"These are replacement mats. I would like to pass along a couple items of advice regarding the mats. First of all, keep 2 on hand. Yes they are super tacky at first. Some say to stick it to something linty and that will decrease the stickyness. This does work but it also cuts the lifespan short. I read somewhere that someone had better luck removing paper from the mat by turning the mat/paper upsidedown and pulling the mat away from the paper rather than the common way of pulling the paper away from the mat. This helps immensely. Take it slow. This technique also keeps the paper from curling after it has been removed. If you are using standard weight paper, you may not be able to pull it off a new mat without it tearing. I recommend using an older mat for standard paper or a mat that you have decreased the tackyness with lint. Again, having 2 on hand is a great idea. When mats begin to get too much build up of lint and paper, lightly wash them with plain or soapy water and let them air dry. Another item of advice: To anyone who thinks about making your own to save $--just pony up and buy the mats from Amazon. I am always up for making something rather than buying it, but in this case I will never do it again. I guess some people have had luck making their own but I think it is a waste of time. I read up on how people have gotten the best results. I puchased cutting mats from the dollar store. Cheap. Good. They were 11" by 15", so I cut it to 12" by 11". I wanted to at least keep the width at 12" because lots of things that you cut are made in 12" width, like paper and vinyl.. Okay, not too bad so far. Then you have to buy painters tape. You don't need much but you still have to buy a whole roll and it's not too cheap. Then you have to buy repositionable spray glue. Also not cheap. You still have to buy the whole can. Then there is the matter of marking the mat. I tried with a marker and ruler--time consuming. Also tried printing out graph paper and gluing it to the back of the mat, but you either have to piece the graph paper together or you have to go to a print and copy place to get the same dimensions. Oh, also I forgot to mention that the repositionable glue. It doesn't work well at all. I tried 2 different brands-one sputtered out and wouldn't spray anymore even though it was mostly full-and, yes, I do turn it upside down to clear the nozzle after each use. Neither one of them had lasting tackyness. I had to keep respraying, which meant also retaping. All of this attempt at making my own mats resulted in subpar mats that were too small to fit a full sheet of 12"x12" scrapbook paper and the amount of $ I wasted didn't compare to the amount of time I wasted. Time that I could have spent working on cutting projects instead."
Silhouette Cameo Replacement Cutting Mat (Compare Deals from $9.84)
"I have been using these for about two years and I seem to go thru them so often that I just cant handle it. I had a Cricut prior to the Cameo and the Cricut's sticky cutting mat lasted way longer than this one. It's so disappointing but its the only one they have, so you have to use it. Wish they updated it and made the stickiness last longer than it does. These things are not that cheap either! Right when you buy it thou, it's great and does exactly what its supposed to do but after a little while, paper keeps moving while on the mat and that ruins whatever project you are doing. So a little advice, if you see that the paper is starting to move, toss it and get a new one. Dont wait to lose a whole sheet of paper over it."
"I don't think these work as well as they could. Initially their adhesive is so strong that it will tear your paper if you don't stick the mat down on a towel or something first, but the stickiness rapidly reduces until after no more than 10 pieces of cardstock I have to stand next to it while cutting to make sure that the paper stays down while cutting. It seems to work better on fabric, which doesn't tear as easily when you take it off the mat, and sticks down more completely on a used mat. I have read on the internet that they can be cleaned and fresh adhesive can be put on, but it seemed to be too complicated for me. Plan on purchasing these in bulk if you use a lot of cardstock in your silhouette."
"Yes, the mat is way sticky at first, but using a white cotton t-shirt rubbed over it a few times makes it workable. I also use a piece of heavy white card stock and press on the sticky mat. My last mat lasted a year and no, it wasn't. Rey sticky. The trick....use a hard roller to adhere the paper to the mat. I use my mat every day and a year of wear I think is great. Again, use a hard roller(with a handle ) to adhere the paper to the mat when you feel it is no longer sticky. I have also in the past use the large 3 in one glue to rest icky the surface. Simple scrape the mat, wash down with a rough sponge of soapy water, rinse and let dry. Use the glue with 2 inch blunt tip, then let dry over night . I will even use a piece of white card stock to take off some of the stickiness. I'm good to go for months. The biggest help...use the roller folks...helps every time. I've worked with mats for over 4 years for other cutting machines and the same rule applies. Happy cutting and sticking!"
"I am starting to make peace with the fact that you have to treat these mats as disposable, and plan on replacing them several times a year based on how much you use them. I just opened a new mat today, and cut several shapes. The cut was PERFECT, but as I lifted the shapes off the mat, I noticed that the adhesive on the mat came right off around the edges of the shape. When I tried to cut out the same shapes a second time on a new piece of the same type of paper, using the exact same settings, the machine literally ripped the shapes off the mat as it cut them. I can only assume this is because of the adhesive coming off on the first cut. I moved the paper to a "fresh" portion of the mat on the next try, and so far things look better. I am planning on getting some repositionable adhesive to spray the mat with the next time I use it, however. Hopefully this will prolong its life. But long story short, I don't think you should have to spend so much time fiddling with this thing to get a good end result. For all the expense of the machine and its accessories, I thin customers deserve more."
"We bought our Silhouette in order to make some custom vinyl templates for acid staining concrete. Figuring we needed the mat as part of the kit, we bought this as well. While it works great for my paper projects, we found that it's simply easier to send the vinyl through on its own. The sticky surface was enough that it interfered with our ability to pull up the negatives with the transfer paper. Maybe we're just new at it, but it was definitely far easier to just put the vinyl on the concrete and then use the transfer paper to carefully remove the negatives. When we used the mat, we had problems with the letters and numbers sticking too much. As I mentioned before, there were no problems like this with my paper crafting, but something about the repositionable vinyl made it too eager to stick."
"Don't know what to say about this other than it works as it should. I'm buying rolls of vinyl in 18" and 24" widths and cutting them down to fit into my Cameo. Much, much less expensive than sheets. And no limit to size other than what will fit into the machine. When I first opened the package, I removed the protective plastic and within a split second managed to drop it on the floor. Just like a piece of toast it landed butter side down. I live in a house with 5 cats, am not the best housekeeper and this cutting mat looked like a... words escape me. Its still working fine, I did discover that these clean up nicely with warm water and a bit of dish soap without loosing a lot of their tackiness. And they are reversible, so you can start it into the Cameo leading with either end of the mat to further extend the life of the mat."
Silhouette Cameo Replacement Cutting Mat (Compare Deals from $9.84)
