Routine Care will protect and prevent problems with your Cricut. It is a big investment and caring for your Cricut will keep it working at its best. I bought my Cricut Maker used and when it arrived it didn’t work because the previous owner didn’t take care of it. But with a few simple cleaning tricks it has worked great for years!

Blade Routine Care
Your blade cuts through the vinyl glue and contacts the glue on your mats every time it cuts. When it misbehaves little pieces of paper stick to it. You may not even notice it. But every little bit hurts your blade’s cutting ability. Your blade is hardened steel so unless you are trying to cut diamonds with your Cricut, it won’t dull the blade, but all this debris will make it seem dull.
Every day, poke the blade into a ball of aluminum foil a dozen or so times. This will scrape off all that stuff that builds up on your blade. The foil does not sharpen the blade but just cleans it.
Replacing The Blades
I hear from people all the time that think they need to replace their blades weekly or monthly. This is not necessary. I use my machine about 30 hours a week on average. And that is a lot! I only replace my fine point blade every 3 months. I do it whether it needs it or not and it usually doesn’t but every 3 month is easy to remember. This works out to about 300 hours of cutting. So if you only use your Cricut 10 hours per week, once a year is fine as long as you clean it regularly.
I buy new blades from Wish. Just make sure you put in the right blade. Some manufacturers put red caps on the fine point blade and some put red caps on the deep point blades. Make sure you keep them straight.

Mat Routine Care
Deep Clean Your Mats

Roller Routine Care
The rollers of your machine pick up little pieces of vinyl and paper, not to mention sticky from your mat. About once a week I clean them with an alcohol wipe (being diabetic I have lots). A baby wipe or cotton ball with rubbing alcohol will do too. To get to the whole roller, turn off and on your Cricut. It thinks it needs to eject a mat so the rollers all turn. Just press the cleaner to the rollers as they turn. You may have to do this several times to get all the rollers.
This was the main problem with my Cricut when it showed up. The rollers were so dirty that they wouldn’t grab my mat and load it. Cleaning the rollers and blowing it out (the next section) fixed it! Some people oil their Cricut. I have never done this and don’t think it really needs done so I don’t know how.

Dust Removal As Routine Care
Conclusion
With proper care your cricut should last years. Mine was used as an industrial cutter and was sold instead of cleaning it. I did a little work and I have owned it for two years with no problems. Like your car, it just needs a little TLC.