# Desk mats, pads and work surfaces: research notes

Date: 2026-10-25. Scope: unpowered mats laid on a desk or bench to work on: cloth and hard mouse pads of every size up to whole-desk mats, faux-leather and leather desk pads and blotters, wool and polyester felt pads, cork pads, and electronics-repair work mats (ESD mats, silicone and magnetic project mats). Not RGB or USB-powered pads (the add-on routes them to machines/electronics), not self-healing cutting mats (left to the crafts sibling `cutting-tools`), not dry-erase glass desk pads (left to `stationery-boards`), not paper desk-pad calendars (left to `planners`), and not floor chair mats.

Quote labels: **verbatim** = the sentence in quotation marks was in raw text I read myself (curl plus tag-stripping into the scratchpad); **fetched excerpt** = a fetch tool summarised the page; **search excerpt** = from a search-engine summary only. Every quote below is verbatim unless labelled otherwise. No search excerpts were used: the session's web-search budget was already spent by sibling agents when this run started (every WebSearch call returned "used its web search budget (200 of 200)"), so every source here is a URL I knew or could navigate to, fetched directly.

Sibling overlaps (taxonomy `supplies > stationery`): `stationery-boards` (Boards & Display Surfaces) would own glass or dry-erase desktop boards; `planners` owns paper desk-pad calendars; `notebooks` owns paper notepads that are sometimes called "desk pads". Outside stationery, `cutting-tools` (crafts) is the natural home of self-healing cutting mats, and `yoga-mats` and kitchen `boards` are unrelated despite the word "mat". The repair-mat family is kept here because "work surfaces" is in the leaf label and no sibling names it. `desk-paper-tools` leaves "desk pads (`desk-mats`)" to this register in its own scope line, so leather blotters are here too.

## Seed

Seed output (verbatim from `seed.py --category desk-mats`):

- Example: olive-oil `harvest_date`: "a facet that experts rank first, that almost no listing carries, and that is expensive to backfill. The honest answer is to list it, mark it researched, and limit backfill to the top of the catalog. Also shows a derived metric hanging off a researched facet."
- Persona: "A rock climber, who thinks in failure modes and in what certification actually tested"

1. **The desk-mat equivalent of harvest date is glide speed on a mouse surface.** It is the first thing gaming-pad makers sort their own range by (Artisan's selection guide groups every surface into low, medium and high speed before anything else; Logitech G sells the G640 as "moderate surface friction" and the G440 as "ultra low surface friction"; Razer's chooser asks "absolute speed, complete control, or the best of both worlds"), and a generic desk mat or unbranded pad never states it. **Kept** as `glide_speed`, researched, backfill limited to branded gaming pads. A derived metric hangs off it only indirectly (`mouse_room_mm`, because slow, low-sensitivity aiming is also what needs a big pad).
2. **The climber would ask what "anti-static" was tested to.** That survived the data check cleanly: the ESD Association defines a protective worksurface by resistance to ground (1.0 x 10^6 to 1.0 x 10^9 ohm) and says insulators "cannot lose their electrostatic charge by connection to ground", so a mat with no ground point is not an ESD worksurface whatever its listing says. iFixit's portable mat states its resistivity, a 10 mm grounding snap and the two ESD standards it was designed to. **Kept** as `esd_rating` and a judgement. The climber's second instinct, failure modes, gave `edge_finish` (fraying), `backing` (creep) and `spill_resistance` (felt warranty excludes spills). **Dropped**: a "curling after unrolling" facet. The only evidence is one Orbitkey customer review ("It doesn't quite seem to lay flat despite following the instructions") and nothing a listing could carry.

## Sources and what each supports

### Standards bodies

**ESD Association, ESD Fundamentals Part 3: Basic ESD Control Procedures and Materials**
https://www.esda.org/esd-overview/esd-fundamentals/part-3-basic-esd-control-procedures-and-materials/ (curl, read 2026-10-25)
- verbatim: "ESD protective worksurfaces with a resistance to ground of 1.0 x 10^6 to 1.0 x 10^9 provide a surface that is at the same electrical potential as other ESD control items at the workstation." (superscripts flattened by tag stripping; the raw HTML has them as `<sup>`.)
- verbatim: "The ESD protective worksurface is connected to the common point ground."
- verbatim: "It is important to note that insulators, by definition non-conductors, cannot lose their electrostatic charge by connection to ground."
- verbatim: "This resistor is most commonly one megohm, rated at least 1/4 watt with a working voltage rating of 250 volts. For personnel safety, if the operator will be exposed to electrical circuits of 250 volts or higher, wrist straps must not be used."
- verbatim: the key workstation elements are "a static dissipative worksurface, a means of grounding personnel (usually a wrist strap), a common point ground, and appropriate signage and labeling."
- Lists ANSI/ESD STM4.1 "Worksurfaces-Resistance Measurements" as the worksurface test method.
- Supports: `esd_rating` definition and values, the resistance band, the grounded-or-not judgement, the personnel-safety judgement. Confidence high.

