Chemical Odor From Olfa Cutting Mat

Afterwards rinse off the mat and towel dry.

Chemical odor from olfa cutting mat.

I ordered it because it was 14 x 14 where the olfa mat is only 12 x 12. Newly purchased mats may have a slight odor which usually dissipates with time. To help remove the smell submerge your mat in the bathtub with a 1 4 cup of vinegar for every gallon of water in the tub and let it soak for up to an hour. I did however wash mine when i first got it as i had been told by a few quilters i know that they can start to smell if you are handling them constantly sweat and oils from your skin etc.

I thought the smell was from packaged and eventually leave but olfa cutting mats has not. I bought my current cutting mat at walmart a couple of years ago no smell and i believe it cost me 29 99. Well i decided to forgo the vinegar water bath tub soak suggestion that was recommended by others and the olfa website and instead directly called olfa to inquire about a remedy to the problem. After reading reviews about this and seeing it mentioned on the olfa website i was concerned about whether or not i would be able to get rid of the strong odor.

At that time i had just bought an 35 x 70 3 24 x36 mats that clip together olfa cutting mat which was giving off a strong chemical odor. They also advised me to once a month run it down with vodka or rubbbing alcohol. But every time i turned it it would fly off the bottom mat moving everything i had cut. Chemical odor coming from this matrix actually smells much more.

I do own a smaller size olfa mat the 24 x36 and use it every once in a while for smaller jobs. I called the manufacturer and after we soaked the mats in my daughter s very large tub with orange smelling liquid detergent overnight the odor dissipated. Due to production and distribution a new olfa rotary mat can emit an odorous smell that some people are sensitive too. I purchased the fiskars rotating mat and it was warped.

It says olfa cutting mats olfa cutting mats contains chemicals california to cause cancer birth defects and or. Interestingly the chemical odor did not bother anyone else. To overcome this smell we suggest that the mat be wiped down with a solution of lukewarm water and dishwashing detergent then let it set for five minutes. Literally if i was near her sewing room i got sick.

Now i actually didn t do any extensive research on buying a larger size self healing mat. I don t know maybe it was just a bad batch perhaps it was stored incorrectly before it was shipped. I have a small cutting mat and have never had this problem it is an olfa one. I have never had a problem with the olfa cutting mats that i bought in the past with odor must be something new since i switched brands.

I really like it because it is 2 sided and has a square up area in the center of it. Do not use your self healing cutting mat as an ironing board.