A couple of yrs ago I bought the cutting table and the large matt from JoAnns. Then a month later bought a brand new rotary cutter from the quilt show, this thing cut fantastic. I took it home and only after a few cuts it seemed like it was dull, so I was upset because I thought I'd been dupped at the show. I pulled out one of my other cutters that I knew worked great, same result. It took me a little time to figure out that it wasn't the blade it was the matt. It wasn't self healing so once it had been cut on a few times that area would only cut the fabric hit and miss. I used a different section of the matt and all was fine. Now I just put on my self healing matt and only use the table top sized matt to protect the cutting table. Try your blades with either a different matt or on the reverse side to see if its the blade or the matt that is the real problem. I've saved many of blades since using this practice.

I find caring for your cutter like this is as important as caring for your machine. BUT I must agree with some of the other ladies I can't get on with Olfa blades, even the titanium ones didn't last as long as the ones that I use, Westcott. I have one in my cutter which is months and months old and I do a LOT of cutting.

I contacted Olfa regarding my dull blade for my rotary cutter. Received a response from them today stating that they would send me a replacement. The response was quick and I am pleased with their customer service.

I'm one of the people who have had good luck with the Harbor Freight blades. I stocked up on them a couple of years ago when someone on QB noticed how cheap they were.

The only time one of the HF blades dulled quickly was when I was using a cheap little mat that came with a block of the month kit. It was the perfect size to take with me to my brother's pool and cut fussy-cut hexagons for my granddaughter's eye spy quilt. I realized it was the crappy mat that had dulled the blade. Now I have a small Olfa to bring with me.