US $15.50 
Cricut 12 x 12 Cutting Mats
The Cricut 12 x 12 cutting mat is one of the accessories you will need with any Cricut machine you buy. Each machine will usually come with a cutting mat, but it will eventually wear out. The purpose of the mat is to hold your paper secure while the Cricut machine does it’s work. If the paper is not held in place then the accuracy of the cuts would be off. It is always a good a idea to keep a few extra on hand because it can be hard to tell just when the pad might wear out.
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The cutting mats work all Cricut machines, which includes the original Cricut, the Cricut Expression, and the Cricut Create. (However the 12 x 12 only works on the Cricut Expression.)
The 12×12 mat does not work on all Cricut machines. For the original Cricut you need the 6X12 mat.
I learned a neat trick to keep the adhesive on the cutting mat sticky longer. When your mat isn’t holding your paper as secure as it should be clean it off with baby wipe. Honestly!!! Scrub that sucker, let it dry, and presto, it’s like a brand new mat! After a while you will have to get new mats for clean lines, but they stay sticky
Great tip Ruth. Thanks!
Great idea to clean mats with baby wipes! Thanks, Ruth! I will try it. I love my Cricut Expressions but hate buying mats the most. Since Christmas 08, I’ve purchased 17 – 2 packs which is more than what my Cricut cost!! After a while the adhesive ends up on the door and lid. I use WD40 sprayed on a clean cloth and wipe the plastic housing and it looks like new again.
I’ve actually completely removed the adhesive from one mat with acetone. I washed it with soap and water and dried thoroughly. I bought 3M spray adhesive (temporary). I used masking tape around the edges, then sprayed on the adhesive. I applied pieces of paper in several spots and it removed easily at first. I found the fixative dried overnight and mat was unusable. I never used this mat in the machine. I was testing an alternative.
Cricut will not honor your warranty if you use any other mat or adhesive should you have damage.
Cricut should make a better mat or lower the price because we constantly need to replace them!
Today, I cleaned all my old mats with baby wipes, as Ruth alluded to. It really works. I scrubbed each one very well and wiped dry with a paper towel. Amazing! The stickiness is back and I was able to use them again. So glad I didn’t throw them away.
This process extended the life hopefully for a few more cuts anyway.
Thanks! Great tip!
Another thing that refurbishes mats is Stampin’ Mist from Stampin’Up. We cleaned up a mat that looked like it had been run over, sprayed it with the mist, and it’s good to go! And you can do it over and over. Let the mist dry completely before using the mat, and only put down a fine coat.
Hi, I am still using the first 12 x12 mat that came with my cricut expression…2+ years ago! I use my cricut once a week, but my ‘secret’ is using temporary glue (stick) I even saw a blog say to use the thick zig 2way glue pen. My mat does get a bit ‘dirty’ and needs a regular scrape clean, but I don’t have too much trouble using the mat this way at all and I need to save money as I am way downunder in Australia, so I can’t afford to buy mats all the time!
Hope this helps you all. Denise 
I am so excited to say that baby wipes absolutely works to clean the mats. I scrubbed them like crazy!!!, wiped them dry with a paper towel, and let them dry. I will be telling all my Cricut user friends about this. Thanks for the AWESOME tip, Ruth!
I just washed mat with dish soap and warm water and let it air dry. It got rid of all of the paper fibers, AND the cat hair.
With such a wonderful suggestion for the mat, I thought I’d pick these bright minds! Do any of you have any idea why my cricut expression keeps freezing? On my computer, I would do ctr, alt, delete, but on the cricut I have to turn it off. Any suggestions?