Leather and Felt Desk Mats

Leather and wool felt desk mats, handmade in Germany

Desk mat, desk pad or desk blotter, whatever you call it: it is the one thing on your desk you touch all day. It protects the surface, quiets the keyboard and the mouse, and gives the workspace an edge where it begins.

We make three. RICHMOND is the leather desk mat, one continuous piece of Italian natural leather. MOIRA is the felt desk mat, merino wool felt with a stitched-on leather mouse field. And 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.

Leather or wool felt? The decision in one paragraph

Both protect the desk. The difference is what you want under your hands all day.

MOIRA is the compromise that isn't one: felt where your arms rest, leather where the mouse runs. One piece, separated by a fine line of stitching.

And if what you actually want is a large mouse pad, this is it. At 29 × 12 in a desk mat gives you many times the surface of a classic pad, so the mouse never runs out of room. It is also a desk mat for keyboard and mouse rather than for one or the other. If you want to keep it small, the round mouse pad at 8.3 in is the answer.

Ergonomics: why the surfaces are divided the way they are

The layout follows what happens where, not what looks good. Your forearms rest at the front, the mouse runs to one side.

Both hands, no compromise

On MOIRA the leather field sits on one side. Left-handed? Turn the mat 180 degrees and the leather is on the left, while the felt stays where your arms are. That is why there is no separate left- and right-handed version: one mat does both.

With RICHMOND the question doesn't come up. The whole surface is leather, so the mouse tracks equally well anywhere. No field to hit, no edge for the sensor to stumble over.

Staying flat is ergonomics too

Neither mat builds up. There is no raised wrist rest and no step between the mat and the desk. Your hands stay level with the keyboard instead of being lifted over an edge.

The merino wool felt on MOIRA gives a little under your forearms and takes on body heat. A cold desk surface in winter is not a detail when you sit at it for eight hours.

The dimensions

We measure the finished piece. 29 × 12 in is the size where a keyboard and a mouse both fit without the mat taking over half the desk. As a pure keyboard pad that would be too much surface. For keyboard and mouse together it is right.

What a good desk mat does all day

You only notice it when it is missing. Four things, every day:

• It protects the desk. From keyboard feet, from pressure marks, from whatever a coffee cup leaves behind.
• It quiets things down. Keystrokes and mouse clicks get noticeably softer, at home and in a shared office.
• It stays warm. Leather and wool felt take on body heat. Glass and metal don't.
• It defines the workspace. A visible edge turns a piece of desk into a place to work. It sounds like a small thing and it is the reason most people buy one.

Why ours doesn't slide

The back of RICHMOND and of the mouse pad is natural rubber. No glued-on plastic, no coating that gives up after a year. The rubber grips wood, glass and painted surfaces and leaves nothing behind. That makes it a genuinely non-slip desk mat without any tack.

MOIRA doesn't need it: merino wool felt stays put on its own, because the fibre itself has grip.

The leather: Italian, natural, 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 into uniformity. This is real leather with everything that comes with it: pores, fine veins and small scars stay visible, and the tone deepens over the years. A leather desk mat in daily use looks different after two years than on day one. Better, not worn out. If you want a surface that always looks the same, a corrected or coated leather will make you happier. We deliberately do the other thing.

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

Care: less is right

• Leather, day to day: wipe with a dry, soft cloth. That is usually all it needs.
• Marks on leather: don't rub hard. Moisture and grease change the tone at first, much of it evens out over time.
• Wool felt: brush off dust and crumbs or use the upholstery nozzle. Don't wash it.
• If it gets wet: dab it dry first, don't rub, then let it dry at room temperature. Not on a radiator.
• Sunlight: long one-sided exposure darkens leather unevenly. A desk by a window is fine, months of direct midday sun are not.

From our workshop

Cut, stitched and embossed in Hamburg

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

That is why we can tell you which layer of the hide was used, how it was tanned and where it comes from. With a bought-in finished part, we could not.

SEE THE WORKSHOP AND OUR STORY →

4.85 ★from 1,503 reviews

Italian natural leather from Tuscany

100 % merino virgin wool

Non-slip natural rubber

For left- and right-handed use

Handmade in Hamburg since 2011

30-day return policy

Goes well with: Desk & Office · Cable bags and organizers · Leather accessories · Wallets and card holders