gardnergal970

Yesterday I read where a lady cleans and oils her rotary cutter everyday and she claims that it makes the blades last longer. I have 3 different makes of cutters and I know that one of them does get a lot of fuzz in the mechanism so I took each of them apart and out a drop of sewing machine oil on the inside where the blades rubs. After I got them all cleaned I ran them over my cutting board and with a couple of strokes, two of them worked perfectly. The third one not so much and looking closer, the blade was not turning all of the time but just being pushed along for a short distance, then turning, then being pushed, etc. It took a little more to get the blade to turn all of the time. I wonder how many times I thought I had a knick on my blade when in reality, the blade was hung up and not turning? I probably won't clean them every day but you can be sure that they will be checked as soon as they leave those couple of places that didn't get cut with the first pass!

Jo C

You're supposed to oil it? I didn't know that! The only time get cleaned is when I change the blade.

coloradosky

I keep an eye on my 45mm and when I see lint building I remove the blade and wipe with a slightly oiled cloth. I have also had a problem with the "sticky" blade when I reassembled the unit. I find it difficult to determine if the blade is actually turning freely so I put a black dot on the outside of the blade with a permanent black marker. I can now check quickly by glancing at the dot to determine how smoothly it is revolving around. If I decide to turn the blade around in the cutter, I put two black dots on the outside of the blade.

PaperPrincess

Be really careful with that oil! You don't want to get it on your fabric.

scrapinmema

The only time I clean mine is when I replace the blade. Will give this a try and see if it works. Love the idea of putting a black dot on the blade to see if it is turning.
Thanks for both of these tips.

Tartan

I occasionally oil the joint in my rotary cutter. Be aware once you oil it, you have to clean it more often because it picks up lint. I also put a drop of oil sometimes on the joints of my walking foot to improve it's motion.

nanna-up-north

Hmmmm..... never. Something else to do?? Oh my.

Onebyone

I have about a dozen or more of cutters. I guess some of them need cleaning. I use a different one all the time so none get dull very often.

mighty

I only do it when I change the blade.

Nammie to 7

Only when I change the blade and don't even have to do that real often.