Cutting Up Old Mats
 

I have an old cutting mat that I need to cut smaller. What do you guys use to get a nice even edge?

I have never cut up an old cutting mat but I will be watching this post closely for some ideas.

I had one to cut up saveral years ago and my husband used a cutter used to cut roll flooring used in bathrooms and kitchens. It worked beautifully. Then he used sand paper and emery cloth to smooth the edges.

I've cut with big scissors following the lines. Not perfect, but fine for me.

I'm going to cut my biggest into 4 pieces for the bottom of the laundry basket, I may try a box cutter and ruler this time.

I've heard of people using the mat pieces for the bottom reinforcement in purses.

You could also use the smaller mat (after it was cut) to take to quilting classes or retreats instead of taking a really large mat.

Exacto knife?

I scored a new Fiskars mat with a blade cutter and it snapped cleanly apart. I forgot why I did it. Must have been something useful to use it for. LOL

just used regular scissors to cut mine up. Used the smaller boards at my sewing station for use when paper piecing to trim the pieces to 1/4" seams.

I used a utility knife and a ruler. I drew a line with a permanent black marker to make it easier to see.

I used my Gingers Scissors. Yea, I know what you're thinking....

It had never occurred to me to cut my mats up.

I buy different sizes of Ginghers for my utility scissors. This way no one is looking for the good scissors and it is a simple joy to use good scissors when I need to cut other then fabric.

I bought a large mat and cut it to fit a cutting table. I used tin snips.

My son-in-law cut up my old one; half for me and half for his wife. I think he used a table saw. I could have used my table saw also, but he did it for me. I would have put some scrap wood over the mat and cut them together.

Table saw worked well for me. Between scraps sounds good.

Love this idea! I have been using cloth bags for the grocery store and think the mat pieces would work beautifully with them. Thanks for the tip!

I used the table saw to cut mine. I bought two and cut them in half to put on the back side of my LA table. It's very nice having a 12' long cutting area, even if it is only 18" wide.

I set the fence at a bit less than half, then ran both sides through so all pieces are exactly the same width. It's just as smooth as the factory edge.