I recently bought a very nice closeup mat with a black velvet top. I did some 3 shell game stuff with the perfect peas, but the one I used darkned in colour. I'm so annoyed at myself, since I have seen my peas change colour on newspapers and on my jewelry display mat, but my old and bad closeup mat was made of a material similar to felt*, so the stains rubbed off when I rubbed them on it.

Unfortunately, I can't return the pad and get a green one since I have used the pad already and thrown away all the packaging. I won't be able to do a convincing switch if I decide to use the hard pea (since it won't stain) so there would be a colour difference which some spectators may notice.


Is there any solution that won't damage the pea, but still remove the stain?

*it wasn't actually felt, but it wasn't smooth to the touch

I wash my pea quite often as it get dirty/darken. I use plain dishwashing detergent and it works great.

However it sound like the color is bleeding off your new mat. I would wash the mat a few times to try and get the fabric color dye out as much as possible.

As for washing the pea, I would be very careful with any harsh chemicals, especially petroleum based, as many peas are rubber/latex and might deteriorate them.

Thanks for the tips. I'll try washing the mat.