How to Clean the Silhouette Cameo Blade Housing

Are you one of those people like me who tries to extend our blades life? If the answer is yes, then this post about how to clean the Silhouette Cameo Blade housing is right for you!

How to Clean the Silhouette Cameo Blade Housing

…Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was a {not so young} lady planning her baby girl’s 1^st birthday party. By that time she only had her hands, some scissors, cardstock and {thank God} a printer. She was crazy about owls so she went for that theme and started the adventurous work of making the decoration by hand.

She designed everything first, put all her heart into it and when done, she printed it all in a pretty white cardstock. Everything was looking so pretty, she couldn’t wait to see it all done. Then she patiently started to cut each piece with her scissors. By the time she had cut 3 sheets of intricate shapes she was wishing she had a Fairy God Mother that could swing her wand and have it all nicely cut at once!

Little did she know that her wish was going to come true {not for the party though}. Her Fairy God Mother turned out to be a Fairy God Father {her daddy LOL}, he gave her a brand new shiny Silhouette Came for Christmas so she could keep creating and crafting happily ever after! …And she did! But she also do anything to keep her beloved healthy and clean!… The end!

I must say it; I’m in love with my Cameo. If you have one you definitely know what I’m talking about. If not, being a crafter you have no idea what you are missing LOL.

I’d say the biggest problem of these blades is that once they are filled with dust and remnants of cut material, they stop working properly. Because of that, it’s very important to keep it clean so it cuts for a long, long time! The question is: What’s the best way to do that?

I created this post some time ago but in Spanish. I published it and re-published it a couple of times because a few days later, after several cuts with the blade, I realized that something was wrong with that technique. Here I want to share an idea I found and tried with mixed results about how to clean the silhouette Cameo blade housing and another which I think is the best.

A dear friend of mine, a lover of Silhouette too, gave me a terrific tip for anyone who wants a thorough cleaning of the blades of a Silhouette Cameo. I had seen several posts on the subject but those were very superficial. Like what I was already doing I knew how important it is to keep blades clean and make the life of the blade is as long as possible. They might not be so expensive but still saving is always good, right?

Well I have here the perfect solution for you!

Please note that if you decide to do it, it’s at your own risk (sorry if it sounds harsh). The process is simple just to unscrew the housing top, but it took some effort (at least mine did) and can give the feeling that it might break it but the gadget is stronger than you think. As I did with mine and it worked, during my experience I had my moments of doubt whether it would be tightly closed after but everything went well and cut out perfectly after that.

A piece of advice, do not do this if you don’t have a replacement blade in your possession, and do it for the first time with a blade that you would already be about to discard, you can never be too careful!

… A little background on my experience first…

When I did a cleaning the first time I followed another video {sadly the lady took it down}, the biggest problem I had was closing it, and if it hurt my hand when I managed to open it, you can’t imagine how it was to close it. It was a more complicated process I had to unscrew the black parts of the blade, and it was a pain. If you come across a tutorial like this, just consider what I’m about to say!

When I used the blade immediately after closing it, it worked perfectly, but the thing is that I tried with a simple shape, I think it was a circle or something. Then when I really started working and varying thickness of materials and using more intricate shapes, that’s when I began to notice that something was not right.

What happened with that cleaning technique? Here comes the big BUT! These blades are calibrated pieces that have some numbers that correspond to the degree in which the blade shows up out of the housing. That makes it very difficult to open and close it exactly well calibrated. That’s why I think this wasn’t the best technique.

So, what happened to me? When I have to cut something with number 2, I had to put it in 4 or 5 and so on. To reach this conclusion I had to cut a few different times with different textures or should I say try to cut? Lol. Anyway, the thing is that it did cut, and it was cutting fine once I got the hang of it. I used that knife for almost a year, however, I used it for simple shapes and cardboard not too thick, when I need to cut something more elaborate, delicate and intricate, I used the new one.

The thing is I don’t believe doing this cleaning technique is a no no, perhaps some of you get lucky and the blade ends up like new, but it’s important to know the risks beforehand and that you might need to get the hang of the calibration of the blade in order to keep using it. And again, as I said before, do not do this if you don’t have another blade to use in case things don’t go well.

THE BEST WAY TO CLEAN THE SILHOUETTE CAMEO BLADE HOUSING

I recently found another great video from “cuteasabugcreations” on YouTube and a tutorial from The Season Homemaker showing how to do this in a safer way. In my opinion is the best technique so far that I’ve seen. Watch the video and check out the tutorial!

Sometimes the thread gets really hard to loosen. Try not to do it too tightly, apply force gradually until the thread loosens.

This technique is plain, straight forward and simple. You just unscrew the top, clean the blade and the housing with a soft brush and put it back.

This is a great way to keep our blades clean, make them last longer and save some money! Isn’t it awesome?

MMMUACK to my beloved Cameo!!!! wink!!!

Now it’s your turn! Do you know any other way to clean the blade housing? If you have any questions or comments you want to share about the video or about my experience with the blade, I’m here!.

I hope this helps you a little!