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