I have a June Taylor mat that I have been using for months now, so far, so good. I have also purchased a rotary blade sharpner have not tried that out yet but I will, because my blade in starting to get dull.

I bought a Fiskar mat because it is slightly smaller than the Olfa. My sewing room has a counter that runs the full length and the 36" x 24" mat was slightly too big and the edge would break. The Fiskar is just right for my counter. It works fine. I do find I have to clean it more often because fabric gets stuck in the mat (especially when I cut minkie) but I like the light color of it. The green Olfa color is not very pleasing. I also like that I can turn my Fiskar over and use the other side. Cannot do that on my Olfa. (My over 15 year old Olfa - which is slightly smaller than the new Olfa mats - is underneath my Fiskar... got cracked during our last move or I would still be using it.)

I've had a large June Tailor one for ages and it's the hard kind. Absolutely nothing wrong with it, never a cut or nick, but it is hard. I JUST got a new Olfa one in the mail yesterday that I ordered at Joann's with the 40% off coupon. It is 24" x 36" and I can hardly wait to use it.

Definitely a self healing!! I have had two Olfa mats... 48"x36", plus a 36"x24", for 25 plus years. When I was sewing for my bread and butter, I butted them together so I could cut out patterns with my rotary cutter instead of scissors. They have been used for quilting now for about the last 15 yrs as well. Still going great!! I recently bought a folding unit to take to quilt retreat days...one side is Olfa self healing mat, the other side is a pressing mat. Love it!! A great item for removing the threads that sometimes get caught in the the cut marks is a bath scrubbie.

Patti

Like I always say.........you get what you pay for.
I'd go for the quality one - I have 6 of the Olfa green mats and I use the heck out of them!

I have the large cutting mat made by Martelli. It is yellow on one side and purple on the other side. I have had it for a few years and it has no cut marks. I cut a lot of fabric for Project Linus and for myself. It was a great investment. You can roll it up and it goes back to being flat. I have left it in the car and it did not warp. I love it!

When buying my self-healing mat in Jan., the LQS reccommended replacing every two years. I clean it daily with a soft brush to keep it clean. I had an old one before and it was hard as a rock.

I haven't noticed that any of my mats smell. I think most of them are green, I might have a gray one too. :-)

I think I know which June Tailor you are talking about, pretty sure it's not self-healing. Don't bother with one that is not self-healing, it would be a waste of money! I have two different size Dritz (the blue one) cutting mats. One is a 24x36, the other is a smaller one. I love them both! I think the 24x36 is plenty big, if you get much bigger than that, you can't reach to the other side of the mat anyways, so you lose accuracy in your cuts.
Hope this helps!

Also, Jo-Ann's is having a 40% off sale on sewing and quilting cutting tools, so the mats are on sale. Just FYI :D

I have used Salem Cutting mats for 18-20 years. I have yet to wear one out. I keep a emory board to clean the threads that get caught when cutting. They are translucent so I put white paper under or black as I need it. they are great. I have a 4'x8' on my large cutting table and 24 x 36" next to my sewing machine and a couple of small ones. Price wise I am not sure. I think 24x 36 was well under $30. Also, you can roll them to store and the flatten right out. You can also pin into them with no problem.

Where do you find a Salem cutting Mat?

Do a search on Salem cutting mats I think they are in Atlanta, GA. They sell at most big quilt shows and give good prices on the last day of a show so they don't have to take them home, I guess. I'll look for the URL

Found it...http://www.southstarsupply.com/catal...products_id=99

When I purchased my new Olfa's about 3maybe 4 years ago they smelled just like a skunk had sprayed their odor on them. It was late fall so not too warm out , so I put them in the sun room with the windows open until I could handle the odor. The hancock fabric store where I purchased them said they couldn't smell it unless the cellophane they came in was torn. Boy, it wasn't nice for at least a week. I don't think they come with any protection on them now?

Suzy

OK....since this is all about mats, I'd like to ask a question...I have a mat that I ironed on (to save my countertop)....big mistake as it did warp from the heat of the iron. I know ...that was dumb... but I had a heavy towel on it and thought it would be ok.

A few weeks ago I thought I read a solution to a warped mat somewhere in our QB info....I cannot remember where it was . Can anyone help? This is a nice big mat and I'd like to save it ....Thanks for your help and big hugs..SG

they may be green and smelly but mine is 10+ years and still looking good.

Excuse my ignorance... I've never heard of a self-healing mat. I'm sorry... can someone explain please?

I also have the Martelli double-sided mat and rotary cutters. IMHO if you can afford it, they are worth the money. The mat has accurate measurements on each side (light side - yellow and dark side - lavender) and it is not supposed to warp if left in the car. They say you can even iron on it if you follow instructions. Here's the website: http://www.martellicatalog.com/mm5/merchant.mvc? I saw them demonstrated at a local quilt show. They also have video demonstrations online. I called and ordered mine over the phone. I got a better deal as well as fast delivery.

I have a June Taylor mat I've used for years and have no complaints about it. It seems to be very resistant to cuts. Try it, and if you don't like it, you can buy a more expensive one next time. There's always next time. :)

When you roll your cutter across the mat it immediately seals itself
and you can't see the cut anymore. These matts last a very long time.

