots of cutting to do the next few weeks, and I need to get my mats up to speed.
I will update on my experiment in a few weeks.