Article updated on August 20, 2024 at 9:33 AM PDT
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Russell Holly
Russell Holly is a Managing Editor on the Commerce team at CNET. He works with all of CNET to assemble top recommendations as well as helping everyone find the best way to buy anything at the best price. When not writing for CNET you can find him riding a bike, running around in Jedi robes, or contributing to WOSU public radio's Tech Tuesday segment.
Expertise 7 years experience as a smartphone reviewer and analyst, 5 years experience as a competitive cyclist Credentials
- Author of Taking your Android Tablets to the Max
Cricut machines are fantastic to work with if you like making things. The best ones allow you to cut a lot of different materials into any shape you want, so you can make birthday cards, T-shirts and a whole host of things in between. You'll need Cricut accessories to increase the number of things you can get done with one of these machines, as well as improve your efficiency while using a Cricut.
It can be overwhelming to put together a whole setup though, but we're here to help. I've put together this handy list of all the great little tools I use every day with my Cricut to make my crafting easier.
If you're looking to fill up your craft table with the right tools, these Cricut accessories are where I recommend you start.
What's the best Cricut accessory?
The simplest accessory and the one I always recommend is a Scotch-Brite lint roller. It works better than normal transfer paper and costs a lot less. It's less sticky so you have a chance to move your creation around for the perfect fit.
The Best Cricut accesories
Cricut makes great big rolls of Transfer Sheets to help you get vinyl from the adhesive sheet to wherever you want to put your creation, but that doesn't mean it's always the best tool for the job. Whether it's because of convenience or price or just the right amount of adhesive, if I'm working on multiple projects at once I prefer to use lint roller sheets instead. The convenient little roll on a nice handle makes it easy to get adhesive over the project and lift it off the paper, and the tearaway nature of the lint roller sheet makes it super easy to separate from the roll and get onto whatever the destination is for your creation.
It couldn't be easier for small projects, and it's way cheaper than using the official Transfer Sheets most of the time.
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The tumbler press from HTVRont is excellent when using Cricut's Infusible Ink and sublimation mugs and tumblers. It works extremely well for tumblers, but I like using it to make two mugs at once. It really speeds up the process when you are making a lot of products for friends or your small business.
There are a lot of starter tool kits for Cricut users out there, and Cricut makes some of the best for the price. There's a weeding pick to help you lift up things you've already cut, a spatula to get bigger projects off the mat without tearing, tweezers for cleanup and precise placement and scissors for helping you get to the right part of the cut easily. And when you have the right piece off the cutter, you can use the scraper to either clean your cutting mat or more easily apply the thing you've cut.
There are certainly more tools available to advanced users, but this kit is everything you need to get started -- and genuinely what every Cricut user should have starting off.
The HTVront heat press is an automatic system that takes the guesswork out of pressing vinyl onto materials. When using a handheld heat press you can run into problems where you press too long or unevenly, causing your design to not be as good as you might want. The auto press is consistent every time across the material so your prints look great.
I prefer a precision cut whenever I can get it, especially when it comes to rescuing something I've cut on my Cricut from the rest of the sheet. I'm not the most accurate with a pair of scissors, which is why I always recommend a good trimmer. The Weenkler trimmer is the correct width for all sheets of vinyl, and the extender allows you to cut larger pieces with the same level of accuracy.
It doesn't get much easier than this as tools go, and it makes all of your leftover scraps more uniform for the next project.
Your Cricut machine came with the same StandardGrip Mat everyone has, but that is not always the best mat for the job. Cricut actually makes three other kinds of mat for different materials and situations. The LightGrip Mat is great for paper projects where you need to be more careful, while the StrongGrip Mat is ideal for thicker vinyl and other more rigid materials. There's even a FabricGrip Mat, just in case you need to cut some fabric. It's not always easy to find each of these at your local craft store, which is why I recommend starting out with one of each, just in case. And this set straight from Cricut is the best way to do it.
It's fairly common for Cricut users to cut a whole bunch of things all at once and then spend an evening weeding those things so you have a nice pile of projects to work with. And the one thing every Cricut project has in common is that more light always makes it easier. When you're at home you have a lot of control over how much light you have to work with, and the BrightPad Go is a big way to help with light when you're anywhere else. This rechargeable tablet lets you control how bright the backlight is, and it's thin enough to take with you anywhere. It's perfect for working on a project for a few hours when you aren't at home, so you're always able to keep being creative.
Having a place for your small scraps of weeding is essential. I have ruined several projects by accidentally fusing a scrap of Infusible Ink onto a t-shirt, so I find this little cup extremely helpful. The top flaps help keep your scraps from falling out and it helps pull them off of the weeding hook.
One of the more common things Cricut users tend to make if they decide to do things with clothing is a set of family T-shirts. Whether it's for a family vacation or someone's great idea for standing out at a big outdoor event, making an iron-on design for a T-shirt can be pretty quick. Applying that design to a shirt so it looks just right is not always so easy, especially if you're applying a design to multiple shirt sizes. That's why it's a good idea to have an alignment ruler guide tool, so you can make sure you're getting the right placement with each shirt size.
This four-pack of shirt guides will help you place graphics on just about every kind of shirt without complications, and they can be used over and over again.
While this exact brand is temporarily sold out, you can find similar styles at Amazon.