Aqua Turquoise Pocketed Pot Holders, Pair

The failure mode of a pot holder is not that it stops working. It is that it ends up under a pile of tea towels and you use the tea towel instead. Aqua turquoise is the pair that does not get lost. Two squares, ten by seven inches, each one a glove when you slide your fingers in and a trivet when you lay it flat.

That visibility matters twice over with pot holders, because they double as trivets, and a trivet only protects a worktop if it is out on the counter before the hot pan arrives. A colour you notice from the doorway prompts you to put it there. A colour that matches the worktop does not.

The build is the same as the rest of the colours: a silicone outer face with a raised non-slip pattern for grip, a pocket split at the fingertips so you can pinch a lid knob with control, and a terrycloth lining behind the silicone doing the insulating. The silicone is what stops steam and spills reaching the cotton.

A bright colour holds up here because silicone does not absorb — marks sit on the surface and wipe off with warm water and dish soap. Care is also easier on this colour than on some of the others: the listing for the aqua turquoise pair gives machine wash, where the black, red and grey pairs are listed hand wash only. On a pale colour that reserve cycle is the one that eventually gets used.

The short version

• Brightest pot holder colour and the hardest to lose on a counter
• Ten by seven inches; works as a glove or as a flat trivet
• Split fingertip pocket for pinching lid knobs and handles
• Non-slip silicone face; terrycloth lining does the insulating
• Listed as machine wash, which the darker pairs are not

Who it suits

Specification