Have you given your mat a bath....???

Apparently you should bath your mat occasionally. Just pop it into the bath in cool water with a quarter cup of white vinegar for every gallon of water. Leave it soak for 20 or so minutes. Take it out and lay it flat to dry.

Hugs

Caroline

Don't forget to turn your old one over

Goodness I don't keep a mat that I use for more then two years. I like cutting on a new mat. I have had many brands of mats and I don't have a favorite. They all do the same job while new. When they get cuts, they get dull just like a blade. Self healing doesn't mean no cuts are there. I have the large table covering mat and use a mat on top of that and many times a smaller mat on top of that one. I choose my mats according to the size of the cut I'm making.

I prefer the green Olfa's. I had my original mat probably 10 yrs or more. And I used both sides as I typically use the ruler markings vs mat markings for measuring cuts. I may have been able to get longer use from it but I tend to be lazy about changing blades in my rotary cutter, thus using dull ones longer than I should, which as others have stated, tend to then cut/score the mat. I also tend to cut in the same spots all the time so combine those two practices and I had some deep cuts.

Using Olfa for 13 years with no problems

I prefer the Omnigrid mats. They are much thicker of a self healing mat than Olfa. JAF doesn't carry them in the store any more but you can still get them on sale online. I have had the one I am currently using for 3 years and I need to switch it to the other end. Then in another 3 years, I will use the back which is gray in color.

I have yet to bathe my mat. As long as it's wiped off after use and I use a microfiber cloth unless it's dirty but ran across a receipt this morning, going through an old box. My mat was 15 years old (my Fiskars). I've had my June Tailor for longer, ironing surface on one side and cutting mat on the other. Then I have a 12" rotating mat. I like it too. I just wipe them off. I usually cover the surfaces if I'm going to spray or glue with anything. I use a vinyl table cloth to cover the surface.

I have a large Alvin mat and I love it. It's my second one - the first didn't wear out, I just got a bigger table and wanted more real estate! The original one is now on my art desk, for paper crafting.

I bought mine on Amazon - the price was very reasonable for the size I bought, and I've had no problems with it whatsoever.

You do need to hydrate your mat periodically if you want it to last longer. Mine is too large for me to soak it in the tub, so as a compromise I will lay warm wet cloths over it for awhile every now and then. But first I scrub it with a green scrubbie pad from the kitchen to get any trapped fibers out of the cuts, especially if I've been cutting batting.

Mine is....2 years old now? It still looks brand-new, except for the spot where I got some paint on it. (oops!)

My rotary blades kept getting dull fast and I assumed it was due to all the cuts in my cutting mat. I found I had better results using my rotating mat which has a mat that heals itself so went looking for one of those. Searching on the web for one large enough to cover my entire table was difficult. So I ordered one 4 x 8 and made the table to fit the mat. This one has markings on both sides........one side is green and the other side is black. Can't remember where I got it from but I'm happy with it. My blades last much longer now. Had looked for what is called "rhino" something or another and the site I purchased mine offered those too but was told they were better for shop work and not quilting work.

I have had my Olfa for many, many years and have not had any problems with it wearing out. I use it almost every day.