Teak wooden placemats for all occasions
Whilst there are advantages and practicalities of using synthetic material for all types of tableware, perhaps the better option wherever possible is to use natural materials. One of the most abundant versions of this is found with wooden placemats, they have a quality and individuality that most man-made varieties cannot match.
This applies both to breakfast for one or large dinner parties, the subtle grains and overall warm tones help to create a warm and relaxed environment which goes a long way towards making you and your guests feel welcomed and at home.
Teak is particularly useful in the construction of wood placemats and coasters, one reason being the strength and resistance to heat and water, something that the boat building industry has known for centuries. This natural toughness makes teak one of the few materials that is difficult to stain and can be easily wiped clean after use allowing you to keep using your teak wood placemats for many years.
Choose eco-friendly placemats
One of the ways we can help the environment is to select eco-friendly placemats which in this case is with recycled teak wood block placemats. Unlike eucalyptus trees which grow rapidly and the wood is sourced from properly managed plantations. This is the way manufacturers such as Pimpernel or Plymouth Pottery use eucalyptus wood in the construction of cork backed place mats.
Teak trees are different and take centuries to reach maturity and clearly cutting them down just to make a set of tablemats would be incredibly irresponsible, not say prohibitively expensive. We live in a world that is becoming more conscious of the need to take advantage of recycled materials and the use of recycled teak from old furniture or construction materials etc which is then pulped and made into teak wood blocks.
These wooden blocks are then laced together to create very elegant, yet rustic looking teak wood placemats. The result is a natural looking and very resilient tabletop accessory that brings a warm feeling to any dining table as well as giving a very high level of protection to your furniture.
Indoor and outdoor wooden place mats
One area which synthetic materials struggle to match the durability of wood or other natural products such as rattan is when they need to be used in an outdoor setting. Very few man-made tablemats can cope with being exposed to the elements for long periods of time, for example the printed artwork on cork backed tablemats will fade when subjected to sunlight.
But rattan placemats or wooden tablemats are completely at home both indoors or on an outside dining table. The robust nature of the teak wood which has a glazed finish for additional protection means even direct sunlight will not affect the toughness of these mats, even getting wet with a surprise rain shower would not cause any damage. Although you probably would want to bring your wooden placemats inside if the weather forecast was for persistent rain.
