help for a well used cutting mat.
 

I am loath to relinquish my long time cutting mat, but it has sections where the lines are worn through and the mat is rough with much cutting of fabric. I regularly lightly sand and hydrate the mat but it had just about seen it's last days and I was thinking of just flipping it over. While cleaning off a shelf I found a can of Quilt Glide, used to slick up my sewing machine bed before quilting something. I had forgotten that I had it. I then thought maybe it would help smooth out the rough places on my cutting mat. I smoothed the rough places as best I could with extra fine sand paper and then sprayed and rubbed in some of the Quilt glide. I could not believe the amount of stray fibers that it brought up. I thought I had kept it clean but there was a lot of small stuff clogging up the lines. I then sprayed and rubbed in another thick layer of the Quilt Guide and let it sit for about 2 hours and then came back and using the same cloth I had been rubbing the mat with, I again rubbed in the remaining residue of the Quilt Guide. The result was that the areas treated were much smoother, and had returned to the original dark blue. Now I don't want you to think the mat was back to new, but it was much better and smoother. Areas that had had medium damage were almost as smooth as new, and heavy damage was up to the medium damage level. The line were gone of course but the fabric I laid down to cut no longer sort of stuck on rough parts. I am going to treat my damaged areas often and hope then I can get another 15 years out of the mat.....yes I have had it that long. The can says you can get buy the Quilt Glide at www.jukeboxquits.com I am not sure if this place is still in business but I am going to go there and buy some more, or just find it where ever I can. And oh by the way, it does slick up the sewing area real well, so it does help with free motion on your DSM.

Thanks for the great idea.

Interesting. 15 years is great for a mat, imo. I would have just flipped it over!

sounds like a great idea... thanks for sharing

Glad it turned out well for you.

How big is this cutting mat? Just wondering if I would go thru all that to salvage a mat that has been in service for 15 yrs......but you may have given yourself a "new" one for another long time......thanks for the hint......

Goodness I buy a new mat every couple of years. Why hang on to a old bad mat that long? For what?

It is a big mat and fits my cutting table perfectly. Sure I could buy a new one, this one I flipped around, but not over yet to get some more mileage out of it, and in time I am sure I will flip it over to the other side to use. I don't have any extra money laying about so I try to get as much mileage out of everything as I can. To quote my dear mother in law Emma, use it up and wear it out before you think to throw it out. She was a real up cycling maven before they invented the word. She would even save tin can lids to bend and shape with a pliers and turn into wonderful little bells for Christmas decorations. She was so clever we always said she could make bindweed jelly....if you know what bindweed is then you know how big a complement that is.

I went through one mat on my Alto's Quilt Cut and already bought a replacement, and this second mat has developed some deep cuts in less than half the time. It's hard to find one the right size mat with preprinted measurements by other companies, so I'd like to get more use out of this one. Thanks for your tip!

That link didn't work for me. Is this a spray of some kind?