### Regulators

**FTC, Guides for Select Leather and Imitation Leather Products, 16 CFR Part 24 (eCFR renderer API)**
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-24
- verbatim (§24.2(f)): "A material in an industry product that contains ground, pulverized, shredded, reconstituted, or bonded leather and thus is not wholly the hide of an animal should not be represented, directly or by implication, as being leather."
- verbatim (§24.2(a)): "If all or part of an industry product is made of non-leather material that appears to be leather, the fact that the material is not leather, or the general nature of the material as something other than leather, should be disclosed."
- verbatim (§24.0 scope): applies to "trunks, suitcases ... brief cases, ring binders, billfolds, wallets ... and similar articles". Desk pads are not named; I treat them as "similar articles" and say so in the judgement.
- Supports: the faux versus genuine leather values and the bonded-leather judgement. Confidence medium (scope by analogy).

**Not reached**: OEHHA / P65Warnings phthalates fact sheet (live page returned a 212-byte block; the Wayback copy returned 936 bytes with no text). No Prop 65 claim is made in the register.

### Specialist and spec sheets (brand pages)

**Artisan, マウスパッド セレクションガイド (mouse pad selection guide), Japanese page**
https://artisan-jp.com/jp/selection-guide/ (curl; the English URLs 404)
- verbatim: "滑りの早さ順に分類をすると、滑走面は「ロースピード」、「ミディアムスピード」、「ハイスピード」の3種類のグループに分けられます。" (my translation: sorted by glide speed, surfaces fall into three groups, low speed, medium speed and high speed.)
- verbatim: low speed "タクティカルFPSをはじめとした、プリエイム比重が高く、低感度のエイミングスタイルに適合しやすい滑走面です。" (suits tactical FPS, pre-aiming and low-sensitivity aiming styles.)
- verbatim: medium speed "素早い滑りでありながら、止めやすさもしっかり残したオールラウンド滑走面です" (fast glide that keeps stopping power; all-round.)
- verbatim: high speed "鋭く、高速な滑りをもつ上級者向け滑走面です" (sharp, fast glide for advanced users.)
- verbatim base table: "XSOFT 非常にやわらかい 止めやすさ リコイルコントロール / SOFT (おすすめ) 適度にやわらかい 汎用性の高さ / MID 硬い 滑りの軽さ・一貫性 トラッキングエイム" (XSOFT very soft, stopping power, recoil control; SOFT moderately soft, versatile; MID hard, light and consistent glide, tracking aim.)
- verbatim size table: "XXL 500mm 490mm 4mm ※ MIDのみ3mm / XL 490mm 420mm 4mm / L 420mm 330mm 4mm / M 310mm 240mm 4mm / S 240mm 210mm 4mm" (MID base 3 mm.)
- Supports: `glide_speed` values, the speed and firmness trade-offs, the speed scale grammar, the mouse-only size band, thickness typical. Confidence high for what Artisan does; medium as a stand-in for the hobby.

**Logitech G640 cloth gaming mouse pad**
https://www.logitechg.com/en-us/products/gaming-mouse-pads/g640-cloth-gaming-mouse-pad.943-000088.html
- verbatim: "Large size, 400 x 460 mm, for more space and mouse movement. Rubber base stays in place for intense gaming."
- verbatim: "MODERATE SURFACE FRICTION FOR PRECISION When you use low-DPI settings you benefit from moderate resistance to the mouse feet when starting or stopping a rapid or sudden movement common to low DPI gaming."
- verbatim: "The rubber base firmly bonded to the cloth keeps the flexible surface in place and prevents the cloth from bunching up".

**Logitech G440 hard gaming mouse pad**
https://www.logitechg.com/en-us/products/gaming-mouse-pads/g440-hard-gaming-mouse-pad.943-000098.html
- verbatim: "Medium size, 280 x 340 mm"; "LOW FRICTION = HIGH SPEED G440 features ultra low surface friction, offering high DPI gamers an ideal surface for subtle hand movements and quick flick shots. The polyethylene surface allows the mouse to move even when applying minimal force".
- Supports with G640: cloth is the slower, controlled surface and hard plastic the fast one; friction choice is tied to DPI.

