Clementoni Puzzle Roll

You need a big space to do a puzzle, a space that might end up being needed for something else before you've finished. The purpose of the is to allow you to pack up your puzzle when it gets in the way and return to it later when you have the time to continue. You just roll it around the tube provided.



The puzzle roll is a very simple and effective concept and I'm surprised I've only seen them around in the last few years. Of course, for it to work you need to make sure you start your puzzle on the mat in the first place. Mine has been borrowed by others when they didn't finish their puzzles by the time they expected, and transferring a puzzle onto the mat can be quite frustrating (we ended up using a Bar-B-Mate, which made it easier).



Once your puzzle is on the mat, you can roll it up at any time, whether there are hardly any pieces on the mat or you're close to finishing. All you do is wrap the mat around the tube and secure it with the three strips of Velcro. It's easy to do and everything ends up pretty compact. Plus, the mat doesn't immediately unravel when you take the Velcro off again, so you don't end up with pieces spilling out one end as you unwrap the other.



The tube is hollow and can be separated into two pieces, which offer a useful place to store the Velcro pieces when you're not using them (or you may like to take it apart to make it easier to store). Unfortunately, I didn't find the mat could fit inside the tube too, which is one of the only issues I came across with this product. I probably would have preferred a more practical way to store it when it's not being used, especially since the puzzles themselves are always so easy to stack and store.



I actually don't try to roll up my puzzles much. I usually do them on the floor of my room where there's a big space that won't be needed often (the floor needs to be pretty clean first, since the felt mat seems to attract any fluff lying around). However, I still find the puzzle mat very useful, as it allows me to drag my puzzle out of the way when I need to open cupboard doors.

The is designed for puzzles between 500-2000 piece puzzles. The mat is 102cm by 71cm and there are lines marked on it to give you a rough idea of how much room a 500, 1000, 1500 or 2000 piece puzzle will take up. The lines don't always match the puzzle sizes exactly, as each puzzle is different, but they are helpful when you're trying to figure out where to put the edge pieces, and where one section may lie in relation to another.





You can but the online, but I got mine from Australian Geographic, where it cost $29.95. I recommend it for anyone who likes to take their time doing puzzles, but doesn't always have a space they can dedicate to the pursuit for extended periods.

%reviewclue