Ken Oliver Crafts “Best Ever Craft Mat” Review
Video #715: A Polymer Clayer’s perspective about this product… some great features… but there is also one issue to be aware of.
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IN THIS POST: — best ever craft mat — ken oliver crafts — we r memory keepers glass mat — craft mat — work surface — worksurfaces — non-stick mat — protective mat — protector — craft sheet — (Topics marked with an asterick* are discussed in the Comments Section below).
In this video I will do a review of the Ken Oliver Crafts “Best Ever Craft Mat” Extra Large Table Cover (24" x 36") for use with polymer clay and other mixed media art supplies.
This extra large Best Ever Craft Mat is quite unique in the marketplace. Most craft mats are much smaller, in the range of 13" x 16" at the largest.
This mat is used to protect your work surface from heat tools, paints, inks, waxes, polymer clay, glues, sprays, solvents etc.
Features include: 24" x 36" extra large size (smaller 16.5" x 15" also available); light gray surface; non-stick; non-skid; non-porous; heat resistance up to 480F; heavy duty; wrinkle resistant.
After using this mat for a few days I found some interesting results. The non-skid surface definitely has some Pros and Cons.
The Pros are that nothing slides around on it. The surface always lies flat and doesn’t move around or wrinkle when working on it. It is completely impervious to any mixed media supplies you might use with polymer clay.
The Cons are that because nothing slides on it… dirt, lint, hairs, and dust stick to it like a magnet! And then when you roll a raw piece of polymer clay across the mat surface, your clay will pick up every little bit of dirt and lint. So… although you can set polymer clay on it without worry of it leaching or damaging the surface underneath the mat, it is not an ideal surface to work with your polymer clay, unless of course you really love dirty clay.
It is however an amazing product for working with any mixed media art supplies. I show in this video several examples of supplies that I use with polymer clay all the time. You can place, spread, spill and even heat set all kinds of stuff on this mat… and then simply wipe away any messes that are left behind… with just a wet wipe.
The supplies I tested included, Hot Glue, Weldbond Glue, acrylic paint, Distress Crackle Paint, Gelato Pigment, Vintaj Patina Ink (Not Pinata Ink like I said though that would work too.), Heidi Swapp Color Shine Spray, Sharpie Marker, Stazon Permanent Ink, all heat set with a Martha Stewart Embossing Heat Gun.
Also, you can’t cut your polymer clay on this mat because you will end up slicing through it with your blades.
Overall, I think that the perfect work surface combination of products would include both the “Best Ever Craft Mat” to protect your table top or bench top… along with a We-R-Memory Glass Cutting Mat on top, for doing your actual polymer clay work. The We-R glass mat won’t act like a magnet for lint-dust-pet-hair… and you can measure and cut your clay on it. Then, the “Best Ever Craft Mat” will protect the surface underneath.
00:00:03 –> 00:00:09 Hi guys, it’s Cindy Lietz, your Polymer Clay Tutor and today’s PcT Product Demo, we are going
00:00:09 –> 00:00:16 to be reviewing the Ken Oliver Crafts’ Best Ever Craft Mat and this is the extra large
00:00:16 –> 00:00:21 table cover which is 24 x 36 inches.
00:00:21 –> 00:00:29 Now, you may have noticed that I have a new backdrop here and this is the new craft mat,
00:00:29 –> 00:00:32 I’ll talk about it in a second but I just wanted to show you the box because this is
00:00:32 –> 00:00:34 where all the details are.
00:00:34 –> 00:00:39 What this craft mat is– is well this one in particular is an extra large one which
00:00:39 –> 00:00:45 is quite unique you don’t see them that size in the marketplace but this particular craft
00:00:45 –> 00:00:53 mat, protects your work surface from heat tools, paints, inks, waxes, polymer clay,
00:00:53 –> 00:01:01 glues, sprays and solvents and so when I saw the polymer clay part in the sprays and solvent
00:01:01 –> 00:01:06 and the size of it I just had to go get one because I want to check it out.
