I finally gave my AccuQuilt Go Baby cutter a test run; loved it, it was easy to turn the handle and cut great. However, I thought the mat would be self-healing, like a rotary cutter mat. Instead, there are deep cuts in the mat! Is this normal or did I do something wrong?

I hope someone more experienced will give you a definite answer, however, I have the GO but have only practiced with it a couple of times. My understanding is that the mat is not self-healing. The first two times I used mine I had a hard time turning the handle and had the deep cuts you mentioned. The next couple of times I used it it was much easier to turn and the cuts were hardly visible. Like I said, I hope others who have used it long will answer your question.

Don't worry about it! The Mats are self healing, however due to how much pressure by how fast you move the die through the Go! along with how many fabric layers you are attempting to cut through - sometimes it does leave deeper than usual cuts. The trick to balancing the mat is to flip it regularly and rotate the corners you utilize on the mat, and you won't experience any issues with or early wearing out of the mat, this will make it last the longest. Source of experience: I own an Accuquilt Go!, all the dies and all sizes of cutting mats for quite some time now. Hope this helps!

Explosive blessings, abundance and inspiration to you all!
- The Creative Seamstress

My mats have actually broken through at the deep cuts after extended use. You can use it with the cuts in it; eventually it will break apart and then you should purchase another mat. I would not get half as much done if I didn't have the Accuquilt. So easy...

The mats are not self healing. It will wear out much more quickly with repetative cuts in the same spot. Try and flip the mat end for end and use both sides. If possible, move the mat a bit each time you cut. Sometimes you can't avoid cutting in the same spot over & over so your are kind of stuck. When I was doing wedding invitations, I would wear out a mat for each project. It's a good idea to have a spare mat around.

Keep spares.. and alot of them if you plan on using your cutter frequently. I second the fact you need to move them over a smidge so the cut isnt in the same place every time. flip and turn as much as possible after every cut.. The white/clear ones are not self healing like our rotary mats but they are pliable.. they do dry out and get brittle after lots of use.. you can however buy bigger and cut them to size.. When my 10x10 gets pretty worn from my 10x10 dies I''ll cut it down and use it on the 5x10 dies.. Ive heard some Accuquilt users gently ironing them between a cotton towel. I have yet to try this but others have said it has worked.. You just need to test and figure out the heat level of the iron..

can we use worn out rotary cutting mats on this machine ?
cut to fit die size.

This will void your warranty.

It is intentional that the dies should bite into the mat. This makes for a clean cut in the fabric and protects the cutting edge of the die. To maintain clean fabric cuts, you need to keep moving and flipping the mat a wee bit particularly if you are using the same die with it.

Diana

My Go is almost three years old and I'm still using the first mats. I move, rotate, flip, and turn after every cut, I try not to cut in the same place time after time. The mats are pretty cheap compared to rotary mats so I have a good stash of them on hand I bought at sales.