One of the most common problems that people in the arts and crafts hobby need to deal with in the case of their cutting mat, is when it gets deformed. For the most part, a deformed mat is of no use simply because it will be unable to rest flat on the desk. Often times, crafters who have a deformed self-healing cutting mat would just give up, throw it away and shop for a new one.
To help you conserve some time and cash; however, here are some ideas you can try which might typically help restore your deformed mats.
Take Proper Care Of The Mat
Yes, this isn’t is a means by which to correct the mat but it’s essential that you do not forget that prevention is better than cure. Most self-healing cutting mats really should be taken care of and kept a certain way. If you don’t want to deal with this challenge then avoid putting very hot stuff on top of the mat.
Heat is among the most common causes warping happens. There are some crafters that mistakenly iron-on or even place some very hot coffee at the top of their mats. It’s also vital that you keep your mat leveled whenever storing it. Rolling up a self-healing cutting mat is a real recipe for disaster.
Iron your mat
I understand this could sound peculiar due to what I mentioned in the last point but hear me out first. A great way that will help restore a deformed mat is to try using heat for you to flatten it. To do this procedure you need to cover the large cutting mat with two thick towels and set your iron to the minimum setting.
After that’s carried out, go over the mat making use of the iron placing added pressure on the parts that are distorted.
Place weight over the mat
In case you don’t wish to place any type of heat in the mat then you can also try applying weight into the deformed areas to get it straightened out. You could use books, stones or even a thick pane of glass in this procedure. Simply leave the mat with all the weights on it for several hours, preferably overnight, and check out whether or not this has made any kind of improvement.
Let it rest outdoors
On an extremely warm day, you could also try and place the deformed self-healing mat outside of your home to receive direct sunlight (except on scorching hot days). For the process to get results, you should place weights over the mat like textbooks, stones, etc to hold it flat.
There you have it!
I hope that you find the ideas I mentioned in the article valuable.
Remember that it’s easier to correctly take care of your self-healing mat as opposed to having it mended.
