Your hybrid mousepad's coating will fail unevenly.

Yes, the coating degrades over time, and the glide becomes inconsistent before it becomes uniformly slower.

The problem is the hard coating on top of a cloth base. It wears from friction, dirt, and sweat, but it doesn’t wear evenly. The center where your mouse spends most of its time gets smooth, shiny patches while the edges stay grippy. That creates slow spots and a general “rough” feel — like the pad has developed a personality you didn’t ask for.

You can’t fix it. No amount of washing restores the coating. Some pads (like the Artisan Hien or certain Corsair MM series) hold up better than others, but all of them will fade. Sunlight, humidity, and how sweaty your hand is all accelerate the degradation.

If you need consistent glide for competitive gaming, you’re better off buying a pure cloth pad (which wears more uniformly) or a hard plastic/glass pad that doesn’t wear at all. Hybrids are a compromise that sounds great until six months in.