Brand New Bent Cricut Mat - help

Hi! I recently bought the Cricut Expression. Of course the box is not the right size to hold the 12x12 cutting mat, so the company bent it over in the box. I've tried everything to get this thing to be straight from pressing it between books for a couple of days to bending it in the opposite direction in the box for a couple of weeks. I went out right away and bought new mats, but I would hate to throw away a perfectly good mat if it can be straightened out. I did try to use it in the expression with the warp to it, but it made the machine make a funny noise and I hit stop right away. So, I don't think using it the way it is is a good idea. Any suggestions on straigtening it out? Did anyone else have this problem when they took theirs out? Or, did you all just turf the mat in the garbage?

That's weird, mine was perfect and sorry but I don't know how to help you, but why don't you write to cricut, maybe they can help you, or change it,

Thanks so much. I figured they all got bent because of the shape of the box. Weird that some came out straight. Did anyone else get a bent one in their box, or did they all come out straight?

mine was curved to the shape of the box but went straight once i took it out. Maybe try using a low heat setting on your iron with a towel over top of the mat and iron it straight? or put it in a oven for about 20 seconds..10 might even do the trick & set your books on it?

is there an actual crease or is it just curled?

Hi! Just curled... I might try the ironing thing... what do I have to lose, right? It's pretty much ready for the trash, so if I ruin it, there's no loss. Thanks for the idea!

The ironing shouldnt be a problem with no crease. I hope it works for ya!!

mine was curved too and i just dought new ones because i tried a bunch of things and it never worked to get the mat flat again ;(

Thanks so much... it's good to know that I wasn't the only one. I did buy 2 new ones, but didn't want to throw out the old one just in case there was like "mat CPR" that could be performed to bring it back to life.

Mine came just bent over the Expression in the box. It straightened right out after I took it out of the box.