Stop being confused and overwhelmed by all the blades, wheels and tips available for the Cricut. This post will tell you exactly what they are used for and what mat to pair them with.
With the Cricut Maker, there are now so many Cricut blades, wheels and tips out there that it can be really confusing!
You would like to know what you can do with them, how to use them and which mat to pair them with? I’ve got all the answers for you! This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience and at no extra cost to you. Click here to see my full disclosure policy.
3 main Cricut blades
First of all, there are 3 principal Cricut blades that work for both the Cricut Maker and the Cricut Explore Air series.
Now if you’re already overwhelmed just thinking of reading all of this, grab my free cheat sheet right now! One look at it and you’ll understand everything!
Fine point blade
The fine point blade, which has a silver or gold housing, is the standard blade in all Cricut machines.
If you have a gold housing, it means it’s a Premium blade that is more durable.
Both silver and gold housing blades have a 45-degree angle and can cut all sorts of basic materials like paper, card stock, iron-on vinyl, adhesive vinyl, faux leather and more.
This blade is usually paired with the blue or green mat, depending on the material.
Deep point blade
You’ll recognize the Deep point blade by its black housing.
This blade has a steeper blade angle (60 degrees) and harder, more durable steel. It can be used to cut thick cardstock, chipboard, rubber sheets, magnets, corrugated cardboard, foam sheets, Cricut genuine leather and more.
It’s often preferable to use the purple mat with this blade. But depending on the material, a brand new green mat could also do the trick.
Bonded fabric blade
This blade has a pink housing. It is used to cut bonded fabric (a fabric that is attached to another material like an adhesive).
They made the housing pink to match the pink mat that you can use with fabric.
2 special Maker blades
You’ll easily recognize these special tools by their gold gear at the top that is specially made to fit the Cricut Maker.
Rotary blade
The rotary blade comes in the box with the Cricut Maker. You can identify it by its round blade (that looks like a small rotary cutter) and gold gear.
Paired with the pink mat, this blade can cut fabric, craft felt, crepe paper and more.
In my opinion, this blade is really the best for cutting craft felt. You can see how I did it for these crocus flowers.
Knife blade
This blade looks like a small utility knife (X-Acto) with the gold gear on top.
It can cut thicker materials like Balsa (up to 3/32″), Cricut corrugated cardboard (2 mm), Matboard (2-ply or 4-ply), Basswood (up to 1/16″), Tooling leather (up to 7 oz), Garment leather (up to 5 oz), craft foam (up to 3 mm) and more.
You can check out this Christmas ornament I made with it and also the Balsa sled ornament.
With this blade, you’ll need to use the purple mat and you’ll often need to add masking tape to secure your materials to the mat.
Foil transfer kit
This blue housing is the newest of the Cricut tools (September 2020) and comes with 3 tips (fine, medium and bold) that are used to make foil accent onto your material.
The kit comes with 12 foil transfer sheets that you absolutely need to make these tips work. A major difference between this tool and other foil tools out there is that it doesn’t require heat.
Quick Swap system
The quick swap system is a housing that is used to install the Cricut Maker tips listed below. All tips have their own number to easily identify them.
People usually buy this housing with one of the tips and then buy the rest of the tips individually, without the housing.
Tip: To easily change the tips, press on the button on top of the housing and pull gently on the tip.
Single scoring wheel (#01)
The scoring wheel is used to create a scoring line to fold material. It is more efficient that the scoring stylus.
Double scoring wheel (#02)
The double scoring wheel will, obviously, create a double scoring line and is used for thicker materials.
Perforation blade (#11)
The perforation blade is pretty fun. It will create a tear-off part on paper, cardstock, acetate, poster board, Cricut genuine leather and much more.
You can check out this cute postal card I made using the perforation blade. It’s a good way to avoid envelopes when sending a card!
Fine debossing tip (#21)
The fine debossing tip can be used to create debossed designs on cardstock, poster board, Kraft cardstock, balsa, faux leather, Cricut genuine leather, corrugated cardboard and much more.
Wavy blade (#31)
The wavy blade is a simple way to make wavy cuts. It can be used on cardstock, adhesive vinyl, Heat transfer vinyl, fabric, faux leather, Cricut genuine leather and more.
I have used it, with the perforation blade, to make a secret Santa gift tag. It was a hit during my family gift exchange!
Engraving tip (#41)
The engraving tip will be able to engrave all sorts of flat materials like soft metal, acrylic, plastic, anodized aluminum, faux leather, Cricut genuine leather, acetate and more.
Lately, I started to experiment with it and engraved this on acrylic.
It was my first time trying this technique. It’s so addictive! I promise there will be posts on engraving soon!
How can you remember all of this?
Don’t forget to grab the cheat sheet to help you remember, at a glance, everything there is to know about all the Cricut blades, wheels and tips!
You’ll even get a bonus! A summary version that you’ll be able to stick inside the panel of your Cricut, like this:
Isn’t that cool?
I even made a video to show you how to use “Print and Cut” and avery sticker paper to cleanly install it inside the tool panel of your Cricut just like the picture above.
You can see the short video right here.
I hope all of this helps you use your blades even more!
Natalie
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