Caring for your rotary mat

April 1st, 2008 · 8 Comments

We all have them, but do you know how to keep your mat in top shape.

This past week at the quilt show in Lancaster I made a stop at the Olfa booth and found out that I can give my mat a bath! Bet you didn’t know that, well I didn’t.

You can put your mat in the bathtub using 1/4 cup white vinegar to a gallon of tepid water (not hot) and a couple of drops of mild dish washing liquid. You can use a soft bristle brush to create a lather and clean and condition your mat.

Then rinse the mat and either air dry or dry with a Turkish towel. It says your mat loves moisture and that bathing them helps keep them supple.

So I thought I would gather some other tips rotary mat tips to share with you.

You can also use a gum eraser that you find at the art store to pull out fibers from your mat, it also leaves no residue. Try a toothbrush across the surface to get those fibers out.
Some people have complained of mat odor, what do you do? Try wiping your mat with a gentle cleanser such as Murphy’s Oil Soap, Vinegar, or Pine Scented Lysol or lukewarm dish washing liquid. Air Dry.
you can also clean your mat with a napped lint roller to remove fibers and keep lint from getting on the fabrics you are cutting.
did you know you could also cut on the back of your mat
also don’t leave your mat in extreme hot or cold places as it will warp, once warped you cannot fix the mat.
use only rotary blades on your mat, snap off blades or utility blades will damage your mat, use an old mat for that, not the same one you use to cut your fabrics.
don’t cut batting and other loosely bound fibers on your mat, the blade is so fine and the mat dense that those fibers will catch in your cuts and could distort your mat. If you choose to cut batt on your mat the at least put a thin cotton between the batt and the mat to prevent fibers from embedding.
always use a sharp blade
never roll your mat, store flat, vary your cutting spot on the mat
use your old mats and distorted mats, for other art projects, cutting papers etc,

If you have any other tips about caring for your mat, please feel free to add them to this post!

Tags: tips and techniques · just talk

8 responses so far ↓

1 Caring for your rotary mat | How-to Build Your Own Home Studio // Apr 1, 2008 at 1:05 pm

[…] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptWe all have them, but do you know how to keep your mat in top shape. This past week at the quilt show in Lancaster I made a stop at the Olfa booth and found out that I can give my mat a bath! Bet you didn’t know that, well I didn’t. … […]
2 Linda // Apr 1, 2008 at 3:29 pm

Well I never knew I could give my mat a spa…. Did know all the other info though. Another method of removing those stuck fibres from the mat is a piece of duct tape wrapped around your hand and smooth over the mat. Thanks for the heads up on the mat bath.
3 Caitlin O'Connor // Apr 2, 2008 at 4:40 am

Thanks, Michelle! I’ve popped a link on this post on the Toowoomba Quilters Club blog, too - I hope they will pop in and leave comments.

I’ve been quilting for 15 or so years and never thought about giving my mat a bath before!
4 Toowoomba Quilters Club Inc. · Caring for your rotary cutting mat // Apr 2, 2008 at 4:49 am

[…] and artist Michelle Verbeeck has some great tips on her blog today about caring for your rotary cutting mat. I’m off to give mine a bath right […]
5 Dianne Cahill // Apr 2, 2008 at 10:39 am

After I had already cut some wadding on my old mat I read a hint to use the back side of the mat - alas, too late. It really made a mess and those little fibre just would not budge. Thanks for these handy tips - I will give my mat a bath on the weekend.
6 Diane Knott // Apr 2, 2008 at 1:05 pm

When I get fibers caught in the cuts on my mat from batting, I take a bit of batting and rub it across the cuts and it pulls the batting out. But I didn’t know I was damaging my mat by cutting batting on it. Thanks! I’ll be turning it over to the other side from now on.
Diane
7 redbird // Apr 2, 2008 at 1:29 pm

thanks Diane, I didnt know that rubbing batting across my mat would take out those stubborn batting fibers…
8 sharon // Apr 6, 2008 at 11:38 am

thanks for the ‘mat tips’!