New Natural Wood Foam Mat

Finally- if you've been shying away from the alphabet foam tiles and you have hardwood floors- these might be just what you're looking for.

They're new from One Step Ahead, and though we haven't seen them in person, we have used their alphabet foam tiles and we're always complemented on how thick and nice they are compared to other brands of the same kind of product.

These would be great in a small home where the living/entertaining area is also the child's main play area.

Available here.

Comments (10)

This kind of foam is full of pthalates and not good for babies.

posted by cliodog on October 26th 2009 at 10:37am
view cliodog's profile

Are you sure? I had understood that EVA is a soft plastic made without PVC and is thus BPA- and phthalate-free: http://www.nypirg.org/consumer/2002/phthalates.html

posted by coolbean98 on October 26th 2009 at 12:39pm
view coolbean98's profile

Hi there- Coolbean98 is correct. I authored this post, and have also just reconfirmed with the company- the mats are phthalate-free. Thanks.

posted by julia on October 26th 2009 at 1:17pm
view julia's profile

i was so disappointed when i saw this in their catalog. we already have blue mats in our play area and the surrounding area is hardwood floors. it would have worked out perfectly in our home. oh well!

posted by smileygirl on October 26th 2009 at 4:30pm
view smileygirl's profile

This is such an exciting product!

posted by kitjule on October 26th 2009 at 4:44pm
view kitjule's profile

smileygirl- i know- me too!

posted by julia on October 26th 2009 at 7:11pm
view julia's profile

Even if the mat is phthalate-free, they still seem to have a big problem with off-gassing. There's a ton of comments on their website from customers complaining of a very strong smell that takes more than a week to dissipate. I will though give One Step Ahead kudos for leaving those complaints on their website for all to see instead of deleting them.

posted by saramom on October 26th 2009 at 9:16pm
view saramom's profile

Having had the alphabet letters and been very wary of that- I have to say there was hardly any smell at all, and I'm very sensitive to that type of thing.

posted by julia on October 27th 2009 at 8:52am
view julia's profile

an other company makes them.....soft tiles. they have solid ones too. you can do checkers like this https://www.softtiles.com/content/view/55/35/ a little better looking than the abc ones

posted by sevenmegan on October 27th 2009 at 9:53am
view sevenmegan's profile

I ordered these from another company and they were horrid. The "wood" paint was peeling off and chipped upon arrival. Needless to say they went right back in the box and were returned.

posted by eatfruit10 on November 1st 2009 at 10:09pm
view eatfruit10's profile