00:01:06 –> 00:01:13 Now, you’ll see it is the gray surface that I have in the back here, underneath my glass mat
00:01:13 –> 00:01:22 I’ll bring that back in a second and it is a really unique mat, it is quite thin, well
00:01:22 –> 00:01:28 quite thick actually but you know, it’s a thin that it is flexible, it doesn’t wrinkle,
00:01:28 –> 00:01:34 so you can scrunch it up and it just lays back flat, it’s non-skid so it when it lays
00:01:34 –> 00:01:38 down you’re not going to get any wrinkles or anything like that.
00:01:38 –> 00:01:45 It also is non perm– pervious hopefully that’s right– it’s impervious, sorry about that
00:01:45 –> 00:01:53 word– to inks and any kind of leaking, its heat resistant, I believe they said up to
00:01:53 –> 00:02:03 480 degrees which is really high so you can use your glue guns and heat guns and all kinds
00:02:03 –> 00:02:06 of things with this mat.
00:02:06 –> 00:02:11 Now it’s a little different then– it was interesting to start working with because
00:02:11 –> 00:02:16 it is it different than what I was working with before now this is a Ranger Craft Mat,
00:02:16 –> 00:02:22 I have a review on this mat and a few others already and you can see that after I started
00:02:22 –> 00:02:29 using it over time there was some little pin marks, little parts where it’s got dinged
00:02:29 –> 00:02:35 up and the anything that I was using on it would leak through those little spots and
00:02:35 –> 00:02:40 this thing here is not going to leak at all and I’m going to do a demo here in a second
00:02:40 –> 00:02:45 of a bunch of different products and how it works on there but the thing that– another
00:02:45 –> 00:02:50 thing that’s really different about it is this surface here is slippery you can see
00:02:50 –> 00:02:58 that and here, it’s not which has its pros and cons, I think pro is that you know you
00:02:58 –> 00:03:03 don’t have stuff slipping around on it, it stays nice and firm to your surface but as
00:03:03 –> 00:03:10 a poly– working with polymer clay on it, it it is very strange.
00:03:10 –> 00:03:15 OK, first of all I don’t know if you can see on the surface here but there is all kinds
00:03:15 –> 00:03:22 ler– di– lint and dirt and all kinds of little items.
00:03:22 –> 00:03:28 If I try to wipe that off with a paper towel, just a dry one it doesn’t come off because
00:03:28 –> 00:03:35 it’s kind of sticky which means– I mean it’s not sticky, it repels stuff but it’s got a
00:03:35 –> 00:03:43 grip to it and lint and hairs and everything stick to it real bad and so if you were to
00:03:43 –> 00:03:48 use polymer clay directly on it, even though it is great to set some polymer clay on it
00:03:48 –> 00:03:53 because it’s not going to leach out, it’s not going to stain your surface if you try
00:03:53 –> 00:04:00 rolling some polymer clay on the surface, because this is some sort of lint magnet,
00:04:00 –> 00:04:04 it will just pick up every little bit of everything.
00:04:04 –> 00:04:09 So I found that quickly after having it on the table within a day.
00:04:09 –> 00:04:15 It was not a good surface for working directly on with polymer clay unless you really love
00:04:15 –> 00:04:18 lint and dirt.
00:04:18 –> 00:04:24 But it is a fabulous thing to have on your work surface because
00:04:24 –> 00:04:27 of all these different reasons.
00:04:27 –> 00:04:36 I’m going to test a bunch of things on it, I’m going to put some hot glue on here, I’m
00:04:36 –> 00:04:46 going to put some regular white or Weldbond glue on here and some paint, this is acrylic
00:04:46 –> 00:04:54 paint, I just want to show you how cool this surface is for all these mixed media items.
00:04:54 –> 00:04:56 How about some Distress Crackle Paint?
00:04:56 –> 00:05:04 We’ll throw a little of that on there and you can see this the paints and inks and things
00:05:04 –> 00:05:10 the pool up and bubble up really quickly they bead up is what I meant to say.
