Table protection

The important thing is that the hot pot does not touch the table, but is separated from it.
The most effective are the cast iron ones on three short legs. BUT you then have the problem of preventing the feet from scratching the table, so back to square one by a different route!
Mats with thick cork backing are probably as good as anything as an alternative.
Obviously nothing metallic which will conduct heat

I use cheap cork-backed table mats from somewhere like B&M or Matalan. They work well and aren't expensive to replace if they do get a bit discoloured. Works a treat on our oak dining table.

I use flexible silicone trivets, which are non-slip, heat resistant and dishwasher safe. Available online from "A....." or "e-...". Not the cheapest, but have lasted me for years and still going strong. Good value for the money.

We use a wooden chopping board. If you don't want it marked put a folded tea towel underneath

Yes cork placemats are good, or they do the proper heavy trivets on Lakeland.com i think.not cheap on there i wouldn't think but everything is guaranteed for 3 years.

I use two ordinary cork-backed table mats, one stacked on top of the other. The cork surface is uppermost to prevent damaging the pattered side.

I have some cork rounds I bought from Ikea a few years ago. They work well as table protectors for hot pots or plants.

Marian1412, I just use the thick cork pot stands from Ikea (£2 for three). I have a dozen so I use them as placemats too.

Not difficult to find something to protect your table , check out Amazon, look in Dunelm.

I have actually made some in the past! What you can do is take a tile, such as you'd use for the bathroom, and glue it to a couple of wooden slats (I think the ones I used had originally be intended for edging a shelf or something). Use wood glue or a glue gun. (I am not sure if they have glue guns in the UK. We have them here. Basically, they are a gun type device that plugs in to the wall so it heats up. You can buy sticks of glue that you put, one at a time, into the back of the glue gun. When you pull the trigger, the glue gun secretes some of the glue from the stick, which has been melted by the heat of the glue gun. They work well for crafting and they come in large and small sizes, with glue sticks available separately and sized accordingly.)

Thank you all

The only things I trust with hot casseroles on my table and worktops are thick wooden chopping boards. I have a glass protector which came from John Lewis but rarely use it.

I’ve got some grill type things from IKEA. They are terrific, are modestly price and are in two sizes. In fact, I have a large one on either side of my induction hob as well.

I use cork backed table mats, they've survived intact for over 20 years.

Thank you I think I know what you mean.

I have one of those surface protectors on my worktop, but when they break - as another one did - they break into a
smithereens and are awful to clear up.

We have some glass table protectors, like a square of glass with some little plastic dots that stick underneath ( we lose one every so often, but you can buy sheets of them cheaply on Amazon)
We've had them for years, and so I just googled to see if I could direct you to something similar, all that came up were loads of sites that would cut glass / clear acrylic to order. That sounded like a good idea!
But I obviously can't recommend any of them - just suggest you google 'glass table protectors'!