Cricut Basic Tool Set Review: The Five Tools That Make Vinyl Actually Work

Cricut Basic Tool Set — 5-Piece, Mint → — our affiliate link; we earn a small commission at no cost to you.

⭐ 4.9 · 45,400 ratings · $14.99 · #1 Top Rated · The highest-rated thing in this entire edit

✨ Key Features

• 🪝 Weeder — the sharp hook that pulls excess vinyl off your design. This is the whole ballgame. Nothing else does this job.
• 🔧 Scraper — cleans your mats and burnishes vinyl down flat so it actually sticks
• 🥄 Spatula — slides under delicate paper and lifts it off the mat without tearing it in half
• ✂️ Micro-tip scissors — genuinely sharp, genuinely precise, with a blade cover
• 🤏 Reverse-grip tweezers — grip small pieces without you squeezing; you squeeze to release
• ⭐ 4.9 stars across 45,400 reviews — one of the best-loved craft products on Amazon, full stop

Check the current price on Amazon →

The quick verdict: Your Cricut cuts the design. These tools are how you actually get the design off the sheet and onto the thing. Without a weeder, vinyl crafting is genuinely impossible — you will sit there picking at tiny letters with a fingernail, and you will lose your mind. This set is $14.99, it’s rated 4.9 stars across 45,400 people, and it is not optional equipment. Buy it with the machine. 🌈

Here’s the part nobody warns you about.

You design something gorgeous. The machine cuts it beautifully. And then you’re staring at a sheet of vinyl where your design is technically cut but visually invisible — it’s all still one flat sheet — and you realise you now have to remove every single scrap of background vinyl around and inside your design. Every letter. Every counter of every ‘e’, ‘ a ‘, and’ and ‘o’. By hand.

That’s called weeding. And it is 90% of the actual work. 🌈

The machine cutting takes two minutes. The wedding takes twenty. And if you try to do it with your fingernails, a pin, or a pair of eyebrow tweezers, you will tear your design, swear a great deal, and conclude that crafting is a lie.

What each tool is actually for

🪝 The weeder — the one that matters. A fine, sharp hook. You slide it under the excess vinyl and lift it away, and you flick out the tiny centres of letters. There is no substitute for this. None. If you buy one crafting tool in your life, it’s this one, and it’s the reason this set exists.

🔧 The scraper: Two jobs, both important. It burnishes — you press it firmly over your vinyl and transfer tape so everything bonds properly instead of lifting at the corners later. And it cleans your mats, scraping off the shredded paper and fuzz that kills a mat’s tack.

🥄 The spatula. This is the one that saves your paper projects. Delicate cardstock fuses itself to a sticky mat, and if you peel it up with your fingers, it curls, creases, or tears clean in half — always at the very last step, after all the work. The spatula slides underneath and lifts it flat.

✂️ The micro-tip scissors are properly sharp, with a fine point that gets into places normal scissors can’t. You’ll use them constantly for trimming vinyl and snipping transfer tape. They come with a blade cover — which you will lose within a week, and that’s fine.

🤏 The reverse-grip tweezers. These work backwards, and it’s brilliant. They’re closed by default, and you squeeze to open them. So they hold a tiny piece of vinyl with steady, constant pressure while your hand relaxes — instead of you death-gripping a pair of normal tweezers and pinging a letter across the room.

Why 45,400 reviews at 4.9 stars is genuinely remarkable

I look at a lot of ratings, and I want to be clear about how unusual this is.

Forty-five thousand people have bought this, and it holds a 4.9-star average. Nothing holds 4.9 at that volume. Things degrade — you get the bad batches, the shipping damage, the people who wanted something else entirely. A 4.9 across 45,000 buyers means the thing simply, reliably works, for essentially everyone, every time.

That’s not marketing. That’s a genuinely exceptional product, and it’s why this is the highest-rated item in this entire guide.

The honest part

Yes, cheaper generic weeding kits exist. You can find no-name tool sets for less, and some of them are perfectly fine. I’m not going to pretend the physics of a small hook are proprietary.

But here’s my honest read: at $14.99 for five tools, this isn’t expensive — and the difference between a good weeder and a bad one is real. A cheap weeder with a dull or thick tip will tear your vinyl instead of lifting it, which defeats the entire purpose. The 4.9-star rating across 45,000 people is telling you these ones are properly made. Three dollars a tool for the ones that definitely work is a good trade. Save your bargain-hunting for the vinyl.

The spatula is the tool you’ll use least. If you mostly do vinyl and iron-on, you may barely touch it. It matters enormously for paper and cardstock people, and hardly at all for everyone else. That’s fine — it’s along for the ride.

And the scissor cover will disappear. Universally. Immediately. Just accept it.

One thing this set does NOT include: transfer tape, which you also need for vinyl projects (it’s how you move your weeded design off the backing and onto the thing). Not a flaw — just don’t assume this kit is everything.

Who it’s for

Every single person who owns a cutting machine. Genuinely. Not a nice-to-have, not an upgrade — this is basic operating equipment, the way a saucepan is basic equipment for cooking.

If you’ve just bought a Cricut, add this to the order right now. If you’ve had one for six months and have been weeding with a safety pin like a Victorian, stop it. Buy the tools. You will not believe how much faster and less infuriating it is.

(Just getting started? Here’s my Cricut Explore 5 review — and you’ll want the right mats too.)

The bottom line

The machine gets all the glory, but the tools are what turn a cut sheet of vinyl into a finished thing. Fifteen dollars, five tools, and the best rating I’ve seen on any craft product anywhere.

Get the weeder. Get the tweezers. Stop picking at tiny letters with your fingernails.

Now go make something nobody else has. 🌈

Check the current price on Amazon →

Read the Cricut Explore 5 review →

Read the Cutting Mats review →

See the full DIY & Craft edit →

See more of Vicky’s full fall edit →

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I love you all — stay sparkly and stay vivid. Vivid Vicky for SparkTrove Trends. 🌈