Cricut Tip – Paper is Curling Up

Have you ever pulled cardstock off of a REALLY sticky Cricut mat to find that your paper is curling up on you?  Below is a photo of some cardstock I used for a recent project, and you can see how the portion that I peeled off of the mat has a curve in it now. Here is my Cricut Tip if your paper is curling up.

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Paper is Curling Up

One way to fix or repair paper is curling up is to place that paper under some heavy books to try and flatten it back down. But what if you could prevent the paper from curling up in the first place?

It is all about how you remove things that causes that curling to happen.  

Most of us would use our spatula to pull up the excess paper, as shown in the photo below, and peel that away leaving the image we cut on the mat.

I found out recently that this is not the best way to remove the cardstock when that mat is SUPER sticky.

The BETTER way is to peel back the mat.

Below is a photo of two pieces where I peeled back the mat instead of the cardstock . . . see how the remaining cardstock is still nice and flat!  If you are making very large cuts it is also better to peel the mat away so that your cuts do not curl up. 

I plan to do another post about this showing the exact same cuts side by side, but peel the cardstock back on one and peel the mat back on the other.  I think that will really show the difference in the technique.

If you want to learn about some other Cricut mistakes and how to avoid them check out my article called Cricut Mistakes, Myths and Mysteries Answered!

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