**Razer Gigantus V2**
https://www.razer.com/gaming-mouse-mats/razer-gigantus-v2
- verbatim size table: "Medium 360 mm ... 275 mm ... 3 mm / Large 450 mm ... 400 mm ... 3 mm / XXL 940 mm ... 410 mm ... 4 mm / 3XL 1200 mm ... 550 mm ... 4 mm".
- verbatim: "At 3XL size, this gaming mouse pad is big enough to cover entire desks—perfect for those who use a lower DPI or just like to have more room to maneuver."
- verbatim: "At 3mm (M & L) and 4mm (XXL & 3XL) thick, this gaming mouse pad remains uniformly flat even over imperfect surfaces ... the mat's thickness also serves to cushion your wrist".
- verbatim: "Whether you seek absolute speed, complete control, or the best of both worlds"; "The new surface texture offers lower friction for quick mouse action yet has high stopping power for control".

**Corsair MM700 RGB Extended** (a powered pad, out of scope as a product; used only for its size and thickness statement)
https://www.corsair.com/us/en/p/mouse-pads/ch-9417070-ww/mm700-rgb-extended-3xl-cloth-gaming-mouse-pad-ch-9417070-ww
- verbatim: "Cover your whole gaming area with an expansive 930mm x 400mm (36.6” x 15.8”) surface, providing abundant room for your mouse, keyboard, and more. Game longer in plush comfort with 4mm-thick rubber construction that helps smooth out uneven desktop surfaces."

**Logitech Desk Mat Studio Series**
https://www.logitech.com/en-us/products/mice/desk-mat-studio-series.956-000047.html
- verbatim: "Logitech Desk Mat features a spill-proof coating that withstands accidental mishaps, so liquids can easily be wiped away."
- verbatim: "a flat-stitched design protects the edges from fraying. The anti-slip base features natural rubber, while the soft, comfortable surface fabric and inner layer are made from recycled polyester".
- Dimensions are not in the static HTML; not used.

**Orbitkey Desk Mat**
https://www.orbitkey.com/products/desk-mat
- verbatim: "Made from premium vegan leather and 100% recycled PET felt. Available in Medium (686 x 373 x 4.9mm) and Large (896 x 423 x 4.9mm)."
- verbatim: "The premium vegan leather is exceptionally durable, water-repellent and can be easily wiped clean."
- verbatim chart: "Compare by Desk Depth with 27" monitor setup 55 cm 60 cm 70+ cm Desk Mat Slim Compatible Desk Mat Medium Not Compatible Desk Mat Large Not Compatible Desk Mat Slim Compatible Desk Mat Medium Compatible Desk Mat Large Not Compatible Desk Mat Slim Compatible Desk Mat Medium Compatible Desk Mat Large Compatible". Read with the size list (Slim 800 x 310 mm, Medium 686 x 373, Large 896 x 423): a 310 mm deep mat fits a 55 cm desk with a 27 in monitor, 373 mm needs 60 cm, 423 mm needs 70 cm or more. One source, so these numbers stay in the notes; the JSON says only that deeper mats are ruled out of shallow desks.
- verbatim (customer review): "It doesn't quite seem to lay flat despite following the instructions." (one review; used only to drop the curl facet.)
- Supports: faux leather wipes clean, keyboard-and-mouse size band, desk depth as a fit constraint, felt underside as a backing.

**Oakywood Felt & Cork Desk Mat and Felt & Cork Mouse Pad**
https://oakywood.shop/products/felt-cork-desk-mat and https://oakywood.shop/products/felt-desk-pad (the second redirected to the mouse pad)
- verbatim: "Size XL: 100 cm x 40 cm Size L: 90 cm x 30 cm Size M: 62 cm x 30 cm Thickness: 0.3 cm"; "the slim cork base (0.8 mm) keeps it steady on your desk."
- verbatim: "While great for everyday work, wool felt may not offer the precision needed for high-speed gaming or detailed design work – a dedicated mousepad is recommended."
- verbatim: "With regular use, gentle pilling may appear".
- verbatim: "*The cork grip offers a moderate level of strength, making it well-suited for daily use. It provides the flexibility to easily move a mat aside when you need to write directly on the desk surface."
- verbatim warranty exclusions: "Chemical damage (nail polish stains, ammonia detergents, spilled liquids, etc.) Moisture exposure".
- verbatim (desk mat FAQ): "Our desk mats are made from natural merino wool felt that helps dampen noises from the mouse and keyboard and perfectly absorbs moisture."
- verbatim (mouse pad): merino versus polyester felt table, polyester "Plastic-based synthetic fiber", "Flammable unless chemically treated, can trap odors"; merino "Breathable, hypoallergenic, and temperature-regulating"; "the 2mm cork base ensures appropriate rigidity".
- Supports: felt values and their limits, cork backing grip, spill exclusion, keyboard-and-mouse and whole-desk size bands. The felt-versus-gaming line is against the brand's own interest, which is why I weight it.

