Cutting mats, self-healing cutting mats in particular, are a crafting necessity and take pride of place in any craft room, workshop or kitchen. Working to protect surfaces from damage and marks caused by the use of rotary cutters, craft knives and other sharp, cutting tools during manufacturing, crafting or food preparation processes. Whether you a budding hobbyist, a hard-working chef or a professional crafter, a Rhino cutting mat provides long-lasting durability and cost-effective safety for your side, table or crafting workbench.
What Is A Self-Healing Cutting Mat And Why Do I Need One?
For the non-industrialist or beginning hobbyist, knowing what a cutting mat is and why you would use it is the best method of understanding what type of crafting mat will suit your individual needs.
A cutting mat is fairly self-explanatory and there isn’t much more to it than being used to protect your surfaces when using cutting or marking tools that could potentially create marks, or cause damage to soft surfaces such as wood tables, wood-topped crafting benches and glass drawing tables.
At Rhino, our cutting mats are designed to be self-healing. Our green cutting mats have been manufactured using tiny strips of material that are pressed together to form a solid cutting service. When used properly, these strips separate to allow the knife edge to slip between, then close again, reforming the cutting mat surface for the next use.
Proper use involves using a sharp knife or cutting tool and holding it at a 90-degree angle perpendicular to the cutting mat surface. This allows the sharp edge to slip between the material fibres and is the reason you should never use dull blades on your cutting mat. When cutting at an angle or with dulled blades, you run the risk of cutting into these fibres and creating an irreparable incision on the surface of your cutting mat.
Our SupaSeal Clear and heavy-duty anti-static cutting mats, in contrast to the green mats, are made from a uniquely pliable but dense material that naturally self-heals, not allowing the knife edge to slip back into the original groove. This gives an even longer-lasting and durable solution, and the mats are double-sided giving twice the life span of single-sided mats and the ideal flatbed laminator replacement mat.
Additional benefits of our cutting mats include accurately printed alignment grids on surfaces used for lining up projects and ensuring your cuts are neat and sized appropriately. As well as a ‘grippy’ non-slip surface that can prevent sheets of paper, card, foam, fabric and other common crafting materials from sliding around and will keep your cutting mat securely in place.
Choosing the Right Cutting Mat for Your Needs
Size
When looking for the perfect cutting mat for your requirements, make sure to first measure the intended space you wish to use and store your cutting mat. You’ll want to make the most of the space available. Rhino provides a range of pre-measured cutting mat sizes or we can create a bespoke cutting mat to the size you need, just let us know your requirements at the time of ordering.
Thickness
With the size of your area determined, it’s time to consider the type of cutting mat that will suit your use. For instance, we only provide cutting mats with a minimum thickness of 3mm, anything less than this is considered unsuitable for heavy-duty or industrial use and our thicker, more resistant 5mm cutting mats provide the best protection for fabricating environments and large applications.
Surface
We provide three different types of cutting mats, the Green Self-Healing Cutting Mat, the SupaSeal Cutting Mat and the Heavy-Duty Cutting Mat – each of which features an anti-glare surface preventing reflected light from making cutting mat work uncomfortable. Our Heavy-Duty Cutting Mat features a textured surface that can provide a greater ‘grip’ for materials, although this is carefully designed to be non-intrusive as not to interrupt your cut.
Cheaper cutting mats can run the risk of being quite reflective, causing discomfort while working, especially over long periods and have a very rough textured surface that can cause tramlining (where blades fall into textured channels and do not cut where intended) or tearing of materials during cutting.
Types of Cutting Mat
At Rhino, we manufacture three different types of cutting mats
for use across a wide number of applications from culinary use to industrial processes.
Green Self-Healing Cutting Mat
Our Green Self-Healing Cutting Mat is our most cost-effective cutting mat available. Manufactured with three layers for extra protection, the Green Self-Healing Cutting Mat is commonly used in amateur and professional craft rooms, across schools and in textile workshops. Available with a printed alignment grid, the cutting mat works well with most popular tools including rotary cutters, Stanley knives, power knives, scalpels and craft knives.
The cutting mat is available in a variety of pre-cut sizes including 2000mm x 1000mm, A0, A1, A2, A3 and A4 in 3mm thickness or 2000mm x 1000mm in a slightly thicker 5mm. We can also provide a cut-to-size service for a cutting mat that is tailored to your requirements.
Additional properties of our Green Self-Healing Cutting Mat from Rhino include double-sided use, anti-glare and anti-static material surface and resistance to heat, fire, light and water.
SupaSeal Cutting Mat
Our highest value cutting mat with exceptional self-healing properties, the SupaSeal Cutting Mat is a translucent (with a slight blue tint), 5mm thick cutting mat that can be used across all types of industrial and crafting applications, including for use on Flat-Bed Laminators and Roller Tables.
As the Green Self-Healing Cutting Mat, the SupaSeal Cutting Mat features double-sided use and excellent non-slip surfaces on both sides that hold both the cutting mat and your materials in place during use.
We can provide the SupaSeal Cutting Mat in four different widths – 1000mm, 1200mm, 1520mm and 1800mm, up to 20m by 1.8m in one length and with optional printed Flexi-grid on 2440mm x 1220mm cut sizes. Additionally, we can provide a cut-to-size service for providing an anti-static cutting mat to suit your personal or workshop needs.
