My new Martelli roundabout stinks
 

Instant headache when I opened it. It's airing out in the garage right now but I really don't want to stink up the garage either. Please tell me that smell will go away. It smells very strongly like contact cement or something similarly noxious.

On mine it took a short time to disappear. A friend of mine put hers in a plastic bag with a box of baking soda and sealed it for a week. She swears that it worked.
We both love the roundabout.
Laurel

I'm thinking about putting it outside for a few hours but I don't want to ruin it. It's windy but also sunny.

Oh real nice. I ordered a 60mm rotary cutter plus spare blades. They sent me the 60mm blades but the cutter is a 45mm and there is no phone number on their website. I sent a message so I hope they don't take long to fix this.

Found the number on the back of the cutter pkg and called. They're sending me the correct one. I decided to keep the 45 for a little under half price. I think they saw me coming.

I hope you get the smell to go away. If it doesn't will they let you return it without to much of a hassle?

I've heard (but can't confirm) that with some mats the smell never goes away. I think I would be asking them for a replacement.

If it's still bad on Monday I'll call and see what they say.

eta: since it's not 5 yet I decided to go ahead and call. They said sometimes if they bag it too quickly it will stink but it should be a lot less after being out for a day or so and that it's okay to put it outside as long as it isn't in direct sunlight. So out it will go (my cats will probably be riding on it out there).

I could smell it before getting it out of the bag. I can't imagine whoever packs the boxes couldn't smell it but maybe they're so used to it they don't notice it.

I think it is something that they use - it seems all of them have it, unless it has been sitting in a store for a while. When I got my new Olfa mats I had the same issue, some time outside (out of the sun/heat) cured it.

Try putting it in a large bag with dry cat littler good smelling kind of course. It really does help.

My concern is with the people who work in that factory. Those fumes cannot be good for their health.

No kidding. Sounds like a good recipe for brain damage or lung issues. I brought the mat part in last night but it still smells. I kept thinking I smelled a skunk every time I went in my room but it's bearable. The turntable and ironing surface are the worse and are still out in the garage. I think the main culprit is the ironing surface. Our dog sleeps in the garage at night and I was worried about her chewing it up and then I remembered that she will probably not go near that smell.

That "stinks", literally and figuratively, but I'm pretty sure airing it and/or putting it in a plastic bag with baking soda would work. On a separate note, I think they should have given you the 45 mm cutter at no cost, just my opinion, but half is better than nothing.

seems like a lot of things smell bad when first they are opened. Mine smelled too but it is fine after 24 hours.

Just let it sit outside or in the garage for awhile and I'm sure the substance will off-gas. I LOVE mine and I think Martelli is a really good company for quality products and service.

I love mine and the smell didn't take long to go away. It is the adhesive they use. I had the same problem when I got the green cutting mats to go on my cutting table. Took much longer for that smell to go away.

thought I might know what the roundabout was but had to do a search, saw the youtube video and thought, how cool, went to look for the price and saw one on ebay then at the martelli website ... WOW that sucker is expensive! over $100... I would consider it if it were half the price, maybe ...

it is called off-gassing or out-gassing, there are pages and pages of information about it online.

I had the same experience with my Olfa mat. Used the plastic bag/baking soda and it worked. Plus I had it outdoors for the whole time, so maybe it was a combination of baking soda .time, fresh air & sun light, (but not direct) that did the trick. No problems since.

I agree - it's expensive. I got it for half off but even then it's expensive.

Just looked at it to on their website. It is expensive. My question. How does the cutting mat and iron pad stay on the turntable. Why not just get a turntable, Velcro a cutting mat,iron pad........just wondering...what is smell coming from....

the turntable has a velvety surface and the cutting mat and ironing surface have a rubbery side that sort of sticks to it. Their mats have such good reviews I wanted to try one, and since I don't have a decent rotary one I thought I'd start with it. It has excellent reviews both here and elsewhere. If it wasn't half price there's no way I would have spent the $$ on it.

The smell is the glue that they use to hold the padding on the ironing surface, i guess.

Oh I had same problem with my large cutting mat I bought at a local shop. I washed mine with vinegar and put it outdoors for a week. That was 10 yrs ago. so I'm sure if you air it out it should be fine. Might take a few days however. It sure is an off putting smell!

I have to go look up what a roundabout is. Oh, no is it something else I have to buy for my quilting? I have so much stuff now, I'm running out of room to put it all.:D

If you have a container large enough for them to lay flat, you can put them in it with a couple of cotton balls saturated with vanilla Don't know why it works, but it takes that smell away

believe it or not the top part (the cutting mat) is still in the garage after all this time and it still stinks. The ironing surface and rotating part still do if I sniff them but I don't smell it just being in the same room with them anymore. Makes me very hesitant to invest in a bigger mat like I was planning.

I'm sorry, but regarding this smelly thing just irritated me....for the price you paid that should not be .......I would demand my money back.......and somehow have whatever adhesive they use investigated by some agency...sounds dangerous to me....having to isolate something new because it smells foul...not in my book!

Gale, Did the smell ever go away? And, where did you get it for half price?
Thanks,
Jen

Martelli got banned from Paducah Quilt show for the way the employees were acting. I guess they smelled one too many fumes. LOL

when you get smelly tupperware they say to put newspaper in them for a week or so try a trash bag and news print

Put a bowl of vinegar in the room with it, I use vinegar when I have had bad smell in my car, when I though there was a dead mouse in my storage building and when a cat died under the canoe....got the smell out each time.

the person's nose is numb to the smell- if it is a person.

Yes, the smell went away after I left it in my garage for a week or so. I just used it for squaring up HSTs and it was perfect.

I recently purchased, online, an Omnigrid mat. It stated right on the site I purchased it from that
" WARNING: Contains Phthalates: known to the State of California to cause birth defects and other reproductive harm. Imported."

I bought it anyways, I figured the others are probably the same, this company just says so, because CA requires it, I suppose.

From reading this, my hunch is right.

Just got it yesterday, it does stink, hopefully that will disappear.
I did a little research on Phthalates and it looks like a lot of the toys I had as a kid, plastic in cars and many other things contain it. I wouldn't doubt the thing mentioned in the original post had it too. It said something about reproductive affects and endocrine affects. For me, personally, I cannot worry about this kind of stuff because I will go crazy (seriously)

...interesting...

Not Very Nice
 

I have to say, I saw them at Paducah, and they were very professional and seemed to be really having a good time.

And none of them smelled...