**iFixit Portable Anti-Static Mat (Wayback Machine 2026-01-13 snapshot; the live page is behind a Vercel checkpoint)**
https://web.archive.org/web/20260113132506/https://www.ifixit.com/products/portable-anti-static-mat (the earlier `/web/2025/` URL redirects here)
- verbatim: "Surface Resistivity: 10^7 - 10^9 Ω 10 mm Grounding Snap 6 foot (1.8 m) 50 Ω Wrist Strap adjustable to XL 6 foot (1.8 m) 10^5 Ω Grounding Cord Designed to meet ESD S4.1 (Worksurfaces Resistance Measurements) and ESD S20.20 (ESD Control Program). Dimensions: 24" x 24" (60 cm x 60 cm)".
- verbatim comparison table: "Magnetic Project Mat ... Rubber"; "Silicone Work Mat ... Silicone ... Heat-resistant, portable ... Best Used For Soldering & high temperatures".
- Supports: `esd_rating` (snap and cord as the listing tell, the 10^9 upper end), the silicone value. The "50 Ω Wrist Strap" figure looks like a typo for a megohm resistor and is not used.

### Primers

**Wikipedia, Mousepad**
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mousepad
- verbatim: "Modern mousepads are typically made of lesser density rucomposites (open cell styrene, butadiene rubber or open cell SBR) with fabric bonded to the upper surface. However, many other types of material have been used, including fabric, plastics, recycled rubber tires, neoprene, silicone rubber, leather, glass, cork, wood, aluminum, stone and stainless steel."
- verbatim: "Early types of optical mice have the problem of not working well on transparent or reflective surfaces such as glass or highly polished wood."
- Supports: mechanism (fabric over rubber foam), material values. Confidence medium.

**Wikipedia, Antistatic device**
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antistatic_device
- verbatim: "a metal mat would keep parts grounded but would short out exposed parts; an insulating mat would provide no ground reference and so would not provide grounding. Typical resistance is on the order of 10^5 to 10^8 ohms between points on the mat and to ground."
- verbatim: "The mat would need to be grounded (earthed)."
- Disagrees with ESDA on the band (10^5 to 10^8 against 10^6 to 10^9). Recorded in a judgement; the register uses the ESDA figure because it is the standards body.
- verbatim: "It is connected to ground through a coiled retractable cable and 1 megaohm resistor , which allows high-voltage charges to leak through but prevents a shock hazard when working with low-voltage parts. Where higher voltages are present, extra resistance (0.75 megaohm per 250 V) is added in the path to ground to protect the wearer from excessive currents".
- Agrees with ESDA on the one-megohm resistor; differs on high voltage (ESDA: do not use wrist straps at 250 V or more; Wikipedia: add resistance). Recorded as a disputed judgement.

### Could not reach

Wirecutter mouse pad and desk pad guides (nytimes.com refused by the fetch tool; no Wayback snapshot), Wired desk mats (refused), Grovemade wool felt desk pad (Cloudflare 403 on curl and fetch), SteelSeries QcK pages (JavaScript only), Satechi Eco-Leather Deskmate (no product text in HTML), Desco ESD worksurfaces (Cloudflare challenge), r/MousepadReview wiki (reddit login wall on both www and old), P65Warnings (blocked). Amazon was not attempted.

## Data points used for derived metrics

- `mouse_room_mm` = width_mm − keyboard width. Widths from brand tables: Artisan 240 to 500 mm; Razer 360, 450, 940, 1200 mm; Logitech G640 400 x 460 mm (Logitech lists 400 first; the larger figure is the width); Orbitkey 686 and 896 mm; Oakywood 620, 900, 1000 mm; Corsair 930 mm. No keyboard widths are put in the JSON; the buyer's keyboard is the input.
- `depth_left_mm` = desk depth − depth_mm. Orbitkey's chart (above) implies roughly 240 mm must stay free behind the mat for a 27 in monitor (550 − 310; 600 − 373 = 227 passes; 600 − 423 = 177 fails). That is my arithmetic on one brand's chart, so the metric carries no threshold in the JSON.

