How Do I Flatten a Warped or Curled Mouse Pad?
January 7, 2010 7:25 AM Subscribe
I have a flat precision mouse pad from Fellowes. After a good year of use, it's starting to warp around the center causing a large "bubble" like effect along the mouse's path. How can I fix this?
I already tried laying it flat between 2 hard, flat surfaces overnight with no luck.
You can see the warping in this photo.
Response by poster: Thing is, this particular wrist/mousepad combo work together.
The wrist rest glides over the mouse pad in a unique way that's nearly frictionless. The wrist rest itself helped my wrist pain from day one (non-existent now).
P.S. That's the bottom of the pad in the pic. Couldn't get the curling effect to show from above.
posted by Blue.Squares at 7:38 AM on January 7, 2010
The wrist rest glides over the mouse pad in a unique way that's nearly frictionless. The wrist rest itself helped my wrist pain from day one (non-existent now).
P.S. That's the bottom of the pad in the pic. Couldn't get the curling effect to show from above.
posted by Blue.Squares at 7:38 AM on January 7, 2010
You could always velcro it to the desktop, or for the same price as velcro tape you could get a new mouse pad.
posted by Max Power at 7:38 AM on January 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Max Power at 7:38 AM on January 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I understand that you'd like to keep it. Looking at the edge, it appears to be made of two different sorts of material which are laminated together. I'm assuming that either the bottom surface (top in photo) has shrunken, or the top surface (bottom in photo) has gotten subtly bigger, and the difference in their sizes causes the warpage. Regardless of which has happened, it seems unlikely that you'll be able to reverse those changes.
posted by jon1270 at 7:43 AM on January 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by jon1270 at 7:43 AM on January 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
Perhaps a heat treatment would help; first steam it with a clothes iron set on low, use a dishtowel as a barrier between them so you don't melt the plastic... and THEN stick it between two hard, flat surfaces with a weight on it overnight.
posted by lizbunny at 8:51 AM on January 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by lizbunny at 8:51 AM on January 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
How expensive was the set? Could you just buy a new set?
(Also, if you have a link to the product, that might help us to see how the pieces work together, which may allow people to suggest better solutions.)
posted by decathecting at 10:36 AM on January 7, 2010
(Also, if you have a link to the product, that might help us to see how the pieces work together, which may allow people to suggest better solutions.)
posted by decathecting at 10:36 AM on January 7, 2010
It's time to replace it. I understand your trepidation but it just isn't worth it.
posted by chairface at 12:51 PM on January 7, 2010
posted by chairface at 12:51 PM on January 7, 2010
Response by poster: Here's the product.
It's hard to find locally, and I know the problem will simply reoccur. I'd rather fix it now if possible.
@jon1270, you're right. The bottom was rubber. I successfully removed it (peeled right off) and now the top layer is left with a black cloth underneath.
@lizbunny, after removing the bottom layer, that's exactly what I did. Now I'm waiting.
@odinsdream, your option is the last resort. That sounds like it will work for sure with the rubber removed.
If this doesn't work, I'll probably buy a RatPad since I need the large pad-size.
By the way, this wrist rest is phenomenal if anyone is suffering from wrist pain while mousing around. The mouse pad was great until it started warping after 1 year of use.
posted by Blue.Squares at 1:03 PM on January 7, 2010
It's hard to find locally, and I know the problem will simply reoccur. I'd rather fix it now if possible.
@jon1270, you're right. The bottom was rubber. I successfully removed it (peeled right off) and now the top layer is left with a black cloth underneath.
@lizbunny, after removing the bottom layer, that's exactly what I did. Now I'm waiting.
@odinsdream, your option is the last resort. That sounds like it will work for sure with the rubber removed.
If this doesn't work, I'll probably buy a RatPad since I need the large pad-size.
By the way, this wrist rest is phenomenal if anyone is suffering from wrist pain while mousing around. The mouse pad was great until it started warping after 1 year of use.
posted by Blue.Squares at 1:03 PM on January 7, 2010
Response by poster: Final Update.
Removing the backing made the material soft enough to allow the mouse to glide around without any problems. No need to mount. It works fine now.
Thanks everyone!
posted by Blue.Squares at 4:00 PM on January 13, 2010
Removing the backing made the material soft enough to allow the mouse to glide around without any problems. No need to mount. It works fine now.
Thanks everyone!
posted by Blue.Squares at 4:00 PM on January 13, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jon1270 at 7:35 AM on January 7, 2010