International Scale Modeller

How many of you are using self healing cutting mats on their workbenches? I purchased a fair sized one, A3 i believe, about 3 months ago and i love it for cutting out decals and working on smaller parts. My question is how does one go about cleaning it? I have seen some suggestions online about using soap and water but what about cleaning enamel paint spills or glue etc? Is it safe to use a thinner to remove paint or would it damage the surface of the mat?

I would love to hear some suggestions about care and maintenance of the mat and what others do with theirs



Mark

I clean mine with some wet wipes and dry with paper towels. Do not use thinners as it will remove the markings on the cutting mat.

depends what i spilt. ill hit paint marks with thinner or AB cleaner if thin, for thicker drops or glue ill just scrape it with a flat edged bit of plastic then a wipe down with a 'spray and wipe' type product.

If I spill paint or glue I'll try to clean it up right away with paper towel.
If it's one the side with the markings... well some dish soap and water will get most of it, but you'll be stuck with the stains I think.
Lacquer thinner will clean it completely... including taking the lines off. So will acetone.

I have several now and I find that it helps to keep them cleaner, I have a really big one that I use as a desktop, a smaller one that I use turned upside down for working on most of the time and an small one that I'll use if I'm going to be painting at my desk (I have a dedicated painting area)

I have two an A3 on the desk and an A5 as a movable one. If something is stubborn i will try to scrape it before using baby wipes. If i get a big spill I try to clear it up there and then.

I have two A2's on my bench (going to get an A1 like Paul soon) plus an A3 with all the stuff on it for scratch building

Ive got three of the A1 buggers on my workbench, plus a couple of a4 and some really small ones knocking about, i just clean them with the scrrenwash mix i use as an airbrush cleaner

I have one; Hobbico 24' x 18'; and the only thing I clean it with is damp towel soaked with water to get off the dust and dirt. As mentioned before, paint or spirits or cement needs to be removed right way. I don't care about the markings so I will use cellulose thinner if I need to get glue off. Also don't forget that these mats are double sided so if it ever gets too bad you just turn it over.

Cheers
Jim

Thanks for all the tips guys. I paid about $60 canadian for this one and i dont want to have to replace it anytime soon, so it is helpful to have a few ideas of how to take care of it.



Mark.

I have a A2 for the main cutting matt and a A3 and a A4 for spare but for cleaning I just normaly use a wet wipe that normaly gets the most off but if not I use like a wide blade I got a set of four from poundland the widest one is great for cleaning off all the high spots that's over the matts, just glide it across the serface and clean up with a wet wipe sored all nice and clean n smooth again

Lee wrote:I have two A2's on my bench (going to get an A1 like Paul soon) plus an A3 with all the stuff on it for scratch building

A3 all stuff for scratch building ?

MB

Tonygol wrote:I clean mine with some wet wipes and dry with paper towels. Do not use thinners as it will remove the markings on the cutting mat.

YA Learned that the Hard way !!! LOL

or spill glue... same thing... LOL

Best tool on your bench !!!

schweinhund227 wrote:

Tonygol wrote:I clean mine with some wet wipes and dry with paper towels. Do not use thinners as it will remove the markings on the cutting mat.

YA Learned that the Hard way !!! LOL

or spill glue... same thing... LOL

Best tool on your bench !!!

Amount of times I've spilt thinners on my bench....lol

I have one (about 12x16 I think). I tape two pieces of mild yellow letter size printer paper on top. I can see small parts much easier (even more so with small green parts, it's a green mat), but it isn't as bright as using white paper. Every two or three models I replace the paper and any spots of glue or paint disappear!

I use the Tamiya A3 matt and love it. I keep it face down so cleaning is optional lol. I mean I don't cut splashy stuff so turn the matt upside down when using liquids noobs