TESTING THE TERI CO SMALL FRY MATS

March 2, 2021

A vegan leather play mat I can wash with water? Teri Co had me sold at first sight, but I couldn’t resist putting the Teri Co Small Fry Mats to the test!

Product in this review is sponsored but all opinions are my own.

A kids mat that I can easily clean with a baby wipe or a cloth with water? When Teri Co first launched their vegan leather play mats I thought it sounded too good to be true – and honestly, the only reason I was sold as fast as I was about the Teri Co Small Fry Mats, was due to already knowing its lovely creator.

Teri Co play mats are vegan leather play mats made in Ontario, Canada. The silicone based faux leather makes it a step above its competitors, in my opinion, due to its more eco-friendly impact on the planet. The mats come in various sizes: the Small Fry Mat (14″ x 22″) and the Main Mat (54″ x 54″).

Before deciding to put the mats to the test, I’d used it a few times. I always like to try out and put products to good use before suggesting them to others as a shopping option and I’ve found some amazing uses to it!

We’ve used it as a play dough mat, a table protector when painting, a backdrop for content photos and I used it myself for crafting with tacky glue to avoid dealing with washing it off of our kitchen table. There are so many uses and I can’t wait to keep finding ways to use it!

Each time I used the Teri Co Small Fry Mat I was impressed with it’s ease to clean. But I was quickly amazed when I accidentally left dried tacky glue on it for a month, and it peeled right off.

That’s when I decided I wanted to try out a variety of elements and see if they’d all wash off! I considered a variety of items that would, or could, commonly end up on the mat and decided on:

Ketchup
A glue stick
Crayola glitter paint
Sharpie
White erase marker

Then decided on timing intervals based on how often I tend to leave mats before cleaning them:

5 minutes
15 minutes
30 minutes
1 hour

Every Teri Co Small Fry Mat received a line of each element. Using only baby wipes, I washed away half of each line at their designated time interval. Here’s how it went:

5 MINUTES

The five minute mark was, in some ways, the hardest to clean the Teri Co Small Fry Mat due to the thick layer of paint and ketchup being so wet! In theory, I should have used a dry cloth or towel first and then used a baby wipe to clean off the remainder.

The baby wipe did the trick. All of the components sitting on the Teri Co Small Fry Mat washed off with minimal scrubbing – the Sharpie needed a little extra scrub, but it’s a permanent marker so I expected as much.

15 MINUTES

At this point, the ketchup was still very moist but the glitter Crayola paint and the glue stick had started to dry.

Interestingly enough, having the paint and glue start to dry made it easier to clean them away quickly with a baby wipe. It made me feel much better about not immediately cleaning our Teri Co Small Fry Mats after use!

All of the elements once again were able to be washed off using a baby wipe with minimal effort. The Sharpie needed a little more scrubs than the five minute mark, but left no stains behind.

30 MINUTES

Everything on the right side of the Teri Co Small Fry Mat had been almost completely dry at the 30 minute mark.

I honestly didn’t think the Sharpie would come off fully at this point, but the baby wipe proved me wrong! All five elements once again washed away with minimal effort and only two baby wipes. Realistically, I only had to use two wipes during this test because of the damn glitter in the paint!

Finishing this step and heading into the one hour mark, I was expecting everything but the Sharpie to come off the Teri Co Small Fry Mat easily and presumed there’d be Sharpie remnants that would need to be bleached off.

ONE HOUR

I was wrong-ish.

At the one hour mark, everything on the right hand side was completely dry and set on the Teri Co Small Fry Mat.

This round did need a little more scrubbing effort to get it off, but we do need to keep in mind I was wiping this all away with a baby wipe and not a cloth with scrubbing abilities. I think, if I had used a kitchen cloth, it would have used similar minimal effort to wash.

The sharpie and white erase marker have a slight residue in the photo, which I realized after I took the photo. I messaged

the maker, Kayleigh, and asked about the Sharpie and she advised that if shadows are left behind to use a little bleach.

I decided to humour myself and go back over it one last time with a baby wipe and poof, the Sharpie shadow left the Teri Co Small Fry Mat for good! Just needed a second round of a little elbow grease.

Overall, I’m super impressed with the Teri Co Small Fry Mats. I own some of the competitors who exist and they don’t match up to the quality and ease of the Teri Co mats, in my opinion, and are worth every penny you’ll spend on it.

The Teri Co Small Fry Mats can be used as table placements, table protection while crafting or sensory play, a change pad and more.

The Teri Co My Main Mats can be used for floor protection, couch/chair protection, under a high chair or toddler chair to catch falling messes, a picnic/outdoor blanket or playmat and so much more!

There are a great variety in the uses the Teri Co Mats provide. You can check them out via:

THE TERI CO. WEBSITE

THE TERI CO. INSTAGRAM PAGE