I bought a house and moved a few weeks ago. The very last things that I took out of my apt. were my cutting mats. I put them in the trunk so they wouldn't be ruined by the other things I was hauling.

:oops: Great idea, but I forgot they were back there for a week or so. A week or so in the AZ heat, and they're warped, wrinkled, and otherwise ruined. I laid them on the patio hoping that the heat would make them flat again, but that didn't happen.

I liked my little Olfa and despised my large Fiskars.

How has the Olfa quality been lately? Have they managed to fix the problem that they were having with the Eau De Skunk scented mats, or is that still an issue?

Anything you'd suggest over the Olfa?

I am so sorry to hear about what happened to your mats! Heat is the enemy.

I have a REALLY BIG cutting mat that I bought at Jo-Ann's. It covers most of the top of my cutting table and I love it. I also have several Olfa mats and I have never had problem with an odor.

I am so sorry to hear that your mats got "melted"
I have a blue "Duraheal" mat that I have been using and it has worked great for me.
Got it at JoAnns with a 50%off coupon.

Has anyone used the Gingher mats? I never see anyone post about them, and my trip to Joann verified that they don't smell!!

I just learned that Gingher made rotary cutters - so I suppose it's logical that they would make mats.

I also would like to know how they are working out.

That happened to me the day I bought my mat. Left it in the car to do a little shopping. (CA sun) I read somewhere that you could reheat and flatten the mat again with very heavy books or boards. I have not had any luck with that.

I still have it and plan to cut the good part for a travel kit.

I love my Duraheal (pretty blue one). The other side is grey, so if you're cutting blue/blending in fabric, you can flip the mat over

On a sort of related note: I once bought deodorant, drove home, AZ sun, it melted. I didn't forget it in the car or anything... the drive was enough

My Duraheal has been through the wringer. We even use X-Acto blades on it. What a trooper!

How sad. I haven't had any problems with Olfa.

Hi,

I'm on my third Gingher mat, a 24 x 36 that I bought from Joann's last fall. That is, I bought one, but every time I used it, no matter which rotary cutter I used (different brands, even), and with different blades, it was leaving nasty cut marks on it and actually bringing up strings of mat material. I documented these issues by taking pictures of the problem mat and called Joann's. They sent out a new one in about a week to ten days. Same thing happened on mat #2. This time I emailed Gingher with my pictures.

The customer rep at Gingher was very nice, apologetic and mailed me out another mat straight from Gingher. It is doing well so far. All Gingher could figure out was that something must've gone wrong in that batch that I got my first two from. She said that was the first they had heard about it, too.

I like the light blue side the best, easier to see darker fabrics on, compared to my Olfa dark green mats. Don't care much for the khaki side, but then I don't cut a whole lot of light fabrics, either. These mats have a "Limited Lifetime Warranty", which basically says they will "repair, replace or provide you with an item of equal value" should yours become defective during the time you own it. Can't beat that.

They are spendy, but I got mine at 40 or 50% off and that really helped. Oh, the one thing I don't care for is that the marks on the outer perimeter for the eighths, fourths and half are all the same length. I'm used to them being all different lengths for quicker/easier recognition. This might not be a deterrent to some. Hope I've given you all some beneficial info here.

Happy sewing,

ETA: You're right, they DON'T smell, thank goodness!!