cutting mats
 

Is there a difference in cutting mats? Is one brand better than another? I have seen Olfa, Omnigrid, June Tailor, etc. Are self-healing or two-sided mats worth the extra money?

I always stick with Olfa. The white ones will cause your blades to dull a lot faster.

The color of a mat may be important to you. I first tried a grey mat with orange lines, which I could hardly see. Now I use the green Olfa mats with yellow lines. I always buy the self-healing mats, because I think that's important, but honestly haven't tried the others.

there are huge differences in mats- and if using a rotory cutter a *self-healing* mat is a must...otherwise you will get deep (grooves) cuts in the mat fairly quickly and be replacing it. a self healing mat will last a long time as long as you take care of it- a mat that is not self healing will not last very long-will have to be replaced frequently if you use it alot. as for color/brand- buy the one that has lines you can see the best- some people like the gray ones- some like the green ones- and some like white ones- it's up to you what works best for you. you get what you pay for.....

Is there truly a "self healing" mat out there?? I have fairly new Olfa large, and swivel. They both stated "self healing". They have fabric imbedded in the cuts..I took a dry steel scrubber to try and work out the fabric..It helped a little. I'm going to just use them as is, and not run out and spend more $ to just have the same thing happen to the next "self-healing" mats.

Those are my favorites, too. I had a no-name one (it was cloudy clear white) that was awful... dulled my blades, buckled... it was horrid. I think as long as you stay with a name brand you should be OK.

I've had my two white Dritz table-sized mats for over twenty years and they're not ready to be retired yet. I do have a couple of the green Olfa mats which have probably been used only two or three times to take to classes; I just don't like how thin they seem. The Dritz are a full 1/8" thick, the markings are dark brown and very legible against the white background.

I've got two Fiskars cutting mats - one 24x36 and the other is 18x24 for taking to sew outside of my craft room. I love them.
I also have a rotating Olfa mat which I really am not impressed with. The cuts that the rotary cutter make seem to attract fuzz... I'm constantly having to wipe it off. I'm glad I didn't spend the extra money for a larger Olfa mat. I know that I'm probably in the minority with my Fiskars mat love, but I love mine. I've had it for a few years and it's holding up quite nicely. :)

I ordered an Omnigrid mat and pretty quickly warped it :(. So when I went looking for a new mat I ended up ordering an Alvin brand. I love it. It is much thicker than the Olfa/Omnigrid mats and looks about the same. It cost me 18.00 for the 18x24 size. I have also use MegaMat, and I am much more impressed with the Alvin. Gina

I'm considering a 14" Fiskars rotating mat. Does anyone own a Fiskars?