# Cutting mats.....



## ginnie5 (Jul 15, 2003)

I think mine is shot. Its only two years old. I have probably ruined it by trying to use the blades longer than I should have. I now know it would be cheaper to just change the blades than buy a new mat! I can see fuzzies on it when I hold it up and its just not cutting right. Is there anyway to clean them?


----------



## Dandish (Feb 8, 2007)

I don't know if it's the right thing to do, but I just wipe mine down occasionally with a dampened soft cloth.

About the cutting blades - they are expensive, too, but if you have a Harbor Freight reasonably convenient to you they sell 45 mm carpet cutter blades that work in almost all the 45 mm rotary cutters, and for me they've worked fantastically. The best part? Just under $2 for 2 blades. They have some machine oil when you first open the package, might be a little tricky to separate; I carefully wipe it off and put it in my Olfa cutter. Don't feel so bad about changing much more frequently when they only cost $1 as opposed to $5+.


----------



## DW (May 10, 2002)

I'm headed to Harbor freight next week...being the tightwad that I am...I'm sure I use my blades way too long! Thanks


----------



## giraffe_baby (Oct 15, 2005)

Try a scraper ( plastic, putty knife type) and scrape that fuzz out (hubby cut some felt on mine once and i about came unglued!! cuz it was so far embedded....) but i gently bent at cut lines, and used a peice of plastic scraper and scraped out what i could.. and good to go


----------



## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

There are also sharpeners out there for rotary blades. 
http://www.amazon.com/TrueCut-TCSHA...MXXU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325375860&sr=8-1


----------



## Dandish (Feb 8, 2007)

You can order the Harbor Freight blades online, too - 

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?keyword=carpet+cutter


----------



## Charleen (May 12, 2002)

Love Harbor Freight! Sign up to get their sale paper.


----------



## Classof66 (Jul 9, 2011)

I just got my Clotilde catalog and on p. 35 they have a mat smoother. Resurface your cutting mat! Use it like a lint brush to extend the life of your mat without damaging the grid. Special price $19.98

This might be ok for a huge expensive mat. For a smaller mat, I think I'd just muddle along with the old one, or watch for a sale. 

I got a pretty good price on new blades recently off Amazon.


----------



## Terri in WV (May 10, 2002)

You can use a lint brush and baby wipes to help clean it up.

If it's large, turn it around to extend the life.

My 1st mat lasted for 15-18 years(it wasn't a self healing one). It was a large one that I was able to vary where I used it to help extend it. When the main 1" cutting lines got too bad I just moved to the 1/4"-1/2" marks and cut to make it last longer. My latest mat is around 6 years old(same kind as before) and is still going strong.


----------



## ginnie5 (Jul 15, 2003)

well here's what I did...so far so good. I'll be cutting more tonight or tomorrow so will know for sure. Dh had some scotchbrite pads and i took one of them and cleaned the mat. then i wiped it with a damp cloth and the scotchbrite again. I can't feel anymore fuzzies and it looks like they are gone. I made a few cuts last night and it felt better.
Oh and I'm using the Harbor Freight blades. This damage was done before I found them.


----------



## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Terri is right. If you keep cutting on the same lines you will wear out your mat faster. Move everything over a quarter inch for a while. Then, another quarter inch. This is how I extend the life of my mats.


----------

