About a few months ago, my husband bought some of these Japanese trays. So instead of using place mats on the tables, he uses these for the entire family. It's great if you have a small child feeding themselves since as we all know they know how to make a mess on the table. Placemats offer no protection from spills since it doesn't "catch" the spills. The trays on the other had keeps the mess and spills within the tray and unlike placemats, you just rinse off with soap and water and that's that. Placemats never seem to dry off quickly enough and just annoying to use. I just thought I'd share this great tip my husband discovered which I'm sure is not a new idea...especially not to the Japanese people.