00:05:10 –> 00:05:19 This is some Gelato Pigments how about some Pinata Ink so you can see that it just sort
00:05:19 –> 00:05:24 of sits right on top it doesn’t stick to it.
00:05:24 –> 00:05:33 I’ll even put some spray, this is like one of those mister Mica Powder Mister type sprays,
00:05:33 –> 00:05:42 here’s a Sharpie Pen, I’m even going to put some Stazon Ink which is a permanent ink rubber
00:05:42 –> 00:05:48 stamp their it on here and then I’ll dry it with my heat gun just to prove to you how
00:05:48 –> 00:05:58 well this mat repels all the kind of products that we are using in the polymer clay studio,
00:05:58 –> 00:06:05 in the– if you’re a mixed media artist, that kind of thing, gonna dry it right on there.
00:06:05 –> 00:06:11 You can see this one really beaded up.
00:06:11 –> 00:06:18 It doesn’t– it doesn’t affect the heat doesn’t affect it– it’s really quite cool so other
00:06:18 –> 00:06:24 than that lint thing, it is perfect for polymer clay and all the things you do with it so
00:06:24 –> 00:06:29 I’m going to wipe this up but I’m going to grab a baby wipe because that’s something
00:06:29 –> 00:06:31 that really works the best on this.
00:06:31 –> 00:06:40 This isn’t the baby wipe actually, it’s one of the Lysol wet wipes you wouldn’t want to
00:06:40 –> 00:06:42 use this on your baby.
00:06:42 –> 00:06:46 Alright, so let’s just clean it up it’s some of its dry down there there’s the permanent
00:06:46 –> 00:06:54 ink, on there there’s a glue, this is turning into one of those flea market demos it but
00:06:54 –> 00:07:00 you can see it all just comes right off really clean and works really well even the Sharpie
00:07:00 –> 00:07:06 markers come off and it won’t stain or leave anything the glue comes right off.
00:07:06 –> 00:07:12 So, this is how I’m going to be using this mat, I really like it, I like that it will
00:07:12 –> 00:07:14 protect my table.
00:07:14 –> 00:07:18 No I don’t have time to keep cleaning.
00:07:18 –> 00:07:24 I like it that if you were to have even like that I like your kitchen table, beautiful
00:07:24 –> 00:07:28 wooden kitchen table that you wanted to do your projects on, you could lay this mat out
00:07:28 –> 00:07:34 and totally protect the surface and if you had a plastic table a lot of people work on
00:07:34 –> 00:07:40 those you know those picnic-type tables or the type that you get at Costco with the legs
00:07:40 –> 00:07:46 that fold up and down sometimes polymer clay will kind of eat at that surface, acrylic
00:07:46 –> 00:07:52 paints stick really bad to that– those types of surfaces, it’s like they bond together
00:07:52 –> 00:07:57 so this type of mat is going to be perfect for protecting the surface but then if you’re
00:07:57 –> 00:08:04 going to work on polymer clay, I’d keep this glass mat on the top where you can keep it
00:08:04 –> 00:08:08 really dust free by just wiping it off, you can cut on it and everything else so this
00:08:08 –> 00:08:13 is a really neat combination of the two best of both– both worlds.
00:08:13 –> 00:08:21 So, I hope that that was an interesting demo for you that you learned lots from it and
00:08:21 –> 00:08:26 you can check out these Best Ever Craft Mats online, they’re starting to become available
00:08:26 –> 00:08:33 in all sorts of places so check them out and if you liked this video do let us know and
00:08:33 –> 00:08:39 if you have a product you’d like us to test if, you’ve got an idea you’d like me to share
00:08:39 –> 00:08:47 with everyone then and you haven’t found it in our many many videos yet, then leave a
00:08:47 –> 00:08:50 suggestion in the comments section below and we’ll see if we can get to that, alright?
00:08:50 –> 00:08:53 So we’ll see you next time and bye for now.
