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A Cricut machine is an absolute must-have for all craft lovers and DIY enthusiasts. These cricut machines take all the work out of hand-cutting designs by allowing you to cut automatically, using cartridges with pre-set shapes, designs and even letters.

Not sure what to look for in a Cricut machine? Don't worry – we have put together this list of some of our favorites so that you can get a good idea of what's out there.  We have compiled a comprehensive list of cricut machine reviews to help you make the best buying decision.

Before you make your purchase, be sure to check out our guidelines at the bottom of this post, to know which important features of a Cricut machine you are going to want to keep an eye out for.

Our Top Picks For The Best Cricut Machine

More About The Cricut Explore Air  Cutting Machine

This Cricut machine connects to Bluetooth to allow you to upload your own images, fonts or text. It can cut most materials, including cloth and vinyl, and has precise and accurate cutting.

You can design your own templates or images through an app, or use an existing cartridge to select your designs. The Smart Set dial allows you to adjust the machine for various materials, to get the most precise cut or scoring.

This would be a good machine for any DIY-er or small business.

More About The Champagne Cricut Maker

The Cricut maker allows you to make unique and precise cuts in a variety of materials, including vinyl, paper, wood, and leather. It comes with tons of tools and special features, that your designs can be as simple or complex as you need. It also comes with a double tool holder for convenience.

The machine connects to the internet so that you can design your die cutting templates through an app on your smartphone or laptop.

There are new and improved blades inside the machine, including a redesigned rotary blade for fabric and a knife blade for wood and other thicker materials and brittle materials.

Best of all, you don’t have to be a design pro to use this machine – the app is very intuitive, and you can upload any image or custom font without any hassle. As you learn and get used to the machine, though, you will be able to make use of the more complicated custom features. Plus, the cute champagne color will look great in your design space.

More About The Silhouette Cutting Machine

The silhouette Cricut machine is a little larger than some others and extremely versatile. Use it to cut vinyl, cardstock, various fabrics or even tissue paper.  
Materials can be as wide as 12 inches and as long as 10 feet – that's right, you can cut out a 10-foot design with this intelligent machine.

Unlike other Cricuts that operate only from cartridges, the Silhouette cutter connects to the internet to allow you to design your own cutting templates.

Silhouette has its own software, the Silhouette Design Studio, that helps you to easily craft your designs. The software is included with the purchase of the machine.

The machine connects to your computer via Bluetooth or an included USB cable. It is also compatible with other design software, like Print & Cut or PixScan. This would be a great Cricut machine for a professional designer or a serious DIY crafter.

Related Content: How to clean a cricut mat

More About The Cricut Mini Cake

The Cricut Mini Cake is a small and versatile Cricut machine designed specifically for cutting fondant and other edible materials for cake decorating.

The machine comes with a versatile cartridge that is pre-loaded with plenty of designs for a number of decorating tasks. All you need to do is select your design and size, then hit ‘print’.

In addition, it is compatible with other ordinary or cake decorating cartridges, so you have the option of using it for designs other than what it comes with.

This Cricut machine is small, but it cuts a huge range of sizes: anywhere from 1 ½ inches to 11 ½ inches.

Even though it is designed for cake decorating, you can use it to cut paper and other materials for crafts. It’s a great way to make your crafts or baking look professional, without much effort.

Choosing The Best Cricut Machine: Features to Consider

Internet Connectivity vs. Cartridges

Most older Cricut machine models use cartridges preloaded with designs for die cutting. This is great for most simpler crafts.

For professional or semi-professional use, though, you might prefer a machine that can connect to the internet, which will allow you to design your own images and fonts.

Versatile Blades

The rotary blade and knife blades on your Cricut machine determine what kinds of materials it will be able to cut. As a general rule of thumb, the more blades you have, the better. This is one of the main things we considered when writing these cricut machine reviews.

A generic rotary blade or rolling blade will be great for most fabrics. For something tougher, like balsa wood or leather, you might want to look for a Cricut machine that has a knife blade.

Multiple Functions

Alongside die cutting, a lot of Cricut machines can handle scoring and writing as well. That can be an important feature for someone working on more complex designs and crafts.

Writing is especially useful for crafting banners or posters. If your machine has a writing function, you should be able to simply select the font and input the words, and then the machine will write whatever you need.

Design Space Versatility

This may seem like an unnecessary add-on, but it is really helpful if you can find a Cricut machine with tool holders to help you keep your design space organized.  

You are going to spend a lot of time working around the machine, with a lot of different tools – a lot of Cricut cutting machines offer one or two tool holders to help you out.

If you are using your phone or a tablet to design your templates, it is also helpful to have a USB charging port on your machine. You can use cricut design space software to help make the most out of your project.

Using  Cricut Machines: Tips

Your Cricut machine is already an amazing die cutting machine right out of the box. But here are a few tips that you can utilize to get the most out of your Cricut cutting machines.

