I recently opened two FFG Playmats. Both were wrinkled pretty badly. I laid them flat over night and put some weight on top but they weren't any smother. Then some guys told me to iron them. I tried that today, I even used a lot of steam but it didn't help at all. Now I'm kinda guessing what I could do. Did anyone of you guys ever have that problem? I heard somewhere that you can put the playmats in the washing mashine but I'm kinda reluctant to try that. Has anyone ever washed the playmats? How did it turn out?

Thanks for any input

Lost cause. Burn them.

Notify FFG. Their customer service seems great about making people whole. I bought a ship missing the dial, they sent me a new dial. Nice.

I'd definitely return them before I did too much else to them that might ruin it

Can't do anything with it, just send them to me. I'll PM you my postal adress.

More seriously, FFG customer servive is great; just ask and I think they will replace the products.

I wouldn't wash them. I would however try hanging them up vertically, use bulldog clips or clothespegs and leave them hanging for a couple of days.

Play Epic. The weight of all those ships will flatten it out in no time.

(Sorry, don't have a better answer for you than what others have said.)

1 hour ago, cybu said:

I recently opened two FFG Playmats. Both were wrinkled pretty badly. I laid them flat over night and put some weight on top but they weren't any smother. Then some guys told me to iron them. I tried that today, I even used a lot of steam but it didn't help at all. Now I'm kinda guessing what I could do. Did anyone of you guys ever have that problem? I heard somewhere that you can put the playmats in the washing mashine but I'm kinda reluctant to try that. Has anyone ever washed the playmats? How did it turn out?

Thanks for any input

Yes, I had the same problem in the past and was able to fix it. Mine were not majorly wrinkled, just a bit because they were not stored properly inside the box. What fixed them was to roll them as tightly as I could and put them inside a poster tube for a few days. Tightly means you could hardly put your finger inside the tube after you rolled them. You also need to make sure they don't get loose after you roll them, so ducktape them or use rubber bands around them.

22 minutes ago, tsondaboy said:

Yes, I had the same problem in the past and was able to fix it. Mine were not majorly wrinkled, just a bit because they were not stored properly inside the box. What fixed them was to roll them as tightly as I could and put them inside a poster tube for a few days. Tightly means you could hardly put your finger inside the tube after you rolled them. You also need to make sure they don't get loose after you roll them, so ducktape them or use rubber bands around them.

That sounds like a plan. I'll try that. Thanks!
And for the other suggestions: I'd rather try it without contacting FFG. I doubt they will send anythig to Europe and the European distributor is a hassle to deal with. But if anything else fails, I'll give it a try. Thanks anyway!

I had waffle wrinkles in one of mine and did the same as tsondaboy. About two weeks later, mat had no issues. Good luck!

36 minutes ago, cybu said:

That sounds like a plan. I'll try that. Thanks!
And for the other suggestions: I'd rather try it without contacting FFG. I doubt they will send anythig to Europe and the European distributor is a hassle to deal with. But if anything else fails, I'll give it a try. Thanks anyway!

You ll probably find it easier to roll them tight if you roll them around a broom stick or something similar. If you do so, do not remove it in the end. Just leave them like that for a a week.

2 hours ago, cybu said:

That sounds like a plan. I'll try that. Thanks!
And for the other suggestions: I'd rather try it without contacting FFG. I doubt they will send anythig to Europe and the European distributor is a hassle to deal with. But if anything else fails, I'll give it a try. Thanks anyway!

I never had any issues with getting replacement stuff from FFG, and I live in Europe (although it often doesn't look like it).

Also, a general note, if you're storing your FFG playmats in their boxes, do not stand them vertically, lay them on their side. That's how they get all wrinkled. If you see them displayed that way in a store, let them know they've probably ruined their mats, too.

In the original post, they mention washing the mat. Has anyone tried that? For the sake of cleaning their mat, not for addressing the wrinkles. My mat isn't as pristine as it once was (you can make out some smudges here and there) and as far as I'm aware, you can run them in the washer, but I don't know of anyone who has either here on the forums or in person. Can anyone share their experience?

Thanks.

I would not put them in the washing machine myself. I'd think you could wipe them down with a soapy cloth or hand wash them in a sink and hang it up over a line. I would not use very hot water or very harsh soap or put it in the dryer.

You could look for advice on cleaning computer mousepads.

If you can hang it up you might beat it a bit like a carpet or turn it face down and do so before cleaning it.

Depending on the mess maybe something like this Blue Coral Cleaner and there was one like that from a company that made/makes? waterless carwash I used on my car but I'd test it on a small section first.

Maybe the brush attachment on a vacuum or a lint roller for clothes.

A friend of mine actually washed his playmat in the washing mashine. However it was not a FFG playmat but from another manufacturer with similar quality (also mousepad). As far as I remember he didn't use any cleaning detergent. He used water only and the most gentle stage of the washing programme available (20°C or 30°C and low rpm). He was happy with the result.

My mat was wrinkled to begin with. But after a few months of use it slowly leveled out. The material these mats are made out of will eventually smooth out. You just gotta give it some time.

I've used a stack of very heavy books (Old hardcover video game guides I used to collect) and they did well flattening out the folded creases off an FFG mat.

Rolling the mat, placing it back in the box and placing said box flat on the back seat of your car on a sunny day also works wonders. Sometimes if the wrinkles are bad enough it may take a couple of days.

At the moment one of my mats is rolled very tightly around a roll of paper tablecloth (the only thing I could find that was round and long enough) and secured with several rubber bands. I will leave it like that till next weekend and hope for the best. If successful I will repeat it with the other mat. If not I will try Vykks idea: take it home and leave it in the sun on my balcony.

I will report my findings.

What do you do with a drunken sailor?

1 hour ago, ObiWonka said:

What do you do with a drunken sailor?

If wrinkled? Also leave him in the sun on my balcony of course

2 hours ago, ObiWonka said:

What do you do with a drunken sailor?

Throw him in the scuppers with the hose pipe on him.

After 2 weeks of having stowed away my mat rolled very tightly I finally checked on it. It was still wrinkled. So I used the good weather and left the mat for 2 days on my balcony in the sun. No change at all.

So having tried everything else I think I'll go for the washing mashine

It's likely beyond repair. The 3rd generation mats are thinner than 1st/2nd gen so they're much more prone to creasing.

They also roll up more tightly as they're thinner, but the box is the same size. When stood on-end in the FFG display box they've both got less internal structural strength to avoid slumping in the box, and more space to slump into.

Its entirely a fault on FFGs part for reducing the spec on these mats to save money but not changing the packaging to allow for the changes they'd made.