Soft Pretzel Moodmat
A real baked pretzel photographed from directly overhead and die cut out of eight inches of recycled rubber, with all three interior holes cut clean through.
The Print
Photographed, Then Cut Out
Start with the photograph, because that is the unusual part. It is a single lye baked pretzel shot flat from directly overhead on plain white, tied in the classic looped knot with the two crossed ends tucked at the lower right. Continuous tone the whole way through. No outlines, no flat fills, no halftone. The crust runs from a deep glossy mahogany down in the creases where the ropes overlap out to a warm russet on the raised curves, and it is covered edge to edge in loose white and pale gold sesame seeds that thin out along the lower left arm the way they actually do when somebody throws them on by hand. Small blistered flecks and a few darker scorch spots break up the surface. Along the bottom of the lower loop the dough split open in the oven and left a long lens shaped tear with a ragged lip and pale cream crumb showing through it.
Then the die does the rest of the work. The outer cut follows the outline of the knot exactly, around both loops, down the arms and around the pinch where the two crossed ends meet the bottom of the outer ring. All three interior negative spaces are cut fully through the rubber rather than printed dark, so this is an open three hole cut and whatever the mat is sitting on shows through every one of them. That is the whole design decision and it is the right one. A pretzel with printed holes is a coaster with a picture on it. A pretzel with cut holes is a pretzel.
Up close the construction shows. The photographic print bleeds right to the cut on every edge with no white margin at all, so the only line around the artwork is the black cut face of the rubber itself, an eighth to a quarter inch on the outside and visibly thinner around the interior holes. That cut face is matte and slightly crumbly looking at high zoom, which is what a die cut through reclaimed rubber looks like rather than a defect. There is no lettering on it anywhere, no title, no signature, no maker mark. Eight inches at the widest point, a little wider than it is tall. It is a photograph of a snack, cut out, and it does not need to be anything more than that.
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Made in New Jersey Since 2009
Rubber That Already Had a First Life
Moodmats started with scraps from old wetsuits and discarded scuba and surf neoprene, material that was headed straight for a landfill. That became Lava Rubber, and Lava Rubber is what every Moodmat is cut from. The feedstock now comes from wetsuits, gaskets, weatherstripping, seat molds, and other clean scrap that gets collected or donated. More than two tons of it moves through the New Jersey shop every month, gets pressed into sheet stock, then die-cut and screen printed. Keeping that material out of the ground has been the point from day one.
Closed-Cell Neoprene
Closed-cell rubber does not drink up what you spill on it. Water, reclaim, and terp splash sit on the surface instead of soaking in, so a wipe with soapy water puts it back to new.
It Stays Put
The rubber grips whatever it is sitting on and grips whatever you set on top. A rig that would skate across a glass table or a finished desk stops moving the second it lands on a Moodmat.
Tough and Self-Extinguishing
Heat resistant, self-extinguishing, and built out of material that already survived a first life. This is not a printed coaster that curls after a month on the table.
Where People Actually Put These
It Does Not Have to Hold a Rig
A Moodmat protects a surface and grips what sits on it. Whether that thing is a banger, a camera, or nothing at all is up to you. They are called Moodmats for a reason. Pick the one that matches how you feel and put it wherever it belongs.
Rig and Glass Pad
The job it was built for. Keeps glass off hard surfaces and keeps hard surfaces off your glass.
Display Surface
Figures, models, controllers, dice, cameras, watches. Anything worth setting on something intentional.
Wall Art
Plenty of these never touch a table. Hang it, frame it, or pin it behind the setup and let the print do the work.
Desk and Everyday
Trivet for hot pans, landing spot for keys, pad under a pet bowl, cushion on a camp table.
The Details
Specs and Care
| Size | 8 inches at the widest point, approximate, a little wider than tall |
| Shape | Die-cut to the pretzel outline, all three interior holes cut through |
| Material | 100% upcycled closed-cell rubber, Lava Rubber stock |
| Full color photographic print, continuous tone | |
| Artwork | Overhead photograph of a baked pretzel. No lettering on the face |
| Artist | Not credited on the piece |
| Availability | Open stock, not numbered |
| Origin | Made in New Jersey, USA |
Wipe it down with warm water and a little dish soap, then let it air dry flat. That is the whole routine. Do not run it through a washing machine or a dryer, do not scrub the print with an abrasive pad, and do not rest a lit torch or a glowing-hot banger directly on the surface. Use a stand or a puck for anything still at temperature.
Straight Talk
Know Before You Buy
Upcycled Means Variation
The rubber is reclaimed scrap, so base color, speckle, and surface texture shift slightly from sheet to sheet. Two mats of the same design will not be photocopies of each other. That is how you know it is the real material and not virgin stock.
Heat Resistant, Not Heatproof
The rubber is self-extinguishing and handles warm gear without complaint. It is not a torch pad. Park anything still glowing on a proper stand or a quartz puck, not on the print.
The Holes Go All the Way Through
All three interior openings are cut, not printed, so whatever the mat is sitting on is exposed through them. Two practical consequences. Anything you spill on the print can find a hole and reach the surface underneath, and anything small enough can drop through one. Set a rig over the solid dough rather than over a gap and the mat does its job the way any mat does.
Die-Cut Means Irregular Edges
The outline follows the pretzel, so the footprint is a knot rather than a rectangle and the listed eight inches is the widest point across it. The narrowest rubber on the piece is the two bridges between the interior holes and the pinch where the crossed ends meet the outer loop. Handle a thin section of rubber the way you would handle any thin section of rubber, and do not use the holes as a grab handle to drag it out from under a loaded rig.
These Are the Maker’s Photos For Now
The image on this page is the manufacturer’s product shot rather than a picture of a mat in our hands. It is a clean, well lit, high resolution overhead on white and it is an accurate look at the print. It is not a picture of your sheet. The rubber underneath is reclaimed scrap, so base speckle and surface texture shift from mat to mat, and the black you see around the cut will vary a little. Three of these came in and our own photos are on the list.
Set the Mood
Recycled rubber, made in the USA, printed with art worth looking at. Free shipping on orders over $75, and every order ships from a veteran-owned small business.
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