Look After Your Cutting Mat

You want to be sure that you keep the plastic protector, that was included upon purchase, on your cutting mat. This will ensure that your mat stays sticky. If you begin to see any material buildup or residue, give it a nice wipe down.

Use Tape on an Old Mat to Keep Paper Down

If you have an old mat that has lost its stickiness, no need to get rid of it. You can use tape to keep your paper down while the mat runs through the machine.

Load Your Mat Correctly

Before you begin a project, you want to make sure that you load your mat correctly. The mat needs to load right into the rollers. If the mat is not precisely loaded each time your cut will end up crooked.

Keep an Eye on the Blades

You want to be sure that you keep an eye on the blades. Look out for any signs of ineffectiveness or dullness.

You will begin to notice that the machine is not cutting all the way through, the machine lifts or pulls at the vinyl while cutting, or is tearing your vinyl or paper. Any of these are signs that your blade is dull and needs to be changed.  

Invest in Tools

In order to get the most out of your machine, you are going to watch to invest in some extra tools that will help you reach the machine’s full potential.

Some essential tools for your Cricut can include scissors, scrapers, tweezers, spatulas, and weeding tools. Almost every job will require these so it's a good idea to begin your investment here. You'll also be able to utilize a tool holder that will complete the look of your machine.  

Test Your Materials

It is a good idea to test your materials before jumping both feet first into your project. If you don’t test your materials, you may find that your project is not coming out as originally planned.

Use the Included Software

The software that is included with your machine purchase comes with a lot of free images, fonts, and designs that you can include in your projects. This will provide a lot of inspiration for currents and new projects that you have in mind.

Benefits of Investing In the Best Cricut Machine

The Cricut cutting machine is an essential tool that makes crafting an easier and fun hobby to participate in. There are a lot of benefits to adding a Cricut to your crafting repertoire.

It’s Easy To Use

If you do not consider yourself technologically savvy there’s no need to worry. There is no additional software to install in order to make your machine work.

All of the directions are extremely straightforward and the free software that you can utilize for free designs is accessed through Cricut’s internet website.

This means you can work on designing projects from anywhere instead of having to install separate software on every device you are.

It’s Wireless

Utilizing a bluetooth adapter, you can wirelessly upload and create designs from your computer. You don’t have to be attached to the machine and your laptop at the same time.

Once you are done designing then you can decide if you want to hardwire to the machine or simply print wirelessly from any room in your home.

Can Cut Through Various Materials

Another great benefit of the Cricut machine is that it can cut through a wide variety of materials. You are really not limited in what you can and cannot cut. It can cut through cardstock, poster board, thin magnets, fabric, even wood.

Great for Beginners

Some Cricut models are great for beginners because they require no previous crafting knowledge. Everything is easy to set up and all the awesome features can be easily mastered after a few uses.  

Cut and Write at the Same Time

One of the amazing things about the Cricut machine is that you can cut and write at the same time. This is a major time saver when you are taking on larger projects.  

If you purchase a scoring stylus, you can also create “fold lines” for more in-depth projects like 3D models and boxes.

One Click Cutting Settings

Machines that are equipped with the Smart Dial have the ability to cut over 100 materials. All you have to do is turn the dial to the material you are cutting, load the mat, and begin.

The interesting thing about this is you do not have to change the blades, simply turn the dial and voila! A perfect cut!

Save Paper

There are some Cricut models that will allow you to cut multiple items on one sheet of paper. You can copy and paste shapes and designs all across your canvas. This not only saves time, but it will also save you money in the material.  

Cutting Balsa Woods with Cricut’s Knife Blade

The Cricut cutting machine is such an adaptive tool that it can cut through all types of materials. One of these is balsa wood, and it actually does it in record time.

If you are planning to use your Cricut machine to cut wood, you want to be sure that your machine is either set to balsa wood cut or that your settings are placed correctly to cut entirely through the wood.

You want to be sure that you own the strong grip mat since this wood is obviously a very strong type of material. If the piece of wood that you have purchased is too big to fit on your mat and pass through your machine you will want to cut it down beforehand using a craft knife.

You can use a brayer roller to make sure that the wood is really stuck on the mat and won’t lift during the cutting process. Once you’ve used your brayer roller, you will then want to tape down the wood to your cutting mat for extra hold.

As you’re cutting pieces of wood might fly off. Do not stop the machine and remove large pieces. Instead, just allow the cut to finish otherwise your main material will shift causing your cut to be slightly off.

Once the machine is finished, you’ll want to check and make sure that the cut has been done all the way through. If you find that most of the cut has been done, you can remove the mat and use a craft knife to finish up cutting all the way through.

Then lift your wood straight up from the mat to ensure that the piece comes up all at once. And you’re all done!

Conclusion

Choosing the Cricut machine that works best for you can make all the difference in your crafting hobby. With the many different varieties out there, you have to be sure that you are choosing what you know will work and aid you in the crafting you are setting out to do.

Remember that the most expensive machine with all the tiny bells and whistles is not necessarily always the best choice. You want to be sure that you are choosing quality in order to produce the crafts that are upscale and one of a kind.