When you are just first starting out with your cricut you can get started with just what comes with your new machine in the box. But there are also lots of other fun accessories out there that will help you along with your project.
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I recommend browsing through some online shops to see what they have for accessories and blades & mats. This will help you to start thinking about what you might need in the future. But don’t get worried about what you may need. I’ve created a list of all the Cricut products and accessories below for you to browse through to help give you ideas for future projects.
Mats
There are 4 different kinds of matts that you can purchase from Cricut. But you may not need them all. It depends on the project you will be working on.
The four types of mats can be used with both the maker and explore machines. If you are not sure which mat to go with I recommend the green mat which I the standard mat. It is the most commonly used mat.
You may be wondering where to store you mats, the most convenient place is just to place a hook or nail on the inside of your desk and store them there. They fit nicely with most desk heights and they are easy to grab and store.
For use with standard paper, light card stock, vellum. Was designed for use with light weight materials
The standard grip is great for heavy card stock, paper, vinyl, iron-on. It was engineered for a variety of medium-weight materials.
Great for heavy card stock, chipboard, mat board and backed fabric. Designed for heavy weight materials
For use with most fabrics, including cotton, polyester, denim and felt
Tips for using the mats:
- Keep the clear film on the mat when they are not in use. This will keep them free of dust or dirt and will make them last longer.
- Use a scraper or spatula to scrape off the debris after a project.
- To make your mats work the best and last the longest make sure to only use the materials that each mat is designed for.
- To clean wash with soap and water and allow to dry before using.
Blades
So if you are new to the cricut world than you may be feeling confused by the blades. This is normal when you are learning a new hobby, but with a bit of practice you will understand when to use each blade.
So different cricut machines will use different blades. The cricut maker will use all of the blades, while the explore machines will just use a few. There are 6 blades in total that you can buy for your machines.
The fine point blade is useful for cutting materials like vinyl, iron-on, cardstock, and lightweight fabric. It’s perfect for light to mid-weight materials.
The Deep point blade is recommended for thick cardstock, cutting chipboard, stamp material, foam sheets, fabric and other thick materials.
The Fabric blade is sharper and longer and is used with bonded fabrics with an iron-on baking.
This blade is for cutting your thickest materials. It can cut up to 3/32″ thick. This includes chipboard, leather, balsa wood, and basswood.
The scoring wheel is used to make creases in material. The scoring wheel uses more pressure than the scoring stylus for better score lines on paper crafts.
The rotary blade is a round blade for cutting fabric. It rolls of the fabric to cut crisp and precise lines.
Tools
There are many many tools available for the Cricut machines and they are introducing new tools all the time. Here is a list of some of the basic tools that I recommend for your machine. I recommend buying these tools in a set, that way you can get them all at once and usually for a better deal.
The spatula is used for lifting material off of the sticky mats. This helps to delicately lift materials with ripping them or bending edges.
These scissors have hard blades and are durable and smooth and offer precise cuts on most materials. You usually don’t see these scissors seperately, they are normally sold as part of the set.
This tool is for removing the negative pieces around images.
The tweezers are useful for picking up small delicate pieces for precise designs and helps prevent tearing.
The scraper is used to scrape material off of your sticky mats when cleaning them. This helps to make your mats last longer. It can also be used to smooth out design or burnish materials.
The stylus is for creating fold lines for cards and envelopes. The great part of the stylus is that you can have both the stylus and the blad in the machine at the same time so you can cut and score in one step.
The easy press is used to transfer heat transfer vinyl to materials.
The easy press mat is placed under your fabric when you use the easy press to prevent your surface from being damaged by heat and provide a flat surface.
The pens can be placed in the cricut machine to draw designs onto your material. This way you can write designs or draw.
This list is just a few of the basic items you can get started with cricut. There are many more including foiling and kits etc. So as you can see there is so much more to cricut than just the machine. There are so many fun accessories to try out for creating so many different projects.
Now you don’t need everything on the above list. Just pick a few that interest you and than you can add on to what you have as you need it. There are lots of places to buy the equipment, you can find it direct from the cricut website but also from sites like amazon or craft stores. I recommend signing up for their newsletters so you can be notified of sales.
I hope that you found this accessory list helpful and stay tuned for tommorows class where we will talk about what materials you can cut with a cricut machine.
