I had to throw away my old cutting mat last night because it ended up with a great big crack in it. And brought out my new one that my DH bought for my birthday last year.
And the mat still has a smell to it.So it seems very strong to me. Has anyone run across this problem? How did you solve it?
could just be me too. I have an awfully sensitive nose. There are times I even believe I may have been a hound dog in my former life. I mean I could even smell peanut butter through a closed door after someone took a spoonful and put it in their mouth. That is how sensitive my nose is.
Anyway, I was wondering if anyone else had this problem with a strong aroma coming off their mat.
Trina

Hubby didn't clean fish on it, did he? LOL Have not experienced this issue, although I certainly can relate to the sensitive nose. I cannot go anywhere near the dairy aisle- not because of the dairy but because it is next to the recycling bins for beer and pop cans- the fermented yeast from the unwashed beer cans makes me nauseous. Charming! LOL

Why don't you try wiping it with vinegar or rubbing alcohol/water solution or maybe even make a baking soda paste and rub over it. Wipe off after dry. Hope you find a remedy.

and let us know what works in case anyone runs into that problem in the future! good luck trina!

This is something I have heard before, and when I bought mine it had quite an odor too. Kind of chemical. I just let it air, I wouldn't put anything on it that you didn't want to smell when you are cutting. I slide mine under my couch for storage so it isn't closed in anywhere.

Okay, I have tried Fabreze. And I wiped it down with soapy water. I will try the suggestions made by Meg.
Meg, I am on the same page as you when going into the grocery store. I don't dare buy fish at our local grocery store because I can smell the fishy smell as soon as I walk into the store. And the fish display is in the back.
Just thinking , maybe I should see if the border patrol would hire me for detecting drugs coming across the border.
Trina

Hey HoundDog Trina, I had one like this and I finally took it back to Joann's and got my money back. Seems like someone else had this opportunity with a mat and did something else with it, but I can't seem to find it. Hope someone comes along that can help ya. Gerda, where are you???????????????????????

Trina, I sent you a personal email but I was having problems and have no idea whether it really went or not. I had this problem last year. I had purchase a Fiskars Folding mate and didn't notice the smell, the next day I told my husband that our family of skunks had to be back under our front porch because every once in a while I would catch a perfumey smell. Well the next couple of days we kept smelling it. Then I went to use my mat and it was the smell. I emailed Fiskars and told them my problem asking for a solution, they sent my a new mat at no charge at all.

So you might try emailing the company that made your mat.

Betty

http://www.olfa.com/CustomerserviceFAQ.aspx

This one has the same info, I think: http://www.aaaindustrialsupply.com/.%5Carticles%5Colfa%...nife_Cutter_FAQs.pdf

Scroll down to SKUNK SMELL (yep, you read that right!)
http://www.quiltbus.com/Quilt-Terms.htm

Interesting info in the bottom right hand corner
http://my-whimsical.info/project_linus/Rotary_cutter_basics.html
I didn't know that!

Gerda

WOW!!!!! Gerda, you are good!!!!!
Thank you for the information. In fact, I want to say thank you to all of you for your help.

Hound dog Trina

Gerda - how DO you do it! I can search under numerous names and not find something. And 5 minutes after I post you've found 10 links to exACTly what I wanted. LOL! Can you divulge your secrets to us? PULEESE?