Making Crystal Caste battle mats better?

[Ketjak]

Hi folks!

Months ago I bought a Crystal Caste battle mat. I liked their dice if I don't use the funky ones, and it was the only really large mat in the FLGS. Well, I used it Saturday and it's terrible for holding wet erase (overhead projector) marker ink. Terrible. (I'm not complaining about the stray threads hanging from each end of the roll, but I might as well mention it.) Had I known they didn't hold markers well ahead of time, I'd've spent the $35 on a Chessex mat (special ordered, even) or, better yet, spent a little more on Tac-Tiles.

Worse, some black wet erase marker ink (it "beaded" when I applied it, but I thought that was just the marker) has actually left a residual image on the map, and only a little fainter than when it's fully applied. I can't get that off, either - I'm used to red staining, and I've never seen black stain before.

Does anyone have any advice? Is there some treatment I can apply to the surface to make it take the markers well? (Without resulting in permanent ghost-stains, either.) I feel like I've been taken advantage of, as it's not the quality for which I thought I was paying.

- Ketjak

 

[Sammael]

I had the exact same issue with the mat, and I wrote an e-mail to Crystal Caste asking for advice. Their response? "We sell thousands of those mats and we haven't had any complaints before."

I tried many things, but the mat just plain sucks. Sorry I can't be of any help, but at least you know it's not just you.

 

[Ketjak]

I had the exact same issue with the mat, and I wrote an e-mail to Crystal Caste asking for advice. Their response? "We sell thousands of those mats and we haven't had any complaints before."

I tried many things, but the mat just plain sucks. Sorry I can't be of any help, but at least you know it's not just you.

That's a terrible response. If they had indeed sold thousands, then surely exchanging or refunding one wouldn't hurt.

 

[Glyfair]

"We sell thousands of those mats and we haven't had any complaints before."

I never complained about mine because I got it for free (part of the RPGA mat giveaway just before they stopped charging for membership). Still, I've always had the problem when I used it.

I considered picking up one of their mats at one time. I prefer hexes, but D&D pretty much assumes squares (plus, indoor maps are easier to draw on squares most of the time). Seeing they had a mat that had hexes on one side and squares on the other, I considered switching. Still, I couldn't bring myself to do it because of their poor ability to "hold ink."

I'll take a Chessex mat everytime (still have mine from the early 80's).

 

[Tatsukun]

We use a Crystal Castle mat, and it does indeed suck for the majority of markers. You just have to keep trying different brands of marker.

We use "Vis-a-Vis" brand markers, and they work ok. Just don't leave the ink on the mat too long or it will stain. Once that happens, you're SOL.

For battles we know we want to keep between sessions we put a layer of cheap clear plastic over the mat and draw on that. The clear plastic doesn't stain, holds ink, but doesn't have the grids.

Anyway, good luck!

-Tatsu

 

[devilbat]

Leave your mat out in the sun, stained side up. No joke, it's the only thing that worked for us when our mat stained.

 

[Lichemaster]

Buy a DnD mini's starter set (or 4) and take the fold out play mat out and bring it (or all 4) to an office depot and get it laminated. It cost me under $10 Canadian for each one.
I use the vis-a-vis markers and even left it on there for 3 weeks and a little water on a taco bell napkin and all gone.
It does not make a smear when the mini's move across the drawings of the room.
Dollar for Dollar it was a great investment.

 

[rushlight]

We've taken to abandoning the wet-erase mats all together. I went to the office supply store and purchaced a large pad (22" x 30" I believe) of 1" graph paper. It came with a large number of sheets, and it's slightly bigger than the old wet-erase map we were using.

I use colored fine-tip permanent markers to draw. Of course, my group tends to play in larger areas, so it often takes several trips to complete a site. Plus, they can be re-used if need be. Of course, we still keep the old mat handy for one-offs or random encounters. But visually, I prefer the look of the paper pad.

 

[Ketjak]

That's a terrible response. If they had indeed sold thousands, then surely exchanging or refunding one wouldn't hurt.

Fortunately, Michael from Crystal Caste wrote back. He acknowledged there had been some problems with markers on the mats (though they have not encountered it) as well as some other defects. He recommended washing it with hot soapy water or returning the product to the store from which I bought it (The Game Habitat in Monterey, CA). He seems genuinely interested in helping out.

He also passed along some recommendations about removing permanent marker from battle mats. He thinks it may help those of us with stained mats, even though it's not permanent marker:

Here are some ideas that have worked in the past.

1. Clean with Dawn dish soap detergent.
2. Clean accidental permanent marker mark with WD-40.
3. Orange Cleaner should be fine to use as well.

(That looked copied and pasted from some other source.)

The sun trick devilbat posted makes sense. Solar radiation will break down the pigments in the marker ink. If I can get a stretch of days like we had here last week in the Pac NW, I'll try it.

I'll report back after I wash mine down. I'm hoping to recover the mat, and either way I need a new one by 11 June.

 

[Snowy]

Its not helpful to your problem but ours is.....

a sheet of 3or 4 mm perspex (not actually perspex cos thats expensive, just see through plastic)

edged with gaffa tape and with paper with grid drawn on it taped to the back. even wrote a 1-30 initiative order and put that at the side of the grid.

its simple and cleans ok and whenever me or our other DM gets as far as prepreparing maps they can be slid underneath it and drawn "on top of"

need something a little neater than the ripped up cardboard counters for the monsters and players though they tend to soak up the wine that inevitably gets spilt in combat