## Size bands for the `coverage` split (our call)

| Band | Width rule | Brand sizes that fall in it |
|---|---|---|
| mouse only | under 600 mm | Artisan S to XXL (240 to 500 mm), Razer M and L (360, 450), Logitech G640 (460), G440 (340), Oakywood mouse pad (280) |
| keyboard and mouse | 600 to 1,100 mm | Orbitkey 686 and 896, Oakywood 620, 900 and 1000, Razer XXL 940, Corsair 930 |
| whole desk | over 1,100 mm | Razer 3XL 1200 x 550 ("big enough to cover entire desks") |

Repair mats are outside these bands: after the blind check the `electronics repair` answer makes coverage irrelevant (see Branches). The band edges are mine. No source states a threshold; they sit in the gaps between brand size ladders (nothing read between 500 and 620 mm, nothing between 1000 and 1200 mm). "Whole desk" rests on one brand line. The register says this in a judgement.

## Numbers in category.json and how many sources stand behind each

| Number | Sources |
|---|---|
| ESD worksurface 10^6 to 10^9 ohm to ground | ESDA primer only (verbatim), attributed by name; Wikipedia 10^5 to 10^8 disagrees (judgement marked disputed); iFixit's 10^7 to 10^9 is surface resistivity, a different measurement, so it is not a second source |
| Wrist strap 1 megohm resistor | ESDA, Wikipedia (both verbatim) |
| 250 V | ESDA (do not use straps) and Wikipedia (0.75 megohm per 250 V); they disagree on what to do, so the judgement is marked disputed |
| 3 to 4 mm typical thickness | Razer (3 and 4 mm), Artisan (4 mm, 3 mm MID), Corsair (4 mm), Oakywood (3 mm) |
| Orbitkey 4.9 mm | Orbitkey only; attributed by name as a single product |
| Mouse pads up to about 500 mm wide, up to about 490 mm deep | Artisan (500 x 490), Razer L (450 x 400), Logitech G640 (460 x 400) |
| Keyboard-and-mouse mats about 620 to 1,000 mm (was 700 to 950 before the blind check) | Oakywood 620, 900 and 1000, Orbitkey 686 and 896, Corsair 930, Razer 940 |
| Desk mats about 300 to 550 mm deep | Oakywood 300 and 400, Orbitkey 373 and 423, Razer 410 and 550 |
| Razer 3XL 1,200 mm | Razer only; attributed by name |
| Band edges 600 and 1,100 mm | Ours; stated as a judgement |
| Over a metre wide | Oakywood XL 1,000 mm and Razer 3XL 1,200 mm |

## Against the existing add-on schema

Add-on read: `supplies/stationery/add-ons/desk_mat.jsonc`, which is one field, `sizing.thickness_raw` (string), with the comment "unpowered only (leather blotters, felt pads, cloth gaming mats). RGB/USB-powered gaming pads -> machines/electronics (mouse/peripherals)". Composed with `stationery-standard` (empty) and `supplies-standard` (`high_signal_markdown`, `sizing.size_stated`, `pack_count`, `pieces_included_text`, `dimensions` L/W/H/D with unit, `capacity`, `weight`, `measurements_text`). Kinds follow `zamana-expertise/AGENTS.md`: vertical anchor, quality currency, hard filter, sizing, or high_signal_markdown. Proposals only; nothing was edited.

| Facet in this doc | In schema today | Proposed kind | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| designed_for | no | vertical anchor (enum: mouse_gaming, everyday_desk, electronics_repair) | Title words ("gaming mouse pad", "desk pad protector", "anti-static mat") settle it. It routes every other field. |
| width_mm, depth_mm | yes, `sizing.dimensions.length` / `width` | sizing (hard filter) | Already there. Proposal: name the axes `width` (side to side) and `depth` (front to back); Logitech lists G640 as "400 x 460" with depth first, which breaks a naive length/width read. |
| coverage | no | derived from width at query time | Not stored. |
| surface_material | no | vertical anchor (enum: cloth, hard_plastic_glass, faux_leather_pu, genuine_leather, wool_felt, polyester_felt, cork, esd_rubber_vinyl_fabric, silicone) | Text fact; a photo cannot tell PU from leather or merino from polyester felt. |
| thickness_mm | yes, `sizing.thickness_raw` (string) | sizing, but as a number in mm | Proposal: replace the string with a number. Every brand page read gives one figure in mm, and it varies by size variant (Razer 3 mm M/L, 4 mm XXL/3XL), so it does belong inside `sizing`. |
| glide_speed | no | quality currency for gaming pads only (enum: control, balanced, speed) | Only gaming brands state it. Augment for branded gaming pads; null elsewhere. |
| backing | no | hard filter (enum: rubber, cork, felt, none) | Text fact on every brand page read. |
| spill_resistance | no | high_signal_markdown | A claim, not a measured value; one sentence in the markdown covers it. |
| edge_finish | no | high_signal_markdown | A photo usually shows stitching; AGENTS.md rule 1 would cut it as a field. |
| esd_rating | no | hard filter (enum: grounded_dissipative, ground_point_unstated, antistatic_claim_only, none) | A repair buyer filters on it literally. The snap and cord are the text tell. |

Add-on fields this register considers noise for desk mats: `capacity` (no meaning for a mat), `pack_count` (almost always 1), `weight` (nobody buys a mat by weight; it is not a filter), `measurements_text` (covered by dimensions). `pieces_included_text` matters only for ESD kits (cord and wrist strap) and is fine there.

