I don't know what plastic mats you are talking about.You don't mean the plastic dividers used for 3 ring binders?

They work great! Been using them for years now!

Another great source of clear template plastic is toy packages, actually any kind of packages. It's right there on the front,and all you have to do is take it off. It's what I use. Don't remember when I bought clear plastic template. I rack up at Christmas time cause all my friends (who haven't started doing the same thing) and my family save me the plastic from their packages.One of my grandchildren got a dollhouse for Christmas and I got a box full of plastic from the front of the dollhouse box and the furniture boxes.

You could run the bacon plastic through the dishwasher on the top rack.