10 Best Coasters [In 2023]

Not many people love table coasters like we do and for most coffee drinkers they are simply the liquid catchers that protect your beloved furniture from stains and mug scratches.

But what these types of people don’t know is that the best coasters aren’t just simple blocks that come between your cup and coffee table. No… the best coasters are ones that bring the two things together, with the flourish and finesse of a stunning design, personalised message or authentic and eye-catching material.

At their best, coasters aren’t just a piece of tableware, they’re a bonafide decoration for your furniture and provide a pleasing accent to your home’s style and colour scheme.

So to help you find some perfect placemats which are as pretty as they are practical, we’ve perused the market to find the ultimate coasters that will make a phenomenal gift for yourself or others!

The Best Table Coasters

PANCHH Rustic Table Coasters

Overview

If you’re looking for the perfect gift for that special someone in your life, look no further. Panchh coasters are made of sandstone and cork, and they are an excellent way to show your loved ones that you care about them. Sandstone is an absorbent material that can absorb moisture and liquid condensation quickly, which makes it a great choice for keeping drinks off of your tabletops and counters. If you have ever had to deal with a sticky table after someone spilled their drink, you know how important this is!

LIFVER Marble Style Ceramic Table Coaster

Overview

This set includes 6 round ceramic coasters (Marble Surface Pattern, 4 inch) and a 4.5-inch black metal coaster holder. The coasters are super water-absorbent, so your table can stay stain-free. The cork back of each coaster prevents scratching your furniture and keeps the coaster from falling off the table.

The iron holder is made of black metal, stain resistant and scratch proof, and won’t get rusty. Different screens may have color differences

O3 Design Studios City Map Table Coasters

Overview

Need a new conversation starter? These beautiful wooden coasters are perfect for the globetrotter in your life.

With over 100 city map engravings to choose from, you can make a set of 4, 6 or 8 to create yourself a cultural collection that features all your favourite getaways—bringing back beautiful memories with every sip of joe!

Made from high-quality Sapele wood, these coasters have a beautiful texture and lend well to fine and detailed engravings. However although undeniably beautiful, their width is almost a centimetre smaller than the average coaster—so make sure your mega mugs will be a good fit before purchasing!

Yougoals Hexagon Rose Quartz Table Coasters

Overview

If you’re looking for something elegant, modern, and fashionable for your drink coaster, look no further. These natural rose quartz coasters are the perfect fit. Each hexagon rose quartz coaster was cut by a skilled worker and all were made of natural stone crystals. Crystal coasters for drink edge have gold plated, which is luxurious and stylish. None of the pink agate coasters is the same, due to naturally occurring color and pattern variations. Each rose agate coaster has a unique natural rose quartz ice crack, due to it being cut directly from a raw rose quartz stone with no same textures in the world. Rose quartz coaster for a drink is the only one in the world.

Lahome Marble Pattern Coasters

Overview

Protect your tables from water rings and stains with Lahome Beach Coaster Set. The marble-design ceramic top on these cute coasters help capture moisture from ice cold drinks; more absorbent than sandstone coasters. Cork backing prevents tables from getting worn and scratched while providing additional gripping power, so they stick tightly to the desktop. Bump them or drop them—they’re easy to handle, even if you’ve been drinking a little bit! These 4″ square coasters come in a set of 4 and make a perfect size for drinking glasses, coffee cups, white wine glasses or tea cups. Spills can be easily wiped off with a damp rag and should not stain if removed in a timely manner. Use warm water and mild dishwashing detergent or stone safe surface spray to clean.

Ambielly Vintage Ethnic Floral Fabric Coasters

Overview

This coaster has been tested to provide maximum protection from heat, cold, and moisture—and the grooves that collect condensation will ensure that you don’t ruin your valuable furniture investment. It is durable enough to withstand being dropped or scratched without breaking, ensuring they maintain their value over time.

If you love wine as much as we do, you’ll love our Coasters even more! They’re designed to be stain resistant and will keep your table free of those pesky red wine stains that seem to plague us all. Plus, they come in a variety of colors and designs so you can choose something that fits your style.

Coasterlux Cork Coasters

Overview

Our absorbent coasters with round edge are the perfect solution to protecting your wooden table from water drips, spills, and moisture from condensation! Our custom drink coasters are bigger and thicker than our competitors’, made with 100% natural cork, eco-friendly and enhance your home decor with their eye-catching grains. The large 4-inch size suits all commercial type cups, mugs and glasses.

Sweese 244.101 Lovely Vibrant Floral Design Absorbent Ceramic Coasters

Overview

These coasters are made of absorbent ceramics, which ensures that your bottom will stay dry and protected. The back of the coaster is cork to prevent your furniture or tabletops from any scratches or scuffs, and it also has some friction to avoid some of the shakes and bumps brought about by the disaster.

But what’s most important is that these coasters are designed with a flower pattern that makes your desktop look more colorful and funny.

These coasters make a perfect birthday, housewarming, anniversary, mother’s day, or graduation gift for everyone! Sweese will offer a free replacement or refund if anything goes wrong with the product.