I use an olfa self healing mat and love it. I like the one that's 18 x 24, it's not too small and it's not too big.

Alvin's is an online store, I think it is an art supply company. I don't know the web address, I just googled Alvin's cutting mats.

I have the very large (36 X 59 inch) white mat from Jo Ann's, but not sure of the brand as it does not say. I just assumed it would be self-healing, but it is not. It is OK for cutting fabrics, but when I cut batting, it stays in the cuts and is horrible. I have furry lines all over the mat. I have not noticed it being hard on my blades however. I think next time, I will just buy 2 of the Olfa mats and duct tape them together.

Fiskars also makes a self-healing mat (looks kind of yellow). I don't know how good it is but I'm looking for one in a lighter color than my Olfa green. I sometimes have trouble cutting fabric that is too close to the green color.

I have several mats-a couple I inherited from a friend from France, but don't think they are self-healing. My favorite is the Olfa Duraheal-24" x 36" and is a really good size for my cutting table. It is blue, and has held up for about 8 years so far, even in the tropical humidity where I use to live. I never noticed a smell, but when I bought it at Joann's, it was not wrapped or in a box. I also have a small 6" x 8" which is perfect just next to my machine for the small tasks. I never use any of my other mats for rotary cutting, but still find other uses for them in the sewing room. I would certainly recommend buying the larger size of any self-healing mat, and with 40% - 50% coupons periodically available at Joann's, it makes it much more affordable. In fact, I never buy a large ticket item unless I have the coupon. I just wait until one comes out. I even use it to buy whole bolts of backing fabric, which they still count as one single-cut. If you plan to make allot of rotary cut quilts, it is a key piece of equipment which will last years.

I'm one of those weird people who actually uses the lines on the cutting mat for measuring purposes when cutting for a quilt - rather than the lines on the ruler. Therefore, I really like the Fiskars mats and the Gingher mats. Their inch lines are all the same width, unlike Olfa that has wider lines every 5 inches. I also find that the tiny dots on the quarter inch lines make it very easy to accurately line up my ruler for cutting.

My favorite mat Is a large purple one Donna dewberry? I think that's her name. It's wonderful, the reason I like it best is because in between every 1/2 & 1 inch mark are dots marking the board, so it's easier to cut accurately. I still own tons of olfa mats various sizes, but I use the purple one most of the time.

Linda B, thank you for the feedback. I am looking into a different colored mat hoping it will help my cutting issues.

I have a large - 60 x 36 - mat that I got several years ago at JoAnne's. I think it is June Taylor, but it doesn't say anywhere. Anyway, it is white with black grids, and has been sitting on my dining room table for so long that my husband thinks it is just an ugly tablecloth. I love this mat. It must be selfhealing because I use it constantly and it is in great shape. And, I used one of their 50% off coupons so I got it for about $35.00.

I have one of each and vote for the self healing mat. The June Taylor works but I find my ruler slips more when I use it.

Self healing all the way.

I have a 36" self healing mat which I have had for many years. I prefer Olfa mats for most of my rotary cutting - the June Tailor surface is too hard and I find my cutter slides and gets dull very quickly. Whenever I have a JoAnn's coupon - I only get an Olfa mat - also think about a turning rotary mat - great for squaring blocks!

You will have a more professional cut if you use a self healing mat. It's worth the extra $ to go first class if you can.I have used the white cutting mat and found that it dulls your rotary cutter blade. And you will replace the blade frequently.

I'll be interested to know what others think about the best cutting mat also. I have had Fiskars and it didn't last long at all. I have also had Olfa, which is supposed to be self healing but every time I cut batting on it, whether it's in a quilt sandwich or not, it sticks in the cut and I have to work to rub it out.

I have the large June Taylor mat on my work area; yeah, it doesn't heal, and I'm lazy about changing blades.... so I have a mat that has a 'bubble 'on the end I work on.... wait... I think I see a pattern developing! And I have Omnigrids in various sizes.
I like the big mat for obvious reasons... it's big, my preference would be to have all Omnigrid mats, BTW these (Omnigrid) don't recover well after a 'pinking' wheel, either..... I read somewhere that you should use the same tools from start to finish on a quilt, so I use the big mat mostly these days.... lazy girl.

I would get a self healing mat. God bless. Penny

I bought one of the June Tailor mats because it was cheaper and I really regret it. Three months old and already have cuts in it. My last fiskars was with me for 4 years.

Get the self-healer. If you don't you'll just be buying another one long before you should have to. I prefer the Olfa. I haven't had any that smelled bad, but I know some quilters do complain of that. Someone on one of these threads gave a solution to that problem, I just can't remember what it was.
Be very careful not to keep it in your car any longer than it takes to get it home. They buckle with heat and it's just about impossible to flatten them out.
As for cleaning the fuzz off when it builds up, I just use a "scrubby." The same thing I use for cleaning my pots and pans. It takes a few seconds. 8-)

There is a small hand tool & in quilting catalogs, also & Nancy Z. catalog. JoAnn's also carries it. It is circular and you rub this tool on your cutting mat and it removes ALL the threads and fuzz that is stuck in the cut marks on your mat. You know that you can cut on both sides of your Olfa cutting mat. Somtimes I can cut better w/o the lines on the mat and use my ruler.