I have a white one with red writing on it. It has served me well for 30+ years until this year when it was resting over something and I put my foot on it. Only cracked in one little place, so I have taped up the back and still using it quite successfully.

I have a green self healing mat that I have been using for a good 25 yrs it is the very large one. It is pretty warn out, as I used it for a craft mat for many years :oops: . but will have to last a whole lot longer because there is just no money. God bless.

I love my green Olfa mat the best. I have a large white one from JoAnns that I use for larger stuff but I really would rather have 2 of the larger green Olfa mats taped together on the back as the Olfa mats heal better & allows for a cleaner cut.

Grey Friskars for me. I also have a green mat but do not like it.

Last year, at the quilt show, I bought the large Martelli ....bright yellow on one side, and purple on the other....great with all colors of fabric, and after a full year of use with my heavy-handedness, there is not one mark on the surface from the blades...........I put this on my kitchen island (which is perfect cutting height for me) and it just fits on the island countertop....

I found this on the web sites:
Martelli Mats 26x38" = $129.99 (!!!!!)
Olfa Mats 24x36" = $53.49
Fiskars Mats 24x36" = $43.05

From the Fiskars site it appears they are no longer making the gray mats. The new ones apparently have a self-healing "coating". They address the problem of this coating's odor:

"The odor is caused by the self-healing materials and sometimes the odor can be very strong. There are some tricks to get the odor out:
Wash the mat with a mild soap and let it air out. This may take a few weeks
Spray Febreeze on the mat and let it air out.
Store the mat in a sealed container with some coffee beans or some crumpled up newspaper. Those two items help absorb any odor."

In the past, quite long ago, Fiskars was responsive to complaints about their first rotary cutter design which was unsafe, and within a year they had included a guard on it. Perhaps they've redesigned their mats as well. I've felt forever that those gray mats were the fastest 'dulling-makers' of any blade on the market. I'd be willing to give the new mat a try, perhaps, but I do so rely on my over 20 year old Olfa green mats!

Jan in VA

I bought a pink-purple cheapie at WalMart. It is beginning to show its wear, but the background color w/white lines makes cutting easy.

Have the green Olfa. Only use the olfa rulers, if I used another brand with my mat, cutting measurments can be off. Saw this demonstrated years ago.

I use all colors and have the huge white that covers the 72in table and a couple of the huge geen ones I use to put tog before I got the big white one. I have a few of the green smaller for paper piecing to use right buy my sewing machine... I did buy the self healing one a few years ago that has a tool you scrape ona it re heals and pulls out any fuzz... and you can also cut circles and curves and the fabric dosent move on it... they are great but I couldn't aford the really big one... but for strip etc it is great....
ConnieF

[quote=Jan in VA]I found this on the web sites:
Martelli Mats 26x38" = $129.99 (!!!!!)
I have the Martelli mat and I love it. And yes, it was a little more expensive. However, when I bought mine, I not only got the mat, a non-slip ruler and a light weight carry case, but a rotary cutter and 5 pk of blades as well... all part of the deal.