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Plastic placemats are very versatile. They protect the surface of the precious glass or wood table surfaces, and they are very easy to maintain.
How we arrived at plastic placemats
Plastic placemats were designed to take the maintenance off the hands of the housewife, who before their invention, had to daily wash, bleach and iron the cloth or lace placemats, or re-shine wood and glass tables, so hoorah for plastic .
There were days of old where housekeeping diaries were still kept by chatelaines and mistresses of homes, and they described each and every single piece of linen in their closets. The lace, tatted, crocheted or knitted placemats always got stained, and they were always soaked for long hours at a time, with whatever bleach that they used in the good old days.
Then there was the tiresome task of having to repair the damage by hand, to starch and iron each and every single piece, so that when they were placed on the tables, they were pristine and flat, very, very flat. Enough to satisfy the meanest gossips or husbands from commenting. Oh don’t you just love plastic placemats, now that you see where we have progressed from.
Invention of plastic placemats
With the advent of plastic placemats, everyday use of the cloth placemat became scarce. Non plastic mats are now used mainly to impress guests. Non plastic mats are made out of wicker, bamboo, or cloth.
There is just one downsides to some plastic placemats. When something hot is placed on it, the plastic placemat can melt, unless it is the more expensive type of plastic placemat, such as certain faux woods or designer plastics. Look for these tough plastic placemats, as they are also often more aesthetically pleasing, and made of more resilient eco-plastic. Faux bamboo or faux metals, are also popular choices.
A thousand choices await you, from spiderweb designs, to floral close-ups, to children’s themes. Enjoy.
Plastic placemats are one of the most practical inventions that mankind has to offer, as we spend a lot of time enjoying our meals at the table, yet we have increasingly less time for housework, in this fast-paced, work-oriented society, that expects women to ‘do it all’.