For your safety, the SupaSeal Cutting Mat is resistant to heat, light and water and M2 rated against fire in addition to being anti-static, anti-glare and can even be recycled when it no longer suits its purpose.
Heavy-Duty Cutting Mat
The last in our self-healing cutting mat lineup is our Rhino Heavy-Duty Cutting Mat. Available in a range of sizes, including 600mm x 800mm, 1220mm x 810mm, 1220mm x 1220mm, 2440mm x 1220mm, 4880mm x 1220mm, 3050mm x 1525mm, 3660mm x 1525mm, 3657mm x 1828mm and 2440mm x 1220mm with printed grid. We can also cut your Rhino Heavy-Duty Cutting Mat to a bespoke size to suit your personal or industrial applications.
This is our mid-range cutting mat, with a 4.5mm thick opaque white finish. The Heavy-Duty Cutting Mat can be used anywhere a firmer hand is required and for large applications or fabricating environments. This type of mat can be used double-sided but features both a smooth and textured finish side, both with non-slip properties. We recommend using the matt/textured side of the mat for cutting first, as the smooth side provides a stronger anti-slip grip in comparison.
As is the case with all of our self-healing mats, the Heavy-Duty Cutting Mat is solvent-proof, features anti-glare and anti-static properties and is resistant against heat, light, fire and water. For long-lasting, cost-effective durability across all your cutting, manufacturing and fabricating needs, choose Rhino Cutting Mats.
Cleaning and Maintaining a Rhino Self-Healing Cutting Mat
As with any tool or material, keeping it clean and maintained will ensure it lasts longer and functions well for the entirety of its lifespan. Your cutting mats, even with self-healing properties, all require a small amount of upkeep to ensure you can get the best use out of it.
After every use, use a lint roller or lint removal device that you can roll over the surface of your cutting mat and remove any unseen fibres that are at risk of being pushed into the cutting mat material. It’s also advised to use a clean, non-cotton towel to wipe down the surface, although be aware of fabric towels that can leave additional fluff or lint on the cutting mat surface. Where you have marks on the surface of your large self-healing cutting mat that is stubborn against a dry cloth such as ink or pencil, use a damp cloth and a small amount of washing up liquid to return your cutting mat surface to like new.
Avoid using harsh chemicals on your mat that could potentially remove any alignment grid markings from the surface and always wash down after cleaning with clean, cool water to remove any residual cleaner.
Over time and with heavy use, your cutting mat can start to ‘scar’ in certain areas, this is caused by constant use in the same area and causes irreparable splits or cuts in the surface of your cutting mat. To ensure you get the most out of your self-healing cutting mat and it can reap the benefits of its self-healing properties, make sure to rotate and flip your cutting mat regularly and use a different area of the mat to cut when working for extended hours.
Storing Your Rhino Self-Healing Cutting Mat
Your cutting mat should always be stored laid flat, away from direct light and heat and in an area that isn’t affected by large drops in temperature. Extreme cold can cause as much damage as high heat, leading to your cutting mat becoming brittle and potentially snapping or cracking. It’s also advised to never leave your cutting mat resting on its side or bent over another surface, this will prevent warping and ensure your cutting mat always lays completely flat.
Receiving Your Self-Healing Cutting Mat
When your cutting mat is dispatched, it is likely to be sent as a self-healing cutting mat roll and should be laid flat for a period of 24 hours before use, out of direct sunlight and away from heat or high temperatures. After your cutting mat has flattened, it should never be rolled or stored in a roll, as this can cause irreparable warping that will interrupt your cuts or make them inaccurate.
Some of our cutting mats can have a plastic odour when first used; this should dissipate in the first 24 hours of laying your cutting mat flat. If the odour is still quite strong, you can wash it down with a small amount of water and wipe dry with a clean, lint-free cloth, repeat this process as needed. Wipe your cutting mat dry each time and do not leave with sitting water on the surface or in areas with heat that would potentially cause your cutting mat to warp.
What If My Cutting Mat Has Warped?
Unfortunately, if your cutting mat has fallen victim to extreme warping, it can be difficult to get it to lay completely flat again and could potentially affect any cutting you need to do in the future. Warped cutting mats should be replaced after the cause of the warping has been sourced and prevented to ensure your replacement cutting mat doesn’t suffer the same fate and you can ensure long-lasting durability.
Why Choose Rhino Self-Healing Cutting Mats?
At Rhino, we have years of experience in manufacturing durable and professional self-healing cutting mats for use across a wide range of industries. Our aim is to ensure a high quality product and unbeatable service for our customers, no matter their requirements. From bespoke self-healing cutting mats for industrial applications to small or large self-healing cutting mats, ideal for personal use.
We consistently strive to fulfil the expectations of our target market and the growing need for marketplaces while endeavouring to support our environmental policy. Our strict policy ensures that our systems do not cause harm or damage to the environment and incorporate extra efforts to reduce our overall environmental impact.
When you choose Rhino for all your self-healing cutting mat needs, you can be assured you will receive quick delivery, excellent products and unrivalled customer service. Get in touch with our friendly, expert team today and learn how a Rhino self-healing cutting mat can exceed your expectations for quality.
Call us on 01280 840293
Email us on [email protected]