## Branches

Each leg names the register or notes sentence it follows from. Rewritten after the blind check (2026-10-25); the legs dropped then are listed at the end.

**Split 1, designed_for ("Gaming, everyday desk work, or repairing electronics?")** Answers map one to one onto the values `mouse and gaming`, `everyday desk work`, `electronics repair`. The middle value replaces `writing and desk protection`: Oakywood calls its felt mat "great for everyday work" (verbatim), Orbitkey sells its mat as "A clean, stable surface for a laptop or keyboard and mouse" (verbatim), and Logitech sells its Desk Mat on "the desk protection you expect" and "a comfortable mousing experience" (verbatim). Three brand pages describe the same buyer: typing and ordinary mousing at a work desk, with look and desk protection.

- when `mouse and gaming`: then_ask glide_speed; makes_irrelevant esd_rating.
  - glide_speed: Artisan sorts every surface by speed first; Logitech G640 and G440 are sold by friction (`glide_speed`, why experts care).
  - esd_rating irrelevant: chain of two facts. ESD worksurfaces exist to protect components on a grounded bench (ESDA, `esd_rating` definition), and none of the gaming pads read (Artisan, Logitech G, Razer) has a ground point or an ESD claim. A gaming buyer has no component to protect.
- when `everyday desk work`: then_ask spill_resistance, backing; makes_irrelevant glide_speed, esd_rating.
  - spill_resistance: Logitech and Orbitkey sell wipe-clean surfaces as desk protection and Oakywood's warranty excludes spills (`spill_resistance`, why experts care).
  - backing: Oakywood's cork grip is "moderate" so the mat can be moved aside to write on the desk; rubber grips hardest (`backing`, why experts care).
  - glide_speed irrelevant: only gaming brands state glide speed (`glide_speed`, backfill note); the Logitech Desk Mat says "All glide. No slide." with no rating, so there is nothing to filter on.
  - esd_rating irrelevant: same chain as above; no desk mat read makes an ESD claim.
- when `electronics repair`: then_ask esd_rating; makes_irrelevant glide_speed, coverage.
  - esd_rating: "ESD protective worksurfaces with a resistance to ground of 1.0 x 10^6 to 1.0 x 10^9 ..." and "connected to the common point ground" (ESDA, verbatim).
  - glide_speed irrelevant: a repair mat is not a mouse surface; iFixit's mats are sold "For Device disassembly", "On-the-go repairs", "Soldering & high temperatures".
  - coverage irrelevant: iFixit's comparison table sizes its five repair mats as bench work areas (verbatim: "25 x 30 x 1 cm", "60 x 60 cm", "20 x 25 x 0.27 cm", "17 x 10 x 0.3 cm", "21.5 x 28 x 1.3 cm"), not by what keyboard and mouse they hold, and the coverage bands would file the 60 cm mat as "keyboard and mouse". width_mm stays a filter.

**Split 2, coverage ("Just the mouse, keyboard and mouse, or the whole desk?")** Answers map one to one onto the values; the width rule is in "Size bands" above. The bands are absolute; when the buyer gives desk width, the `coverage` hint says to compare width_mm with it directly.

- when `keyboard and mouse` or `whole desk`: then_ask depth_mm. Orbitkey's depth chart marks its 373 and 423 mm deep mats "Not Compatible" with a 55 cm desk and a 27 in monitor (`depth_mm`, why experts care).
- No branch for `mouse only`. depth_mm stays a filter there, because large mouse pads are as deep as desk mats (Artisan XXL 490 mm, Razer L 400 mm, Logitech G640 400 mm).

**Split 3, surface_material ("Cloth, hard plastic or glass, leather, felt, or cork?")** Rule: "cloth" → `cloth`; "hard plastic or glass" → `hard plastic or glass`; "leather" → `faux leather (PU)` and `genuine leather`; "felt" → `wool felt` and `polyester felt`; "cork" → `cork`. `ESD rubber, vinyl or fabric` and `silicone` are repair-mat surfaces a buyer names unprompted; the question is complete without them because no desk or gaming mat read uses them.

