I had bought a Fiskars mat several years ago. It was a folding mat and I thought it would be great to bring to classes. It smelled like a skunk too, I tried everything to get rid of the smell. Finally I just returned it to the store. They took it back without question (I mean really, you could smell it without trying). Now I only buy Olfa mats and never have a problem with smells. I would consider returning it to the store.