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Resource Links:
- Amazon: 24: x 36" Best Ever Craft Mat For Sale **
- Amazon: 16.5" x 15" Best Ever Craft Mat For Sale **
- Related Video: Comparing 3 Brands Of Work Surface Mats
- Related Video: Cleaning Dirty Polymer Clay
- Related Video: We-R Memory Keepers Glass Mat
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Are you able to use your tissue blades to cut PC on this mat? Is there any scarring, etc? I wonder if there isn’t a way to remove the static quality of this mat so it doesn’t attract dust, etc.
Terry D. I personally like the idea of it collecting the dust. That way it stays off my clay and I only use the ceramic or glass cutting board when cutting things. Using a sharp blade on any mat will eventually make marks or tiny cuts and then these will collect more dust, hairs, etc: It doesn’t make sense to me to spend so much money for a good mat and then subject it to a sharp blade.
Yeah you don’t want to cut on these mats Terry. Though unlike Dixie Ann, I too wish that the top side of these mats were more slippery. My ideal mat would be the same size and quality, with a non-skid back and a slippery back. Then with the glass mat on top, it is perfect!
Whoa. That would have been perfect for the long weekend when I had a friend’s three young girls staying with us. We had polymer clay all over the kitchen table (you can still see the marks in the wood). My regular work table is just 30″ x 30″ so I may check out the smaller sizes.
Thanks for the demo Cindy!
Sounds like something like this would work perfectly for you. Thanks for commenting!
Oh dear, another great looking item that I can’t seem get in Australia!!
I love the size of this mat and after doing some research I find it a little hard to justify paying almost $50 for something I can buy identical to it for $12.99 on Amazon. Both mats claim to do the same identical things but the price difference is enough to stop me cold. But, thank you Cindy for bringing this to our attention and if not for the price I would have seriously thought about ordering one.
Hi Dixie Ann, I got my mat on sale at Blitsy (see link above). I think it was only around $30 or so for the large one, which seemed reasonable. I just checked and I see they only have the smaller 15 x 16.5 one for $13 and the larger one is sold out.
With the one that you say is identical, is it really impervious and the same size, or is it something more like the Ranger one? There would be a wide range of qualities between the different types of mats…. which I am beginning to realize.
I can totally see how this mat would not be for everyone, nor in everyone’s budgets, but if I end up buying something (or someone sends me something) that is related to my studio life, I think it is a good idea to share that with everyone. In this case, even if it only helps you to choose not to buy something, than it is helpful information.
Thanks for your feedback!
Hi Cindy, I wholeheartedly agree with you on that. You bring our attention to so many products we wouldn’t know were out there that are so beneficial to a lot of us. I checked on Blitsys site and the price they listed was $49.99 and out of stock. I really would like to have one since I have one of those molded plastic tables and everything seems to stain them. The $12.99 mat was on Amazon and was the same size and same properties and also claimed to do the same as the mat you demonstrated. Rangers mat was also listed on the same page for $54.00. It’s not unusual to find similar products with a huge difference in price. Someone is always going to offer a similar product at a lower price and who doesn’t want a bargain!
I am totally with you on that Dixie Ann!
So on further investigation into the $12.99 mat, it definitely is not the same quality as Ken Olivers or Rangers 24×36″ mat even though it is the same size it does not qualify on the heat degree range for baking. Without this feature I would hesitate to invest even that cheaper amount. So always do your research regardless and buyer always beware. If Blitzy ever gets this back in stock I am on their list for one.
Thanks for letting us know Dixie Ann!
Thanks, Cindy for another thorough review. This mat looks to be ideal for those who either work on surfaces that need protection or on surfaces like plastic that are not compatible with PC. Maybe not so good for those with cats around! It would make a terrific lint remover for clothing LOL.
The size is impressive. It leaves lots of space for tools, paints, inks etc without fear of spills on the polished dining table :-) It will be interesting to see in a few months how it has held up to regular use.
Judging by the quality of the mat, I am guessing it will fair well over time Chrissie, but of course only time will truly tell. Thanks for your comment!