- when `wool felt` or `polyester felt`: makes_irrelevant glide_speed. Oakywood: felt "may not offer the precision needed for high-speed gaming ... a dedicated mousepad is recommended" (verbatim), and no felt maker read states a speed.
- No branch for `cloth`, `hard plastic or glass`, the leathers or `cork`.

Dropped after the blind check: `mouse and gaming` → then_ask thickness_mm (Artisan ties stopping to base softness, not thickness); `electronics repair` → makes_irrelevant spill_resistance (unsourced inference); `mouse only` → makes_irrelevant depth_mm (contradicted by the pad depths above); felt → then_ask spill_resistance (the felt answer already fixes the value at "absorbs", which the annotation shows). Considered and still not in the JSON: leather makes edge_finish irrelevant (WEAK; no source on how leather pad edges fail).

## Trimmed detail

- `glide_speed`: Artisan also names the XSOFT base for "リコイルコントロール" (recoil control) and MID for "トラッキングエイム" (tracking aim). Artisan's high-speed surface Shidenkai V2 uses a glass-bead coating ("ガラスビーズコーティング"), which is how a cloth pad gets close to a hard pad's speed.
- `thickness_mm`: Oakywood's mouse pad uses a 2 mm cork base; its desk mat a 0.8 mm cork base. Orbitkey's 4.9 mm includes the felt underside.
- `surface_material`: Wikipedia says early optical mice did not track well on glass; modern glass pads are textured for the sensor, which I could not source, so no claim about glass tracking is in the register.
- `esd_rating`: iFixit lists a "10^5 Ω Grounding Cord" with the mat; ESDA describes the one-megohm resistor in wrist-strap cords. The two are different cords; no number from either cord is in the JSON.
- `backing`: Logitech says the G640's rubber base "prevents the cloth from bunching up".

- `surface_material` and the mechanism: an earlier draft said faux leather, felt and cork give "a pen" a better surface. No source read says so (Oakywood's cork note says the opposite for felt: slide the mat aside "when you need to write directly on the desk surface"), so the line now says wrist and keyboard, from Oakywood's "dampen noises from the mouse and keyboard". The writing answer in split 1 is a buyer's job description, not a claim that any surface writes well.

## Corrections after the blind check (2026-10-25)

Report: `check.md` (14 required fixes). One line per change; rejections say why.

