Cutting Mat
 

Hi, My cutting mat has waves in it, and it will not lay flat. I don't know how it happened, but I would like to see it flat before I discard it. Any suggestions.

I've read somewhere that heat helps. The suggestion was to lay it on a flat surface in the sun and wait. No idea though if that works...

If you do an advance search on previous posts, I think it is ICE that may work.

What brand is it? When I was at a quilt show Olfa was there, the salesperson was telling us to soak our mats. Maybe if you soak it for several hours then lay it flat with something holding it down will help.

I think they are supposed to stay out of the sun.

My mat has a warning to keep it out of the heat and cold.

When the mat is already warped, what do you have to lose. Lay it out in the sun on a flat surface (my friend used her hubby's truck)until it is quite warm. Bring it in and lay it on a flat surface and put some weight on it like books to hold it flat while it cools. Next day it should be flat as new.

Mine mat was the same. I left it in the hot car. I tried the sun. It got worse. I tried laying it flat with weights on it for 2 weeks..still no change. I just bought a new one and stuck the warped one aside..laying flat

In 30+ years I've had only 2 mats warp as you are describing. But I lived in TX in those days and it was hard to transport one even to a class in the car without damage from heat.

So I developed a "case" to carry and to store mine.

Jan in VA

According to the Fiskar site they recommend placing cookie sheets in the freezer and then laying the mat on a flat surface, cover with the frozen cookie sheets and place a heavy object on top of that. Leave it until the cookie sheets reach room temperature. They advise not to use heat as it will make it worse.

I have a warped cutting mat at my other home and I am going to try the cookie sheet method when I get there. I took good care of that mat and have no idea of why it warped but I have tried keeping it weighted on a flat surface when I'm not using it and it will look like it flatted it out until I start to use it and the warp is back.

I'm anxious to know if anyone has used the frozen cookie sheet method and if it worked.

Great idea Jan for the carry case/design board.

My mat started to warp for some reason in the middle at an angle. I did the frozen cookie sheet method. Dh had a piece of 4x4 plywood and we put the mat on it and a piece of fabric then the cookie sheets on top of it and had a couple large old dictionaries and placed it under our bed. That way everything would be flat. I didn't want the cookie sheets in direct contact. was afraid what would happen because of the heat and cold. Worked fine. That was last year.

I think it was Superior Threads that also recommends using ice/very cold like Citruscountryquilter mentioned.

Jan, love your idea! Just had a discussion last night with my quilting buddies on getting the warp out of a cutting mat. I will tell my friend what you all have suggested.
Thanks!

great idea jan i have always been told never leave in sun or hot car!

Jan,
The mat carrier idea is brilliant! I'm going to make one today! Adding the flannel is inspired!
Kathie

Thanks Jan for sharing. Fab I heard HEAT can wave a cutting board, especially in a car on a hot day.

Jan, you totally amaze me!

Wow, Jan......great idea to keep a mat flat for transportation or storage. I'm amazed at the simple, wonderful ideas and tips that are posted on this board. Thanks, quilters!

I have placed a mat in the sun and it flattened. However it took days, when I had given up and brought it in the house it flattened.

Hello All!
When I moved last summer thought the car was a safe place to transport my cutting mat. Wrong if it is not removed very soon. It warped badly. Just laid it in the drive way or front step in the hot sun two or three days, hottest part of day. Brought it in overnight and laid flat. If warm when you bring it in lay flat. Not a ripple after that. It is a Fiskars and I have had it for several years. Possibly different material than mats are made of now. As mentioned, try different things if you cannot use the mat at all.

I left mine in the car in summer, I put it on my south facing driveway placed a bucket of water for weight and it corrected itself. Perhaps it depends on how severe the warp is. Mine was a June Taylor mat

I use a blow dryer and a pile of books on it while it cools. Works every time.

Thank you Jan for such a great idea!! Just emailed it to all my quilty buddies!

Thank you all for the positive response to my cutting mat carrier. :o
Glad my idea helps!

Jan in VA

Once again Jan you have amazed me with all your knowledge you are my hero! :o

Will be making one of those carry case things.

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. Will try as many as possible. If it doesn't flattened, I will cut it up and make a small portable mat on one side and a soft board on the opposite side that can used when traveling. I think most of you know what I am talking about. Thanks again.

I warmed mine with heating gun and laid heavy weight on it til it cooled , worked like a charm , good luck.

Jan, I kept the pkg my cutting mat came in, and attached flannel to the back of the case for a small and portable design board!

Briliant idea! I have to store my mat behind a hutch as it takes up so much space. I see some foam baord on my future!

Jan- I always loooove your graphics! I am such a visual learner and need to see things to help them make sense for me!

I'm new to the board, so I'm chiming in late but I wanted to share my experience. I ran across this thread as I was looking for recommendations for a new mat because mine is without a doubt trash now.

I have had two Fiskars mats warp, one because it was left in a car (hubby's fault!!) and had a severe warp, the other used to hang on a peg which always seemed fine but I believe someone set it on the floor and the curve of leaning up against the wall warped it, that time it wasn't bad, but it became worse when hubby (his fault again!!!) put a cup of tea on my mat.

I read a lot of recommendations on how to fix it. I started first with soaking it and weighing down the warps. Then I tried freezing corian cutting boards and covering the entire mat with them. Then I tried heating it with an iron and weighing down while it was still hot. Nothing worked.

I decided to wait until summer and try the glass sandwich method. I took two sheets of glass that were larger than my cutting mats and sandwiched my cutting mat in the middle. I let it sit in the sun all day and after dark once it had cooled I brought it in. It actually worked really well to flatten it, I have only a small ripple on one side. I placed a small ruler on it and everything APPEARED square and accurate. The next day I did the same thing with my other mat. Again great results, I thought. I went to use it for the first time this week and cut a 9 1/2 inch strip. As I was working with it I realized I was 1/8th off. I made sure I was really careful cutting my next 9 1/2 inch strip, but again I was 1/8th off. Finally I realized that when I laid my big ruler on the mat everything looked accurate on one end of the ruler, but there was a gradual difference in measurements as you looked down the ruler. It's as though the mat shrunk overall. Both maths are the same way. I suspect that even in the situations where someone is able to heat just a portion and get the warp out that it might still distort the grid.

Sorry it wasn't a solution, but my advice is not to mess with heat in your experiments. Maybe in the winter you could soak and freeze it flat outside.

Megan

I would place it in boiling water, then shock it by placing it into a deep freeze, perhaps with a weight on top of it -- a side of beef would be my selection. This will kill bacteria growing on the mat as well.