FOLKOR LIFE Natural Agate Coasters

Overview

These gorgeous agate coasters are a work of art—and they’re functional too.

Crafted from natural agate gemstone, these agate drink coasters feature a sleek polished surface with a variety of swirling, making each piece special and attractive. To remain the natural beauty, the textured rocky edges have been left untouched. These natural agate coasters will be adored by nature lovers.

But these aren’t just pretty decorations for your coffee table—they’re also perfect for protecting your furniture! With 100% natural stone material, these coasters aren’t water absorbent, so they won’t soak up the condensation from your glassware or leave rings on your table. That means no more ruined furniture or stained carpets!

This is a great gift for anyone who loves nature, or wants to keep their furniture nice and dry!

TAHOME Anti-Skid Vinyl Coasters

Overview

This retro-style vinyl record coaster set is the perfect gift for any music lover. Each coaster in the set looks like a real vinyl record, complete with a small rubber plate at the bottom to ensure that your table is protected and non-slip. The set contains 6 vinyl record-shaped coasters and a beautiful gift box. The diameter of each coaster is 4.2 inches. It’s made of high-grade vinyl, so it won’t rust, stain or scratch—and can be easily cleaned and dried quickly.

Table Coasters Buying Guide

Choosing what coasters to plonk your mug down on might not seem like a particularly strenuous task, with most people simply looking for a nice design that matches their home.

But if you spend too much time focusing on what looks pretty, you might lose sight of what’s practical and so here are the key features you need to be looking for in a spanking new set of coffee cup platforms!

Features To Look Out For

Size/ Diameter

A cute little dinky coaster might look sweet and wholesome atop your beautiful coffee table, but if it can’t even cover half the vase of your mighty mega mugs, then what use can they actually be to you?

The whole point of a coaster is to protect your furniture surfaces and so make sure yours have a wide diameter of at least 10 cm to prevent coffee stains and spillage!

Non-slip backing

While certain materials of a coaster certainly look more pretty and pleasing than others, it doesn’t really mean anything if your coaster can’t stay still and support your mug.

Most good-quality coasters therefore feature a cork or silicone backing which provides grip and stops the coaster from slipping and sliding across your furniture.

They can sometimes even provide anti-scratch properties, ideal for coffee cravers who like to drink on high-class glassware coffee tables.

Absorbent Materials

Coasters come in a whole variety of different materials, mainly because this means they can offer different styles and aesthetics for people’s homes.

However, while a pretty cotton material might look fancy in your living room, you might want to think about how absorbent and porous a material is first before purchasing.

For example, porous stones like ceramic and sandstone will naturally absorb more liquid runoff than other coaster materials, hence why ceramic is so popular.

Sets

Depending on whether you’re buying for yourself or someone else, how many coasters you get in a set can often be the information that swings the deal for you.

A single, pricier coaster is fair enough if it’s a gift for a loved one, but if it’s for your own home you really want a set of four to six to help accommodate family and friends at all times.

Easy to Clean

With all those coffee and tea stains at risk of running your nice coaster, you need to be able to clean them easily after a particularly messy brew.

A material which can be wiped clean easily or is dishwasher safe is your best bet.

Price

Coasters can be cheap and cheerful or expensive and elegant, so it really is up to you what you want to spend.

Incredibly premium sets of coasters can go for up to £40 from boutique sellers while it’s still perfectly achievable to buy a nice set which does the job for well under £10.

For budget buys stay away from fancy materials and stick to reliable ones like cork and silicone – they won’t look as nice, but they’ll keep your furniture looking shiny and new for many years to come.

FAQs

Are coasters a good gift?

Coasters might seem a bit tame in the gift-giving world, especially as there are so many plain jane designs out there.

But coasters are a much-needed item in every home and even if you feel odd purchasing a set as a gift, the chances are that whoever you give them too will get great use out of them. Don’t be surprised if you pop round for a cuppa decades later and the very coaster you bought them is still there ready to greet your cup!

Similar to crockery or tableware, a well-designed coaster set makes a beautiful wedding or birthday gift for someone special and it’s rare someone is ever going to be disappointed with one.

If it’s not that kind of occasion, coasters also make great novelty gifts or token ‘I love yous’, as they’re such an easily customisable item, ensuring you can create the perfect personalised present for a person who deserves the best!

Why do coasters stick to cups?

This tends to happen most often with cold drinks in glasses, as condensation can develop on the outside and drip to the bottom of the glass.

Now for the scientific bit, the water around the bottom of the glass and the coaster have enough surface tension to create a kind of seal which prevents air getting in – creating a vacuum.

Because the air pressure around the glass is greater than the teeny tiny space between the cup and the coaster, a kind of suction is created, which is why the coaster is forced to stick to the cup.

But how do you get it to stop? Well, it really depends on what kind of material your coaster is.

The more porous a material is, the worse it will stick. This isn’t necessarily a problem, but if your coaster is ceramic or glass, it obviously creates a high chance of cracking or smashing when gravity prevails and sends the coaster crashing to the floor.

Materials therefore that are less porous like cork, or more shatter-resistant like wood or plastic should make this less of an issue.