I found the best thing for extending the life of a blade is using the aluminum foil trick (taking a piece of aluminum foil, folding it several times, and cutting it up). It helps, and is relatively inexpensive. I still buy new blades. I actually just bought an Olfa 10 pack of 45 mm blades for 29.99 a couple of days ago.

Wal mart has blades and they are very affordable compared to what you pay elsewhere

go to www.lpsharp.com I have had sent in my old blades for years....

I've used the Harbor Freight blades and love them. They are sharp, fit my Olfa cutters perfectly and last a long time. I like them better than the Fiskar and Olfa blades I got at Joann's by a lot--and they were about $.75 a piece when purchased in quantity of ten on ebay.

I buy my blades at Harbor Freight and when they do finally get dull, I put them in a tall medicine bottle that just fits them and save the dull ones for things I don't want to use my good blades on. When it gets filled up, I can just toss it away without worries of anyone being hurt by them. They only cost about a dollar each, so I don't mind replacing them as often.

that's where I buy my blades, inexpensive compared to other places. JoAnn's is about 45 miles away, so I don't get there very often.

Interesting. I wonder if the vendor makes a difference. I tried them out as soon as I got them and they work great.

I buy the 45mm carpet cutting blades at Harbor Freight. They run about $1.99 each. Some have not had good luck with these, but I haven't had any problems with them.

One board member posted that she uses a Sharpie to mark her blade with a dot, then if it starts skipping, she turns the blade over and marks that side with two dots.

I got one of the blue Dritz sharpeners, which doesn't really sharpen, but it does smooth out the nicks which cause the blade to skip. It's a temporary fix, but it does extend the life of the blade a little.

I have one rotary cutter which is a dedicated paper cutter for trimming printed patterns (PP, applique). When I change blades on my fabric cutter, I put that one in my paper cutter.

To dispose of the used blades, I have an Altoids tin that is clearly marked USED BLADES. I think I have a dozen or more in that tin and there's room for many, many more.