How To Change A Cricut Blade – Cricut Maker & Explore Air 2

How do you change a Cricut blade?

If your Cricut machine is no longer cutting well, or you are having trouble weeding your designs, then it’s probably time to change the blade.

Today I’ll be showing you step-by-step how to change a premium fine point blade in your Cricut Maker and Explore Air 2 machines. This is the same for changing the deep point blade, and you can also use the following method to clean your blade as well.

How To Change Cricut Blade

If you we’re looking for other Cricut Blade info, take a look at these posts:

• Cricut Blades Guide – we look at all the different types of blade & what they are used for
• Cricut Maker Tools – a deeper look at the Cricut Maker QuickSwap Tools
• Cricut Supplies – the essential tools & accessories for getting started with Cricut

When To Change Your Blade

How do you know when it’s time to change your blade?

• If you are having trouble weeding your projects because of the cut lines
• If you find yourself changing the default pressure to more on multiple projects
• If you are using the correct settings but your Cricut is not completely cutting through the material
• If your machine is not cutting intricate designs well

How often should you change your blade?

This will entirely depend on:

• How often you use your machine
• The types of materials you cut with your machine

If you use your machine once a week, you could go 6 months or longer without needing to change your blade. However, if you use your machine more frequently, you may need to change it after a few weeks.

Also, if you are cutting mostly thicker materials, your blade will become dull quicker, whereas if you are only using thinner materials, it will last a lot longer.

Some materials are particularly messy and may shed. Completing glitter cardstock or cork projects, for example, can be very messy and the blade can quickly become clogged up after only a couple minutes of cutting. This means you may need to clean out the blade several times during the same project.

How To Change Cricut Maker Blades

The following process is the same for both the Cricut Maker and the Explore Air 2 machines.

This process is also the same for the fine point blade, premium fine point blade, deep point and deep cut blade. The knife blade and the rotary blade are different, see the videos at the end of this post for instructions on how to change these blades.

In your machine you will see that there are two accessory compartments. There is

Clamp A: For pens or the scoring stylus 

Clamp B: For blades, such as the Rotary blade, knife blade, premium fine point blade etc.

Step 1: Open the B (B for blade) accessory clamp in your Cricut machine.

Step 2: Remove the entire blade housing from the clamp.

Step 3: Press down the button on top of the blade housing. This pushes out the blade. Carefully grip the end of the blade and remove it from the housing.

Step 4: Depending on the condition of your blade, it may just need a clean, or you may want to replace it completely. Throw the dull blade away safely.

Step 5: Place the new blade inside the housing with the sharp end sticking out of the housing. Inside the housing is a magnet which will pull the blade inside. When it is inside properly, you should barely be able to see the tip of the blade.

Step 6: Place the housing back into the B clamp in your Cricut machine.

Step 7: Close the lever of the clamp so that the housing is locked into place.

How To Change Cricut Explore Air 2 Blades

The process is actually exactly the same for the Cricut Explore Air 2.

The blade holder design is the same on both machines. You only need to keep in mind that there are specific tools that can only be used with the Maker, while the Maker can use all the same blades as the Explore.

How To Change The Knife Blade

The following video with show you how to easily change the Cricut Knife Blade, which is only for use with the Cricut Maker.

How To Change The Rotary Blade

And this video shows step by step how to change the Cricut Rotary Blade. This is also only for use with the Maker.

That’s really all there is to it – happy cutting!

Please leave any questions or comments down below.

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