Just gonna borrow a little quote from Spider Man here…
"With great power comes great responsibility"

Okay, bear with me here, the man can shoot thread out of his palms and sew himself a spidey suit out of crazy spandex dance fabric with only a sewing machine and no pattern to speak of in only one evening (yeah, I’m looking at you Marvel Universe circa 2002) so he definitely has the power. We should listen to him, right? Right.

Well, I have it on good authority that Spiderman is a stickler for taking care of his tools and you should be too. Because those sewing tools; they’re a big part of your sewing super power. You have a responsibility to keep them in good working order. Spiderman agrees. I promise.

One of the tools that probably needs your attention today is your self-healing mat. That mat that you use every time you cut? It’s getting tired and dirty and it needs some TLC. So, carve out a little time and treat your cutting mat to a nice little bath.

Here’s how to do it…

• Wipe down your mat with a terry cloth towel to get any loose fuzz off of it.
• Find a sink, container or bathtub that is big enough to lay your mat flat.
• Run some room temperature water and submerge your mat in it.
• Add some distilled white vinegar. About a ¼ cup to every gallon is a good place to start.
• Scrub your mat with a nylon bristle brush like a dish brush or something similar.
• Add a bit of dish soap to the mix and scrub some more.
• Rinse thoroughly.
• Take the mat out of the water and lay it flat on a towel.
• Dry the mat thoroughly with a clean terry cloth towel.

And voilà!

Spiderman is so proud of you! He feels like you’re taking your responsibility to keep your tools in order seriously.

And he says, next time he needs a new suit he’s calling you because sewing that suit was a B!T3H and way harder than beating up bad guys. He’s in awe of your super-sewing powers (but he's also a generally good guy so he'll never ask you to hem anything).