I bought my Big Shot "for my birthday" in 2012 and have used the same cutting pads for almost 2 years now. They have been well loved since then, and I have often gotten the question, "When do you change your cutting pads?" I would answer, "It depends on how often you use framelits with them." Just recently, I have noticed the wear of the plates has left unwanted indentations on cardstock when cutting. So when I saw this pin on Pinterest, I thought I should give it a try, even though mine were not bent at all compared to those in the pictured pin.
As I tried this technique, you can my find pictures below. The instructions say to wrap your plates in foil and place in a pyrex dish. I did one plate at a time and did not place anything heavy on it because mine were not bent. After setting the oven to 325 F and letting it sit for 30 minutes, I pulled it out and found no change in the plate. As I ran my fingernail across to scratch it, a few paper flakes fell out, as seen in the final picture, but not enough to feel like the 30 minutes was worth my time. So after this trial and error, I suggest this technique maybe only if your plates are bent. So, two years later, it is time to buy some more plates!
As I tried this technique, you can my find pictures below. The instructions say to wrap your plates in foil and place in a pyrex dish. I did one plate at a time and did not place anything heavy on it because mine were not bent. After setting the oven to 325 F and letting it sit for 30 minutes, I pulled it out and found no change in the plate. As I ran my fingernail across to scratch it, a few paper flakes fell out, as seen in the final picture, but not enough to feel like the 30 minutes was worth my time. So after this trial and error, I suggest this technique maybe only if your plates are bent. So, two years later, it is time to buy some more plates!
The next trick I wanted to try also involved aluminum foil. I absolutely love my Stampin' Trimmer, but my one complaint is that the blades get dull rather quickly. I used the foil to rub against my dull blades. I do think it helped a bit, and I will probably keep a little foil in the compartments under the trimmer, but it's probably time to also buy some more blades!