I mark all over my die foam. LOL Some of my dies are so old they fall out of the green board. I glue them back in using Elmer's All Purpose Glue. DH had honed some of older straight die blades super sharp. My 2 1/2 square dies never did cut all the way though even after two replacements and the blades are awkward to hone so I added a piece of cutting mat over the die mat to put more pressure on the die. It cuts perfectly. I don't use more then two layers of fabric with the extra thickness. I'm not saying do what I do, I can replace my dies and cutter so it doesn't bother me to experiment with it.