When Cyndi Lee burned her fingers grabbing a hot bowl from the microwave she was struck with inspiration. If you’ve ever nuked a non microwave-safe mug or bowl then you know her pain. You may have tried to grab it with a regular oven mitt, only to dip your thumb in your soup. Safe Grabs are a simple and handy tool to prevent this problem. You place it on your microwave turntable under your dish, and when your food is ready you just fold the flexible Safe Grabs mat around your dish to retrieve it.
Cyndi introduced her product as a tool to safely handle hot items from the microwave, but as customers got their hands on them it became clear that the product had several other uses. Since it’s already in your hands when you grab your plate from the microwave, you can use it to carry your plate to the table, where it makes a convenient placemat that protects surfaces from rings, heat and spills.
Safe Grabs can also be used as a trivet for hot pots, pans and casserole dishes. It’s heat resistant up to 450 degrees so you can pull cookware right out of the regular oven or off the stovetop and set it down on the Safe Grabs mat. Since it’s flexible, it’s also is a great cover for bowls of food at cookouts, pot lucks and picnics that will keep food from drying out and shield it from bothersome flies and insects.
Another clever use is as a splatter guard for microwave cooking and reheating. If you’ve ever microwaved tomato sauce you know what a mess it can make. A Safe Grabs mat placed over the bowl will keep the splatter contained and your turntable clean. Any mess is easy to rinse off with warm water. The uses for this swiss army knife of a kitchen tool don’t stop there. Customers also use it to grab hot pan handles, as a utensil rest, a flexible funnel, and even to get a grip on tough to open jars.
Safe Grabs are made from food grade silicone so they’re safe to eat off of and you don’t need to worry about off-gassing when heated. They’re BPA free, non-stick, antimicrobial, and dishwasher safe. One side of the Safe Grabs mat is smooth and the other has a series of concentric circle ridges that serve two purposes. The ridges face down when in the microwave, so that when you fold it up to grab your bowl the ridges are the only surface in contact with your hands. This means you touch very little surface area that could transfer heat, and natural air flow cools the mat quickly. The ridges also create a non-skid texture that will grip surfaces like tables or counters without leaving scratches. Its edge has a slightly upturned lip that makes it easy to lift, so you won’t need to clumsily pry it up with your fingertips.
Safe Grabs come in a set of two, one measuring 12” in diameter and a smaller 10” version. They’re available in 4 colors – Lime Green, Orange, Kitchen Red, and Sky Blue.
Before Shark Tank:
Cyndi first introduced the product in 2015 as the Micro Easy Grab. She later rebranded it as Safe Grabs to reflect the product’s many other uses. Cyndi’s product debuted on QVC Sprouts, a program that brings up and coming products from small companies to market. The product was well received on the show and she sold out quickly, moving 1700 units in a matter of minutes. Her product was subsequently selected as a winner in QVC’s Search for a Better Tomorrow contest. Her initial success with the network earned her an invitation to return to QVC and she reappeared with her product in January 2016. In March 2016 Cyndi took her product on the Steve Harvey Show where she competed in a contest called Passion Projects against two other inventors, and won the $5,000 grand prize.
