Thrifty Tutorial: HOW TO Re-Tack your Cutting Mat

So, you're working on a project and your die-cut keeps coming out partially cut or tatterned and torn and you're getting frustrated. You don't have a spare mat or at least not one that is any more tacky than the one you're already working with. You don't have $13.00 lying around burning a hole in your pocket to invest in new mats that will cut for only a few weeks anyways. I have the solution. Take your previously invested in cutting mat, a few materials you have lying around the house, a few cheap materials that you will invest in once (and spend less money than to purchase new mats) and will last for many, many re-tacks and re-tack your mat yourself. It's simple! I'll share with you how to do so, just keep on reading.

What you will need:

• a hard surface, either outside, in a well-ventilated area or near a window
• a sink with a stopper that your mat will fit into while fully submersed or at the very least, large enough that it can be flipped over to submerse
• an old rag or two and an old towel
• newspaper, wrapping paper, or rolled craft paper
• Dawn dish detergent (at least 1 teaspoon)
• a clipboard, hung on a nail on the wall above a towel (or you could lay it directly on a towel and flip to dry each side if you are unable to hang a clipboard)
• 2” wide masking tape (or 1” wide doubled up)
• rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover
• a spray bottle (optional)
• metal or plastic scrapper
• re-positional, light tack spray adhesive (I use Loctite General Performance 100 light that I got at Jo-Anns for $4.49 after using a 40% off coupon)
  
• plastic protective covering or clear transparency film (to protect your mat between uses and keep debris off your newly tacked mat)

What you will do:

1. Protect your hard surface using your newspaper or craft paper (or other material that you don't mind if it gets thrown away)
2. Pour your rubbing alcohol/ nail polish remover into a spray bottle and generously spray your mat. (If you don't have a spray bottle, you can just pour a small puddle into the middle of your mat and use an old rag to spread around the gummy portion of your mat.) Let sit for 7-10 minutes.
3. After alcohol has sat on your mat for the allotted time, take your scrapper and starting at the top corner or bottom corner, scrape firmly (but not hard enough to scrape off protective coating) and remove old tack gum in 2-3 inch sections moving from one side to the other, top to bottom. After completing all the removal steps, all gum will need to be completely removed before adding more adhesive to retack so pay close attention and remove as much gum as possible during this step. Scrape several times until you have removed as much gum as possible.
4. Run very hot water with about 1-2 teaspoons of dish detergent in a sink allowing enough water to submerse your mat. Add your mat to the sink and let soak in the hot water for 5-10 minutes.
5. Remove to old, clean towel laid on your hard work surface. Again, use your scraper to remove any left over gummy residue. Pay careful attention to the edges and corners as this is where the majority of the residue ended up on my mat as I was cleaning. When you are fairly certain that all residue has been removed, return to hot water and use an old rag to scrub remaining residue. It is VERY important that all residue is removed before re-tacking. Be sure to scrub well the back of your mat as little gummy balls may have ended up there as well and will stick to your machine and possibly ruin your rollers.
6. Remove from water and drain sink Shake mat well and remove as much water as possible.
7. Hang on clipboard above a towel and let drip dry until COMPLETELY dry. If you are impatient like me, or in a hurry, you can use a hair dryer on it's lowest setting and dry your mat. Be sure to keep your dryer 8-12 inches away as to not melt the plastic mat you just spent 45 minutes cleaning. Be sure mat is COMPLETELY dry before moving onto the next step. This is very IMPORTANT!!
8. 
   On your protected hard surface, that is well ventilated, tape off your mat using masking tape. Be sure to line the tape up with the outside line just below or inside each margin. You do NOT want spray adhesive on your margins so take your time and tape carefully. Use the corners of the tape to tape it down to the surface. This will hold the mat in place while you are spraying. When you've finished taping, the only part of your mat that should be visible to you is the space with the grid.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. When you have taped your mat off and down to your surface, shake your spray adhesive can and spray your mat in linear motion from left to right, overlapping each line before. Be sure to hold your can 8-10 inches from your mat to insure that you don't glob up your glue. If you hold it 8-10 inches away and move in linear motion, you will spray fairly evenly. Let adhesive dry COMPLETELY and repeat 2-3 more times. For higher tack mat (like you can spend yet more money on) just spray a few more times. I do 5-7 coats for an extreme tack mat. 3-4 coats for a standard tack. Be sure to let each coat dry COMPLETELY before adding another. Let dry completely before removing tape, conditioning and first use.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Watch this 6 second video to see the spraying motion I did!
   
   
10. You're almost done!! Condition your mat as you would if you purchased it new. I use my hands and press them down over and over to un-tack the mat a bit before using the first time. If you aren't going to use it right away and/or before putting your mat away, use protective plastic to cover your mat to keep debris from aiding in a lesser tacky mat.
11. Use your mat!!