Does Wondermat have a strong smell?
Wondermat does not have an ammonia smell or a perfume smell like products made with cheap foam.  We don't have any bad chemistry to mask with perfumes to begin with.  When our product is first opened, especially if it was shrink wrapped or in a vinyl bag, it will smell like plastic.  Within a few hours, any lingering smell should disappear to the level of a "new floor" smell at worst, which will dissipate in time.

Our Designer and Coated Series mats do have a stronger odor than our standard mats.  What you smell is the Poly Urethane coating that we use on top of the print film, and that will dissipate in a few days.  Similar in smell to a new linoleum floor.

We also have off-site, 3rd party lab testing done to make sure our products conform to the requirements of the Consumer Products Safety Commission for both toys and floor coverings. Since we sell our products all over the world, we also test to Japanese and European standards.  PDF version test reports available online:

I already have some foam mats. Will Wondermat® connect with the ones I already have?

Will it damage a hardwood floor?
Many wood floor manufacturers advise against using Latex or Rubber backed mats on top of their wood floors.  Wondermat contains no rubber or latex. The product itself will not damage any floor that we know of, and there has only been one complaint in 12 years on this issue (which was water, not mat, damage). The problem with putting anything on a wood floor is that you must keep moisture and abrasives from getting between the mat and the floor. If you do get water (or juice or ???) between the mat and the floor, the sub-floor could warp (it's wood!), so clean up spills promptly. If your mat can slide around and there is dirt under the mat, you could scratch the sub-floor, so keep it clean or use non-slip pads to hold it in place.  If you are installing the mat over a hardwood floor, you should remove sections of it periodically to ensure there is no moisture or abrasive material (dirt) present and to let your floor "breath" a little.  It is wood, right? 

Can I buy replacement tiles?
Replacement 1-Foot Letter and Number tiles are available through our Product Services page.  Standard Series 1-foot plain tiles are sold in sets of 4, and 2 and 3-foot tiles are sold individually in the Catalog along with all the 2-foot Sport and Designer Series mats.  If you currently have a genuine Wondermat product that you no longer see in our catalog, please call us if you need to reorder something.  We retain all original tooling and processes, so if you need a replacement or additional tiles we can make it for you.  This includes the old 3-foot Sport Series tiles and our entire line of 1-Meter Sport Series tiles.  Same for the 12 and 18 inch Designer Series tiles.

What's the truth about tile thickness?
We all use the metric system in this business. The foaming objective for our Standard Series, Designer Series and Coated Series is 14.5 mm (about 5/8 in.). The foaming objective for single density Sport Series tiles is either 20mm (about 3/4 in) or 25mm (about 1 inch).   That's the goal, but not the actual result.  There just happens to be a .5 mm variance in the foam due to chemical, heat and atmospheric conditions.  It's FOAM.  It happens.   The good news is that because our foam quality is so high, we have LESS of a variance than anyone.

Good chemistry foams good and marginal chemistry foams OK.  Besides a thickness problem, marginal foam also has a tendency to "burn" when it's made (kind of a sandpaper finish).  You have to use good chemistry to begin with if you want to put a surface like our EZ-Clean texture onto a mat. 

Wondermat Sport Series does provide sufficient protection for most of the plastic ground level and low-height play equipment on the market.

Is it safe to use for babies?
We are especially concerned about the safety of the children using our products. Even products that do not contain small parts can be torn or bitten into smaller pieces. Wondermat is definitely not a teething toy and you should not allow your children to chew or bite on this product. The extra safety warning on some of our products is overprotective, and is not required by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. We just feel, as parents ourselves, that parents should be advised that there is a potential for the child creating small parts by biting or chewing on the material.

That said, technically the tiles and borders that make up our modular Interlocking Floor System are baby-safe.  In 2004, the last of our small parts were removed from our Picture Puzzle designs (WMR503A, B & C).

Our entire Educational Toy line, consisting of, 5.7 Inch tiles, are all rated for children ages 3 and up due to small parts. Our philosophy on small parts goes a little further: Every child is at a different developmental stage, and age is not necessarily the only factor. The truth is there are 10 year olds that should not be exposed to products with small parts. Our advise is that anyone using Wondermat toys or flooring products be developmentally past the point of wanting to put the product in their mouth, regardless of their age.

How do I fix it if it tears?
For a permanent bond, use contact cement. In most cases this will provide a bond stronger than the material itself. Use this type of adhesive to repair torn puzzle pieces and whole tiles. For a temporary bond, use rubber cement. This is useful if, for whatever reason, you want to glue all the pieces of a puzzle into place so they can't be removed. Make sure you follow the instructions on the product, and clean up any residue left on the top or bottom surface of the mat when you are done.

The other issue is that all carpet has what is called a "nap," which is the direction that all the fibers are running in.  You see this when you vacuum "in the wrong direction" across a carpet. This nap will tend to make the mat want to slide in the direction of the nap as it moves up and down during use.  If you find that your mat is creeping across the carpet, or it is buckling, then this is what is happening.  The solution is to install plastic carpet runners (spikes down!) on top of the carpet and then put the mat on top of that.  The carpet runners are 2-3 feet wide and sold in rolls at most home centers.  See the Installation Guide for more info.

1. Because the mat is a foamed plastic, it will respond to temperature changes by expanding and contracting.  The temperature of the sub-floor should not exceed 85 degrees, to avoid excessive expansion. 
2. The mat is going to block the floors' heat in the areas it's installed in and reduce the efficiency of your heating system.

Bearing these facts in mind, our recommendations are to limit your use of Wondermat in areas with heated sub-floors unless you are willing to accept the loss of heating efficiency.  The best rule of thumb is to stay as small as possible.  We absolutely do not suggest attempting a wall-to-wall type installation because of expansion problems, and even if you are doing a large area mat that has no constraints, you may need to segment the mat to allow for expansion if you have several heavy items on different parts of the mat.  See Installation: Tips and Tricks for more details on segmenting a mat.