Is the Cricut Explore 3 Overrated? the Hidden Realities Craft Testers Found
By Alexander Ross
Q1: Do you have to use Smart Materials with the Cricut Explore 3?
A1: No. The machine fully supports traditional adhesive cutting mats (LightGrip, StandardGrip, StrongGrip). You can use any brand of standard adhesive vinyl, HTV, paper, or specialty material by placing it onto a cutting mat and selecting standard material presets in Design Space.
Q2: Is a Cricut Access subscription mandatory to operate the machine?
A2: No. You can create basic geometric shapes, use system fonts installed on your computer, and upload unlimited custom SVG, PNG, and JPEG files into Cricut Design Space for free. The subscription primarily provides access to Cricut's curated design library, commercial-use graphics, and proprietary font selections.
Q3: Can the Explore 3 cut wood, leather, or fabric?
A3: It cuts bonded fabrics (fabric backed with heat-activated interfacing) and ultra-thin faux leathers using the Deep-Point Blade. It cannot cut genuine tooling leather, balsa wood, basswood, or unbacked woven fabrics, as those materials require the adaptive motorized drive and 4,000-gram downforce exclusive to the Maker series.
Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.
