My Olfa mat has lasted for years. I have never soaked it. You said you scrub it with a wirey scrubber That sounds sort of harsh. Maybe that is part of the problem. I now have a 4x4 cutting table. I had a white mat that was really big from JoAnns. I was not very happy with it. It didn't last very long so I don't recommend that brand. I just bought a new mat from cutting-mats.net. I wanted a big one. Mine is 3x4. So far it is working well. But I have only had it for 6 months.