Matkins Review

Hi Friends! I'm crazy excited by this post. Today, I have a fun review for you for the Matkins reusable placemats. The world is a germy place, isn't it? And if you're like me, you cringe at the thought of your kidlets coming in contact with all that nasty germiness, and you have a purse full of hand sanitizer and alcohol wipes. Enter the Matkins placemats. Lovely Jenn over at Matkins was kind enough to send me the rocket man pattern placemat for us to test out and use. And test it we did! More on that later. We really do like the Matkins placemats. Today, I'll be sharing with you which features of the Matkins I like the most and what points to consider before purchasing.

What is Matkins?

Matkins are super fun, portable, and reusable placemat and napkin combo all rolled into one cute, tidy bundle.(See photo above.) They are designed with the child in mind. They are certain to capture the attention of toddlers, preschoolers, and young children with their fun, bright patterns. Adults will love using the Matkins, as well. They are a fun and unique way to provide a clean, germ free surface. Matkins are perfect to take on-the-go to a restaurant, picnic, camp, park play date, or anywhere a clean surface is desired. They are perfect for school lunch time. Matkins are 10" X 14" in size and are very light weight. So, they are small enough to throw into a diaper bag, purse, backpack, or tote bag.

One standout feature of Matkins that I really like is the highly stain resistant eating surface. It is PVC, BPA, and Phthalates free which makes Matkins safe for the environment and our kids. The cute patterned side is 100% cotton. We first used the Matkins at home. My little guy loved the rocket pattern. It was very quick and easy to roll out. Z wasted no time in "testing" out the stain resistant surface by drawing pictures with the ketchup and mustard from his hot dog. When he was finished, I wiped the surface clean with a damp cloth, and to my surprise, it wiped totally clean. I noticed that some (well, actually a lot) of the mustard was on the cotton pattern border on the side. I wiped as much of it off as possible, and into the laundry pile it went. The cleaning instructions were clearly stated on the tag, and the Matkins is machine washable. This is a must for me as washing something by hand is a rarity in my house. It washed up very nicely, and I chose to line dry the Matkins. There was still a very light mustard stain on the border, but it was barely noticeable. And, it was mustard, after all, so I wasn't expecting the mustard stain to be completely gone.

The second opportunity that we used the Matkins was on a trip to the zoo. The Matkins came in very handy as the zoo picnic tables were terribly nasty. Again, we dirtied it up, and I tossed it into the laundry at home. As before, Matkins washed up great. I hung it to dry again, and it looked as good as it did when I received it in the mail.

Another standout feature of Matkins that I like is the reusable napkin (minikin) and poppet. I love this title that Matkins has given the cute pocket on the placemat side. (See above.) This poppet is perfect for the small minikin. The reusable napkin was a bit small for my messy crew, but it does serve it's purpose as a small napkin. I love the fact, though, that the napkin is reusable, which also is a great help to our environment. My favorite use for the poppet is holding a small set of cutlery for Z. It is ideal for a kid-sized fork and spoon. The poppet would also be a great place to tuck a small treat or a sweet little love note from Mom. And Matkins has thought of everything. The Matkins placemat rolls up into a neat, tidy bundle, and to hold all that cuteness together, the placemat has a neat, satiny color-coordinated ribbon with a fun bead on each end.

Overall, the Matkins reusable placemats get a thumbs up from The Lucky Lunchbox. I can foresee many more great opportunities for us to use the Matkins, and I would love to have more of the fun patterns. Here is an overview of the features we love about Matkins and some of the points to keep in mind before purchasing:

Features we LOVE:
**Stain resistant surface
**Machine washable and easily cleaned
**Neat, portable, and easy to use
**May be personalized
**Makes eating lunch FUN!!
**Many cute pattern choices
**Environmentally friendly- BPA, PVC, and Phthalates free
**Reusable napkin

Points to consider: 
**Cost- Matkins retails for $16 on their website. I have found them priced at $10 on Jane.com, which is more affordable.
**The reusable napkin is very small. It was a bit small for my messy crew.
**Matkins are machine washable. But, to preserve the stain resistant side, I would line dry the placemat. This might be an inconvenience for some.


Here are 2 lunches that I've made using the Matkins placemat:

 Rockets in Space                                                         Space...It's cool!

Disclosure: Matkins generously sent me their product to review. I have received no other compensation for this post and the opinions I’m expressing here are solely my own.