We have accumulated a lot of ScanNCut mats over the years and since we mostly never throw any away, we need somewhere to store them all. Now, the thing with ScanNCut mats, is that they have to be stored flat – you can’t bend them or roll them…they have to stay flat. This means that they can be awkward to store, mostly because of their size.
We have tried a number of different methods over the years and essentially have come down to three storage options.
Storage Option 1: Hanging inside closet door
One way that we store our mats, is hanging in a closet. We simply purchased some of those adhesive hooks from our local hardware store and stuck one on the inside of the door. We’ve only got a couple hanging on their at the moment but we’ve easily had 5 or 6 mats on that hook.
This would have to be my favourite method. They take up little space, they are kept flat and they are easy to retrieve when needed. Plus you can add more than one hook inside a cupboard like this (which is exactly what we did).
You can see up close the type of hook we have but there are lots of similar hooks that you can choose from.
Storage Option 2: Shelving
The second way we store our mats is in the shelving space below our cutting table. That’s the cutting surface you see when you watch Wanda do the tutorial videos for YouTube. So this is what it looks look like on the other side. It’s also where we store the cutting machines and heat press machines. You can see the mats hiding at the bottom. This only works because we can adjust the shelving. If we couldn’t adjust the shelves, we would have a lot of wasted space since we don’t really want to put anything on top of those mats if we can help it. Plus we are lucky that this particular unit is deep enough to hold these mats.
This is what that cutting table looks like. It’s a Horn Elements Cutting Table and as far as I can tell it is only available in Australia – try HobbySew or Harvey Norman (and compare prices). The top is big enough for a 24″ x 36″ cutting mat and all of those shelves can be adjusted to different heights. We really like it and have two of them although the first one we bought had a lift top lid which i don’t think they make anymore but I actually prefer this second version. (And by the way, we are not affiliated with this company in anyway – just wanted to share what we use.)
Storage Option 3: Hanging from clothes hangers
We were using this option for quite a while and the only reason we stopped is that we needed the closet space, plus we found that storage option 2 (above) took up a lot less space. However, it is a great way of storing ScanNCut mats since you may already have some of those trouser hangers in your closet. It keeps the mats flat and as long as you have some extra closet space you are set.
Sandy Sonnenschein says
That’s wild I have had my scan n cut for many years, I do update the models but I was very pleased to see that I’m not the only one that has always hung my mats. They are easy to get to and I never end up piling my projects on top of my mats and losing them. What works use it.
Karen Poole says
Those are all great ideas! Did you have to punch a hole in the one hanging on the closet door, and if so, does it affect the way the mat scans or feeds?
When I bought
My ScanNCut I bought the wheeled travel case and store the mats in there. I haven’t had any issues with the large mats. They are placed in the back pocket, wrapped towards the front pocket and around the side of the machine. It’s worked great for me. I don’t know if it would work on the newer mats.
Pauline says
The SDX mats already have the hole – you can only feed them one way into the machine.
Gail Lemon says
I enjoy your information and articles. Do you have a way to repair the back of the mat that has become rough on one side and will not feed into the machine. I have two like this and can’t use them but don’t want to get ride of either.
Thanks
Alanda Craft says
I’ve never had this happen Gail so a bit hard to tell without seeing the mat. When you say ‘rough’ do you mean that they are bent?
Judy says
I use duck tape over the cut area, on the back of the mat
Helen Word says
Those are great tips and I’m going to use the hook on the door one. Thanks so much. From Helen Word , Idaho, USA.
Yvonne Jinks says
I hang my mats in the closet. For those of us in North America, I used Dollar Tree removable hooks . So easy to retrieve the mats and no bending, of the mats- so perfect
Julie Amos says
THANKS! Brilliant!
Dorothy B. says
Thank you so much! My problem solved!
Alanda Craft says
Excellent Dorothy. Happy we were able to help. 😊
Dianne Barton says
My crafting/cutting table is a DIY table made with 6 IKEA Alex drawer units.. They are the low wider ones with 6 shallow drawers. We laid an 8’ x 4’ piece of white Masonite on top and I have a huge cutting mat on top. I dedicate one drawer to both my Scan N Cut mats and my Cricut mats. I thought about hanging them on a hook in my cupboard but was concerned that they might warp.
Alanda Craft says
Thank you for the great idea Dianne. I do have one of those drawer units, but we do a lot of quilting as well as die cutting so I feel it would be too low for me for doing quilting work. I can see it working well for the ScanNCut and Cricut though.