If you have (and every sewer I know has one) a tracing wheel it works great to run around the edge of the pad to tuck in a cover over the old one. You can't tell it's a cover and it pulls out easy to wash. I did this to the new one I bought and the original cover still looks like new. I started putting a layer of freezer paper underneath the cover to keep the steam from the starch from going to the mat side. I had the mat bow from steam on my old one.