Railroadersbrat

The brand is Dahle, I have several of their cutting mats and never had an issue with any of them. I like them because I can get them in different colors, I got cross-eyed bored with the green mats and needed a change. They're also fairly affordable and they're accurate.

After some time in the floor, it looks like it's flattened out, I have a small warp along the very top edge, I'm cleaning off my kitchen island and putting my boards on it when I'm done (have to use some fiberglass boards my fiancé got a while back, my island really isn't that big and the fiberglass elongates the island and gives me a ton of room), I'll be able to assess if I'm going to have issues cutting with the warp. Honestly, I don't think I will, but want to make sure anyway.

I did reach out to the company earlier this afternoon and have not gotten an email back from them. I got in touch with Amazon and told them the issue, have not heard back from them, either, but I suspect I will in the next day or so. I went back through the reviews just to see if there was maybe a pattern of this that I missed, at one point they did ship them flat, but then switched to rolling them up. Aside from the fact that many people complain that it's not self-healing, (which I'm calling operator error on that, if you run your blade across one location over and over, of course it's not going to heal correctly and I think that's what people are doing), there's really not much about permanent warping due to shipping.

It still irritates me some, cutting mats should be shipped flat.

DrosieD

If you're going to leave it out in the heat to flatten, keep an eye on it. I've had Olfa mats warp in the sun.

sewingpup

I got a bubble on on of mine. Totally my fault, I placed my morning cup of coffee on it for a bit too long

Onebyone

Mats are glued in layers except for the June Taylor mats as they are one solid mat. Any heat will loosen the glue causing buckling and bubbling. I watched a video how cutting mats are made. It's not on youtube any longer though. There is a reason why some mats cost more then others. And the amount of pressure you use on the rotary cutter to cut is a big factor of the life of the mat. Only the solid mats are made to take a lot of cuttings pressure. Qulter's Select has a layer of thin memory foam with a super tough outer layer that will not cut easily by a cutter used properly. . The top layer sinks in the foam and springs back up. A weighted rotary cutter is the best so not much pressure is needed to cut several layers of fabric. The video had a lot of info. I think we need to be educated about our quilting tools so I wish more companies would explain the quality of their products.

ckcowl

My cutting mat is 30” x 60”- always comes rolled. Luckily I only need to replace it about once every 10 years. When I get it home, if it’s nice out I lay it out on my sewing room floor - with a sheet under it, and a sheet over it. I place heavy books on the corners, sometimes sides too and usually one or two in the center. When it’s flat I put it on the cutting table which it fits perfectly. If the edges are still wanting to curl a little I put the books back on over night. I wouldn’t put it out in the sun- it might warp and never flatten.