Placemats
| Materials | Cotton · Linen · Cotton-Linen · Polyester · Poly-Cotton |
| Weight | 150–350 GSM |
| Size Range | 12×18″ to 14×20″ — custom sizes available |
| MOQ | 500 pcs per color · 200 pcs per design (see MOQ section below) |
| Lead Time | Sampling 7–10 days · Production 25–35 days |
| Customization | Color · Size · Shape · Hem · Stain-Resistant Finish · Logo · Packaging |
What We Can Do
Materials. Cotton — absorbent, soft, standard for casual restaurant dining. Linen — structured, textured, premium visual. A linen placemat holds its shape on the table better than cotton. Cotton-linen blends — linen’s structure with cotton’s lower cost and softer break-in. Polyester — stain-resistant, colorfast, wipe-clean capability. In a placemat, polyester’s synthetic hand is less of a liability than in a napkin — the diner’s skin touches the napkin, not the mat. Poly-cotton — poly stain resistance with improved hand.
Weight range. 150–200 GSM for lightweight polyester — best paired with a non-slip backing. 200–280 GSM for standard restaurant cotton and poly-cotton. 280–350 GSM for premium linen and cotton-linen — heavy enough to stay flat on the table without curling at the edges, no backing needed.
Shapes and sizes. Standard rectangular: 12×18″ to 14×20″. Round: 14–16″ diameter. Oval variants available. Custom dimensions and shapes.
Hem and edge finish. Folded hem — standard, clean, corners mitered. Hem-stitched — decorative border, pairs with linen tablecloths and napkins. Piped edge — contrasting fabric border for a structured two-tone look.
Color. Pantone-matched dyeing. Solid colors, yarn-dyed stripes, border accents. White, ivory, and neutral tones dominate — red wine and tomato sauce will find the one white placemat on a dark table.
Finishes. Stain-release finish — for polyester and poly-cotton. A placemat takes direct food contact more than any other table linen — the finish is doing real work here, not just adding a spec line.
Packaging. Set-pack (4 or 6 per box) for retail. Bulk restaurant/hotel packaging. Woven labels or heat-transfer logo.
Material Selection: The Table Protector
A placemat is the only table linen that sits directly under the plate and cutlery — it catches spills, absorbs condensation from glassware, and absorbs the scrape of a knife against the plate edge. It’s a sacrificial layer between the diner and the table surface. Material choice is about what happens after the meal.
Restaurants — laundry frequency decides
Cotton at 220–280 GSM is a mid-to-casual standard. Absorbent enough to handle condensation rings and small spills, soft enough to not slide when a plate is placed on it. A cotton placemat launders well but shows stains more than polyester — red wine and oil-based sauces leave marks that need stain treatment between washes.
Poly-cotton 65/35 at 200–260 GSM with a stain-release finish covers the majority of hotel restaurant use. The polyester component handles stain release. The cotton component provides the tabletop friction that keeps the mat in place — pure polyester on a polished wood table slides with every fork movement. Weight matters here: a lighter placemat at 150 GSM will curl at the edges after washing; 200 GSM and above holds flat.
Fine dining — linen, matched to the tablecloth
Linen at 280–350 GSM, matched in color and hem detail to the linen tablecloth and napkin above it. A linen placemat is a visual anchor on the table setting — it frames the plate, and the texture is visible even under the tablecloth. Heavyweight linen doesn’t need backing to stay flat. The aging curve that makes linen tablecloths better over time applies to placemats as well — the initial stiffness relaxes into a drape that polyester can’t replicate.
Cotton-linen 55/45 at 250–300 GSM is a common hotel dining alternative — the look of linen at a lower cost per cover, especially for properties where the dining room runs breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily.
Banquet and events — stackability, not sentiment
Polyester at 150–200 GSM with a stain-release finish. Stacked, deployed, collected, washed, stacked again. At banquet scale, a placemat is a logistics item. The polyester choice is about throughput, not presentation — and at functions where placemats are a functional backdrop rather than a design feature, that’s appropriate.
Quality Control and Service
Sampling. Material, dimensions, hem type, and finish confirmed → pre-production sample in 7–10 days. Approved → bulk production in 25–35 days.
Inspection. Third-party inspection (SGS, Intertek) available. Placemat-specific QC: flat lay after wash — a placemat that curls at the edges post-wash is functionally defective regardless of how it looked on arrival. Color matching to companion napkins and tablecloths. Edge and corner consistency — placemats sit in isolation on the table, making hem irregularities more visible than on a draped tablecloth.
Testing standards:
- Flatness post-wash: Visual assessment after 5 wash cycles — no edge curl, corners lie flat
- Dimensional accuracy: ±2% of specified dimensions
- Hem quality: Visual check — corners square, edges straight
- Colorfastness: AATCC 8 ≥ Grade 4, AATCC 61 ≥ Grade 4. Tested against companion napkin and tablecloth reference
- Chlorine bleach colorfastness: For white hospitality mats — 5 bleach cycles
- Stain release: AATCC 130 — for finished fabrics
- Shrinkage: 100% cotton < 5%, linen blends < 4%, polyester < 2%
- Chemical safety: OEKO-TEX Standard 100 — available on request
MOQ: Why the Number Is What It Is
Standard MOQ is 500 pcs per colorway, minimum 200 pcs per design.
Fabric dyeing, cutting, and hemming set the floor. Placemats involve proportionally more cutting and hemming labor per unit than tablecloths — more edges per square meter of fabric. Below 200 pcs, setup costs inflate the unit price. Close to the threshold, we’ll work with a transparent cost discussion. Above 3,000 pcs per color, batch efficiency reduces unit cost.