Warped cutting mat
 

I was naive and put my iron down on a silicone iron pad ON TOP of my large cutting board (mat) which caused the corner of the mat to warp sadly. I was not thinking , or didn’t realize the heat would go through the silicone pad. I was wondering if I should attempt to heat it again to soften the mat then place heavy books on it. I have a feeling there isn’t anything I can do. Has anyone ever done something like this before? Thank you ahead of time for any responses.

I googled and tried all the suggestions when I warped my Olfa mat, sadly even though some of them looked like they were working, once the mat was placed flat on a surface again, up it popped. I tried soaking it in the tub and laying flat on concrete...I tried laying it in the hot sun on flat concrete and then piling books on top until the next morning...hmm... I'm sure I tried a few more, but good luck and maybe something you try just might help yours. Is it an Olfa ?

Been there, done that, tried everything I saw on the internet. Nothing worked, I now have a smaller cutting board. I just cut off the end that was warped. You're lucky it is a corner and not the middle of the mat.

Time to buy a new mat. I've done that too. I took the mat to my office and use it to line up quilt edges for squaring up.

Yes--I have done such a stupid thing as to leave my olfa cutting mat in the back of my car while at work and at that time I lived in Phoenix!!! Guess you know the results. It was so warped that I cried all the way to the dumpster. I guess it is a lesson learned.

I warped one of my mats too. I trimmed off the warped portion and used it to cut batting for QAYG squares since cutting batting makes mess of a good mat. Or you could cut into smaller sections and use as a class cutting mat once the world returns to normal.

I too have done this and fortunately it was on an edge so I got a little more use out of it but not much. I was always concerned that the cuts would be warped where the warped area was. Time to toss and get a new one.

Silver lining - old/warped cutting mats make great bases and inserts for bottoms of bags!

I did this a while back with my 12 x 18. I was able to fix mine using an iron, just put a thick towel down on top, make sure you have your iron set at its highest and use a lot of steam. Iron the towel and keep ironing until you can feel the mat is straight and then pile heavy books on it and leave it alone until the next day. As tempted as you might be to 'check' on it, don't - leave it alone until the next day. I made the mistake of doing that and I had to do it again. If it's still not completely straight the following day, do it again. Sometimes it takes more than one pass with the iron.

My mat is still flat, though I have some teeny tiny warps on the edge. I don't use it often anymore, just to do straight cuts on small pieces of fabric, but if the warp isn't that big, you shouldn't have any problems resolving it.

I was actually so impressed by the way mine came out that I used the same method on a big strip ruler that I have, that one was tossed in an extremely hot room one summer and when I got it out, it was warped. I did the exact same thing on the ruler and was able to remove the warp.

Try it to see if it will work before you commit to buying a new one, cutting mats, in my opinion, are just too expensive to give up on them. The steamy iron works, you've just got to be patient.