Coasters
A coaster is a plate-like object.
It can serve various purposes:
- Under flower pots, it protects against water leaking after watering.
- It protects against wax stains under a candle holder.
- It protects against dents under a heavy object.
- It protects the surface from heat under hot cooking or baking containers.
A coaster is used to protect a base. Trivets can be completely flat, like tiles, or made of raffia, wood, tree rings or cork. What the materials have in common is that they are heat-resistant up to around 90 ° C and that they insulate the heat. Flower pot coasters serve to catch excess irrigation water. They should therefore be impermeable to water and therefore usually have a high edge so that they do not overflow.
The saucer is a special form of coaster . It catches drops under cups.
Also Coasters are a special form of coasters is: Originally intended to cover beer glasses, they are often delivered in restaurants with the drinks to the table cloths to spare.
There are also special coasters for wine glasses; they can be seen as a counterpart to the upscale dining culture to the beer coasters.
The opposite of a coaster is the above-mentioned covering of glasses to protect against heat loss or against (falling) dirt.
The coaster is part of the protective culture that has established itself in Europe: The wood of the table, for example, is protected by the varnish, the varnish by a tablecloth and the tablecloth by the coaster. The originally protective objects also became objects of protection over time.