Several years ago I bought a very large mat at Joanns with a coupon.. 58 x 33 I seem to be going thru Alot of blades.. Does anyone know if I might need a new mat.. Would it be causing the problem?

It could be the problem, have you grooves and it is no longer "healing"? if so time for a new mat.
I have looked at my Mom's mat , and it has REALLY big grooves in it as she uses the lines on the mat for the cutting line. It no longer heals and she has the same issue with blades. But I just can not seem to get her to buy or use a new mat she Says "there still some life in that mat".

what color and brand is your mat? some are just not good.

It is a white .. I have no idea what the brand is. It was not printed anywhere on it.

I think in the next few weeks I will have to replace th larger mat I use in my sewing room. I just bought a smaller one that is easy to take with in my quilt tote. I'm having the same problem, dulling blades quickly and I do think my cutting mat is part of the problem.

So what do you do with an old used cutting mat?

I've never had luck with those large white plastic cutting mats. I see people at quilt shows carrying them around all the time but I just did not like the feel of them when I used one at a retreat once. I will stick to my Fiskars

A new mat makes a world of difference. My old mat still "looked" good
(except for a few small grooves) but after I changed it. Wow. Cuts like
butter. If you think you need a new mat this means you definitely need
one. :D If you've used that mat for several years and think it's still good
but you have to change blade often, this means you probably need a
new mat also. :-D

yep, white ones seem to be very hard. i never got the mat for JoAnn's folding table due to that. i have to large Olfa mats on my cutting table. use the folding table to baste my quilts.

This is why I love this board. I'm changing blades all the time and now I think it's probably the large white mat on my JoAnns cutting table. I've had it for years so I guess I'll have to let it go. Maybe a use could be under the chair instead of those other mats. Something nonslip on the carpet side maybe?? Thoughts???

I've had the expensive ones and the less expensive ones. I really can't tell the difference except in price. I try not to cut in the same place each time. I've heard turning it over helps extend the life, but I never have. I'm on my third mat and when it gets to old I'll buy another inexpensive one. I recylce my old mats by cutting them up.