It is eight in the evening, the dining table is needed for dinner and the puzzle is half done. That is the problem a mat solves, and it is the reason to buy a jigsaw puzzle mat. If the puzzle can stay where it is until the end, you do not need one.

It helps to split things into stages, because each stage calls for something different.

Before you start: the table, the light and nothing else

You do not need to buy anything except the puzzle to get started. A smooth surface a little bigger than the finished size, with room around it for unsorted pieces, and good light. Light matters more than any accessory. Under weak yellow light, a blue sky and a blue sea become the same colour.

For sorting pieces, the lids of other puzzle boxes, baking trays or dessert plates do the same job as dedicated sorters. There is no need to spend money here. If you want them one day, you can buy them later.

Halfway through: buying a puzzle mat, and which size

A mat is a surface you roll up with the puzzle on it, so you can lift everything off the table without breaking up what is already done. Then you unroll it and carry on. If you do puzzles in a small home, or on a shared table, it is the accessory that makes the biggest difference.

We have two. The Clementoni puzzle mat measures 105 x 78 cm and is made for puzzles from 500 to 2000 pieces. The Educa Parking Puzzle is larger, at 122 x 80 cm.

You choose by the finished size of the puzzle, which is always on the product page. A 1000 from Educa (68 x 48 cm) or Clementoni (70 x 50 cm) fits on either with room to spare. So does a 1500 from Educa, like the 1500 piece Santorini (85 x 60 cm).

With Educa's 2000 piece puzzles, at 96 x 68 cm, the margin gets tighter. Lake Cabin and The Sewing Table fit on the Clementoni mat, but with little space left for loose pieces, and the Educa Parking is more comfortable there.

Above that, do the maths before you order. A 3000 from Educa, such as the World Map, finishes at 120 x 85 cm. Its 85 cm height is more than the Parking's 80 cm and the Clementoni mat's 78 cm. For these formats, the most practical option is still a table that belongs to the puzzle for a few weeks, or a larger sheet of rigid board from a stationery shop.

One mix up worth clearing up: in the shop you will also see Clementoni's "Puzzle Mat with Interactive Game", with Spidey or Paw Patrol. Those are children's products and are not meant for storing a puzzle in progress.

If you would rather not roll it, some people slide the unfinished puzzle onto a board and cover it with another. We wrote about these options in our article on how to store puzzles in an organised way.

At the end: glue, but only for the wall

Glue only makes sense if the finished puzzle is going to be framed or hung. If you plan to break it up and put it back in the box, you need nothing.

Before buying glue, open the box. Many Educa adult puzzles include Fix Puzzle glue, and the product page says when that is the case. The 1000 piece Jellyfish is one of them: pink, orange and violet jellyfish on a dark background, an image that looks great framed. The Clementoni puzzles we sell do not list glue on their product pages.

The technique is simple. Finished puzzle, pieces pressed tight, a sheet of baking paper underneath so it does not stick to the table. Spread the glue on top in a thin layer with a card or spatula, without soaking it. Then let it dry properly; overnight is the safest bet.

On the wall: the frame

This is where the brand's size matters again. A frame made for an Educa 1000 (68 x 48 cm) will not fit a Clementoni 1000 (70 x 50 cm), and vice versa. Buy the frame with the finished puzzle in front of you, or check the size on the product page.

The puzzles that most often end up framed are art puzzles. Klimt's The Kiss by Clementoni, with all that gold, and Munch's The Scream by Educa are two that people buy with the wall already in mind. There are more in the art puzzles collection.

What you can skip

Magnifiers, tweezers and reading lamps are only needed for Miniature puzzles, where 1000 pieces fit into 46 x 30 cm. For normal puzzles they stay in the drawer.

You also do not need a mat if you do one puzzle a month on the same table and nobody asks for the table back.

All our accessories are in the Accessories collection. If you order it with some puzzles, it counts towards the order total like any other item.