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Question of the Week

Question for the week of February 21, 2000:

Our question this week comes from Paula R

I foolishly left my large cutting mat (Olfa/green) in my car and now the mat has uneven areas!! I've tried everything from a heavy weight to heating with a hairdryer to get it flat again but nothing is working. Any suggestions?

Carol from Arkansas :
The local Wal-Mart stood all the Ofal
cutting mats upright and they slumped
over. The mats were ruined. There was
no way to get them to lay flat. I have
tried everything except putting one in
a hot oven under a sheet of heavy
sheet metal!
Lori Peters :
My darling hubby bought me a huge mat for christmas, then rolled it up nice and tight with ribbons and set it under the tree next to the heater. It tried everything but the thing that finally worked was:
Put your mat in the tub floating in HOT water. When it's soft and pliable, set it on the floor under lots of books and let it cool.
After I was done I still has some ripples along the edge that I was able to heat and weight using the hair dryer and more books...completely flat!
Sarah :
I had the same problem however, I acidentally set my iron on my mat. I couldn't figure out how to fix it. then one day I thought that maybe the same thing that ruined it could fix it. So, I put my iron on a steam setting turned my mat over so the lump was facing me not diveted and with a pillowcase between the iron and the board proceed to work it out. Believe it or not it worked.
Good Luck,
Sarah
Eleanore :
Try laying mat on floor were afternoon sun will hit it. Leave for a week or so
Michelle: :
I was given a mat that had bumps from being transported in a hot car in the summer. Instead of using it to cut on, I just put it on top of a dresser in my sewing room and forgot about it for 8 or 9 months. One day when I was cleaning out my sewing room I unpiled the dresser and there was the mat -- almost perfectly flat. I guess time and a flat surface did the trick. I'm sure the piles of fabric and junk on top of it helped! I now use that mat and have had no problems.
Carin :
Try putting the mat between the boxspring and mattress. I used to keep my mat there until I got a sewing area to store it. Hope it helps.
rosalie :
I had the same thing happen, and put it in the oven, but had to keep the kitchen well ventilated and then put it on the table with a weight.
Kathy :
You know, this happened to me although I had left it behind a dresser for a very long time! But, undaunted I continued to use it, annoying and awkward though it was. Now, I gotta say, ain't no lumps or bumps visible. In fact, your questions reminded me. It lays flat on my cutting table now.
Bonn :
I had this same thing happen and tried everything. The only thing that worked for me was to cut my matt into several smaller ones. It really worked out for me, I now have a smaller matt that fits in my tote bag, an even smaller one that sits by my iron and the largest piece for my cutting table. I was lucky that my largest piece had a long side still flat and measured about 30" (long enough for a 44" wide piece of fabric folded in half, for long slices of fabric). Would love to know if any one knows how to flatten these matts in case it ever comes up again. I treat my new matt like gold now and never take it any where. It's nice to have the one in my totebag and the one by the iron really comes in handy too....Good luck!...

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