Review: Gripeze, the non slip heat mat for hair straighteners

TAGS: Gripeze • hair stuff •

I have a mini television in my bedroom which has a permanent mark on it which says its mine. It’s a candle that was in housed in a metal tin. When I was a student, I left this tin on my TV and it melted in the side of the tv – like completely melted into it. By the time I realised (and amazingly enough, hadn’t died in a fire, explosion or by fume inhalation) it had welded itself into my tele. Yes I still watch it to this day.

Kids, don’t leave candles unattended. Especially not on plastic items.

Thank goodness I don’t leave hot things about anymore (kitties you know, can’t have a singed cat) but even so, hair straighteners are HOT. A mat is jolly useful, and I have a few but they are the furry cloth type or the rubbery, almost like foam type.

I’m not a fan of the cloth ones or the foam because I find the latter rips easily and doesn’t stay put – the cloth type attracts cat fur like anything and I can’t be bothered getting it off sometimes. I have about 4 different heat mats and I don’t know where half of them are.

They say:

Gripeze absorbs heat and prevents hot tools damaging dressing tables, cupboards, carpets etc. (and tvs)

1. It grips hot tools and helps prevent them slipping off surfaces
2. It’s a real safety device. The mat changes colour and shows you when the tool is hot
3. Ideal for wrapping hot tools when you take them out with you.

I got a Gripeze in a sparkly pink and I like it a lot! For one thing, its less that £10 to purchase. Because its a thick rubber thats bendy, it lasts a lot longer than foam ones that can be easily chewed by kitties. It also GRIPS tightly to the surface because of the grooves on the back of the pad. The other thing it does is wrap up into a little roll that you can store your straighteners in when travelling. Considering the fact that I normally just chuck mine into a bag it offers a bit of welcome padding. Ooh, finally it changes colour to let you know when the tool is getting hot – obviously you are going to wait until your GHDS (other brands are available) beep anyway but its still a nice touch.