Leather and Felt Desk Mats

Desk mats in leather and wool felt – handmade in Hamburg

Whether you call it a desk mat, a desk pad or a desk blotter: it is the one piece on your table that you touch all day long. It protects the surface, it softens the sound of a keyboard and a mouse, and it gives the workplace an edge where it begins.

We build three. RICHMOND is the desk mat in leather, made throughout from Italian natural leather. MOIRA is the version in Merino wool felt with a stitched-on leather mouse field. Alongside them there is the round leather mouse pad, for anyone who only wants something good under the mouse. All three are made in our workshop in Hamburg, Germany.

Leather or wool felt? The decision in one paragraph

Both protect the table. The difference lies in what you want under your hands all day.

The MOIRA is the compromise that is not one: felt where the arms rest, leather where the mouse runs. Both in one piece, separated by a fine stitched seam.

And if what you are really looking for is a large mouse pad: that is exactly what a desk mat is. 74 × 30 cm is a multiple of what a classic pad offers, and the mouse never runs into an edge. If it should stay small, our round mouse pad with a diameter of 21 cm is the answer.

Ergonomics: why the areas are laid out as they are

The areas are not divided by looks but by what happens where. At the front the forearms rest, and on the right or the left the mouse runs.

Both hands, without a compromise

On the MOIRA the leather field sits on one side. For left-handed people the mat is simply turned by 180 degrees, and then the leather lies on the left while the felt stays where the arms are. This is why there is no separate left-handed and right-handed version: one mat does both.

With RICHMOND the question does not arise. The surface is leather throughout, and the mouse runs equally well everywhere. There is no field to hit and no edge for the sensor to stumble over.

Staying flat is ergonomics too

Neither mat is bulky. There is no raised wrist rest and no step between the mat and the table top. Your hands stay on one level with the keyboard instead of being lifted over an edge.

The Merino wool felt of the MOIRA gives a little under the forearms and takes on body heat. A cold table top in winter is not a detail when you sit at it for eight hours.

The dimensions

We measure the finished piece. 74 × 30 cm is the size at which a keyboard and a mouse both have room without the mat taking up half the desk. As a pure keyboard mat that would be too much surface – as a working area for a keyboard and a mouse together it is exactly right.

What a good desk mat does every day

You only notice it when it is missing. A good desk mat does four things, every single day:

• It protects the table top. Against scratches from keyboard feet, against marks, against what a coffee cup leaves behind. For the glass next to it there are the matching leather coasters.
• It softens the sound. Keystrokes and mouse clicks become noticeably quieter, at home as well as in a shared office.
• It warms. Leather and wool felt take on body heat, glass and metal do not.
• It defines the working area. A visible edge turns a piece of table into a workplace. That sounds like a small thing and is the reason why most people buy one.

Why ours does not slide

The back of RICHMOND and of the mouse pad is made of natural rubber. No glued-on plastic, no coating that peels off after a year. The rubber grips on wood, glass and painted surfaces without leaving any residue. That makes the mat non-slip without making it sticky.

The MOIRA does not need it: Merino wool felt lies on the table by itself, because the fibre has grip of its own.

The leather: Italian natural leather, not corrected

For RICHMOND and the mouse pad we use the same leather as for our sleeves: full-grain leather from family-run tanneries in Tuscany, vegetable-tanned. It arrives as a whole hide, just under 2 mm thick, and we bring it down to the thickness each part needs.

Natural leather means the surface is not sanded down to look even. This is real leather with everything that belongs to it – pores, fine veins and small scars stay visible, and the colour deepens over the years. A desk mat in leather that is used every day looks different after two years than on the first day: better, not worn out. If you are looking for a premium leather that always looks the same, a corrected or coated leather is the better choice. We deliberately do the opposite.

How we split, skive and emboss the cowhide is described in detail on our page Leather sleeves for iPad and MacBook.

Care: less is right

• Leather in daily use: wipe it with a dry, soft cloth. Usually nothing more is needed.
• Stains on leather: do not rub hard. Moisture and grease change the colour at first, and much of it evens out over time.
• Wool felt: dust and crumbs can be brushed off or taken up with the upholstery nozzle of a vacuum cleaner. Do not wash it.
• After rain: dab it first, do not rub. Then let it dry at room temperature, not on a radiator.
• Sunlight: long one-sided sunlight makes leather darken unevenly. A desk near a window is not a problem, months of direct midday sun are.

From our workshop

Cut, sewn and embossed in Hamburg

In our own workshop in Hamburg. Splitting, skiving, punching, sewing, embossing, hardware and final inspection all happen here – since 2011, with long-standing partners for single steps.

This is why we can say which layer of the hide was used, how it was tanned and where it comes from. With a bought-in finished part that would not be possible.

SEE OUR WORKSHOP AND OUR STORY →

4.85 ★from 1,503 reviews

Italian natural leather from Tuscany

100 % Merino virgin wool

Non-slip natural rubber

For right-handed and left-handed use

Handmade in Hamburg since 2011

30 days right of return

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