Mats and polar fleece

Someone posted the problem of polar fleece making your mats fuzzy. I
cut polar fleece only on an old mat. The polyester fibers of the
fleece cut into the mat. The cotton fibers do not. My mat was used at
a workshop several years ago to make polar fleece hats and scarves for
the homeless. After cutting 100 sets the grooves in the mats were
terrible. Even after I cleaned the fuzzy out, the grooves made cutting
quilting fabrics difficult. The next time JoAnn's had a 50% off coupon
I bought myself a new mat. The old one lives under my bed and only
comes out when it is time to cut polar fleece.

I have a mat that is made by a different manufacturer, and it's
wonderful for polar fleece. Although it isn't self-healing (you have
to scrape it when you are finished cutting, but you have to clean your
self-healing one anyway), the fibers don't stick. The other thing I
like about the mat is that it is white with blue numbers. This makes
it very easy to see dark fabric as well as light.

The company makes them in large sizes, bigger than a table if you want,
and I'm toying with the idea of getting one permanently installed on my
cutting table.

I have one of those white mats too, and I went back to using my green mats.
But using the white one strictly for fleece is a tremendous idea. (I
wondered how I was going to justify having paid for that white thing after
deciding pretty much not to use it.) Thanks for the idea! Now I just need to
figure out what I did with my scraper.
--
Kay Ahr in Reno, Nevada
To reply directly to me, remove "WESTHI" in the email address.

"Raye Ahn" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a mat that is made by a different manufacturer, and it's
wonderful for polar fleece. Although it isn't self-healing (you have
to scrape it when you are finished cutting, but you have to clean your
self-healing one anyway), the fibers don't stick. The other thing I
like about the mat is that it is white with blue numbers. This makes
it very easy to see dark fabric as well as light.

I was the original poster about my polar fleece covered mat. I finally
got it cleaned off with a sticky paper rolling lint brush. It worked
pretty well. Someone suggested that I slightly bend the board while
removing the fleece lint and it worked great. Thanks everyone for your
help.

Denise in NH
My quilt guild:
www.amoskeagqg.org