Something soft to repair on

Tea Towel folder in four - simples :)

Andrew

google carbon loaded foam ore antistatic foam

Foam sounds good to me for this; I am forever throwing away sheets of thin closed cell foam which is used for packaging things like TVs, you could use several layers held down by a suitable frame.

For more "agricultural" jobs, Vetbed provides a lot of protection. You can use it either way up, and sling it in the washing machine when it gets dirty.

Anti-static Neoprene?

(First hit from Google, I'm sure there are UK suppliers too.)

I use this, and have done for years:

Caveat: the one I'd used for years fell apart from having stuff pulled across it, hot things dropped on it, etc. The replacement was useless...it 'crumbed' badly. The stuff at the link is the stuff I now use. It is slightly shiny if you look at it obliquely, as it has some kind of coating that stops the 'crumbing'.

Yoga mat?

Getting marmalade out of a laptop is a bggr of a job.

Even worse than frozen vomit out of pot plants.

Owain

I use towels. But wash them after use. Anything, no matter what, can cause scratches when dirty.

Cling film the bits as they are removed?

Brian

Dave Plowman (News) put finger to keyboard:

So, wash them before use, shirley?

In article , Brian Gaff scribeth thus

You can use some types of "rubber" doormat or a similar type of material. We used to use them years ago for TV repairs/ applications back in the day. Some have a very rippled surface so bits of grit to fall into the depressions and tend less to scratch things..

I assumed you'd have the sense to use clean ones to start with. Apparently not.

I use bubble wrap sometimes. Upside down, it stops things rolling away. I wouldn't put unmounted memory on it, though.

In message , Enrie Membership writes

How about one of those self healing cutting boards?

When our son was a baby, we had plain white muslin squares which we often used on our shoulders due to reflux. Son is 13 now, but I still have at least a dozen of the muslin squares which are perfect as a surface for repairing stuff. Old tea towels are good, too.

Poundland do non slip shower mats which might fit the bill

From the picture that looks to be round although the size is given as 36cm X 65cm and I've seen square ones in one poundshop or another but blue coloured which are soft enough not to damage anything.

michael adams

...

Cheap sleeping mat from a camping shop? It's a closed cell foam, so doesn't collapse under weight.

Thanks for all of the useful suggestions