1. `depth_mm` why: removed "mouse pads never reach that depth" (CONTRADICTED); it now says large mouse pads are as deep (Razer L and Logitech G640 400 mm, Artisan XXL 490 mm). Range reworded to "mouse pads up to about 490 mm deep".
2. Split 2: dropped the `mouse only` → makes_irrelevant depth_mm leg (UNSUPPORTED); no sourced reason exists, since a 400 to 490 mm deep pad can hit a monitor stand as a desk mat does.
3. Split 1 question now "Gaming, everyday desk work, or repairing electronics?"; value `writing and desk protection` renamed `everyday desk work`, mapping sourced to Oakywood "great for everyday work", Orbitkey "keyboard and mouse" surface and Logitech "desk protection" / "comfortable mousing" (verbatim, in cached pages). `designed_for` definition, why and hint follow.
4. `designed_for` backfill: replaced the "stated speed" fallback with a tie-break (ground snap or resistance → repair, then "gaming" or a stated speed → gaming, else everyday desk work), marked as our call, so generic "gaming desk mat" titles without a speed go to gaming.
5. Split 1 `electronics repair` → makes_irrelevant coverage added; iFixit sizes its five repair mats as bench areas (25 x 30 to 60 x 60 cm).
6. `coverage` hint and judgement 6: say plainly that the bands ignore desk size and that, given desk width, width_mm is compared with it directly. Did not make "whole desk" a relative band, because no source gives a margin and inventing one breaks the no-invented-ranges rule.
7. Judgement 3: no longer says iFixit's figure "sits inside" the ESDA band; it now says iFixit states surface resistivity, a different measurement, and that 10^6 to 10^9 is ESDA primer guidance with the S20.20 table unread. Tried to read S20.20: WebSearch budget spent; esda.org/standards/s20-20/ (curl, 200) carries no limit table, only the endorsed list, which confirms "ANSI/ESD STM4.1–2017" is a test method.
7a. Second source for the 10^6 to 10^9 band: searched by curl (WebSearch budget spent) in ESDA Fundamentals Parts 1 and 2, Wikipedia "Electrostatic discharge", TI note SSYA010A, and the Transforming Technologies and Botron home pages; none states a worksurface resistance. The band stays attributed to the ESDA primer by name, with Wikipedia's disagreeing 10^5 to 10^8 beside it and the judgement marked disputed, as for other single-source figures (Orbitkey 4.9 mm, Razer 1,200 mm).
8. `esd_rating` hint: "ESD S4.1" now described as the resistance test method (STM4.1), not a pass, with a reminder to record which measurement a figure is. Two sources: ESDA primer reference list and esda.org standards page.
9. `esd_rating` values: added `ground point, resistance unstated` for a snap or cord with no figure; backfill note gives the rule.
10. Resistance band grammar and `esd_rating` encoding: surface-resistivity figures are labelled, not placed on the resistance-to-ground band. Added vocabulary "Resistance to ground" and "Surface resistivity".
11. Judgement 7: the 1 megohm resistor is now in the wrist-strap cord, with a note that it is not the mat's ground cord.
12. `surface_material`: value `ESD rubber or vinyl` → `ESD rubber, vinyl or fabric` (iFixit table: Portable Anti-Static Mat "Construction Polyester"); iFixit added to the facet's evidence and supports.
13. `spill_resistance` values now outcomes only (`wipes clean`, `absorbs`); coated cloth goes under wipes clean (Logitech "liquids can easily be wiped away"). Backfill note updated.
14. Felt → then_ask spill_resistance leg dropped; the felt answer fixes the value, which the annotation shows and the felt trade-off ("See more wipe-clean mats") offers. Oakywood's "resists moisture" and "absorbs moisture" are both on its page; the why now cites both and rests "absorbs" on the warranty exclusion of "spilled liquids" and "Moisture exposure".
15. Gaming → then_ask thickness_mm leg dropped. Did not add a base-firmness facet: Artisan is the only source that sells firmness as a choice, so it stays a trade-off. `thickness_mm` why now separates thickness (Razer, Corsair: flatness, wrist) from firmness (Artisan). Trade-off "soft, thick base" → "soft base"; mechanism "softer, thicker foam" → "softer foam".
16. `width_mm` typical: keyboard-and-mouse band restated as about 620 to 1,000 mm (Oakywood 620 and 1,000, Orbitkey 686 and 896, Corsair 930, Razer 940). Hint: take the larger figure as width "unless the brand names the axes".
17. Judgement 1: "generic pads never state it" replaced by "no desk or felt pad read states it"; confidence high → medium, note says generic listings were not readable.
18. `backing`, `spill_resistance`, `thickness_mm` source researched → listing; the register's own hints and every brand page read carry them. backfill_cost stays low (unstated values still need a brand-page lookup).
19. Split 1 `electronics repair` → makes_irrelevant spill_resistance dropped (WEAK, unsourced inference about non-felt materials).
20. FTC wording: `surface_material` why, vocabulary "Bonded leather" and the FTC reference now say bonded leather may be sold as bonded leather, with content disclosed, but not as leather (§24.2(f), verbatim in cached eCFR text).
21. iFixit reference: title says 2026-01-13 snapshot and URL points at web/20260113132506; source heading below updated.
22. Split 3 question now "Cloth, hard plastic or glass, leather, felt, or cork?", adding the hard option; rationale no longer depends on question one having run first.
23. Sibling boundary: leather blotters and desk pads stay here; `desk-paper-tools/notes.md` says "desk pads (`desk-mats`)" are out of its scope. Silicone and magnetic repair mats: no sibling claims them (`magnet-fasteners` is magnets as supplies, `baking-sheets` kitchen silicone).
24. Branches trace rewritten for every changed leg (section above).

Rejected:
- Colour or finish facet (fix 14, minor): rejected. Colour would read unchanged in any category's register, so it fails the generic test in SKILL.md, and it is a variant selector the system already has. "Sold on look" stays in the family description.
- `designed_for` stays a `listing` facet with one value per product; the tie-break in change 4 handles keyword-stuffed titles instead of a multi-value field.

## Script notes

- The brief says to set `vertical` to `supplies`, but `schema.json` allows only formulations, machines, fashion, furnishing or other, so the validator rejects `supplies`. The JSON uses `other` so validate, render and viewer run clean. The Zamana vertical is `supplies`, per the brief and the taxonomy path. Reported back to the orchestrator.
- Validate, render and viewer ran clean with `vertical: other`. The skill's `tests/viewer-browser.py`, run on a scratchpad copy, passed 6 of 6 (1380, 768 and 390 px, light and dark). It globs `*.html` at the top of the reports folder only, so a per-category subfolder yields no checks and no error; the copy had to sit at `reports/desk-mats.html`.