Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I don't know why this has all these glowing reviews?? I bought 12 of these to replace the "kiddie alphabet" snap together blocks I had been using. I found that some of those had color transfer onto the towel I used to cover the surface. I always wondered if one day they might transfer onto my knitting... I had just finished a beautiful pi shawl so I decided to reward myself with new tiles. I originally chose these over some of the other professional blocking tiles because a) they had a printed grid, which I think will be necessary and b) you could buy them singly and not be tied into into multiple sets of 9 and c) Boye is a brand I have heard of and thought would be a decent quality product.... Reality is different - first off, these tile reek - and not just a little, it's overpowering. Each one is sealed tight into it's package and it just keeps the chemical smell fresh from the factory straight to your craft room. I have tried washing them and airing them outdoors, but the smell still lingers. Worse yet, it attaches itself to your knitting. I piled towels over the surface before I blocked, but once it's wet it just permeates the whole stack... And piling towels sort of defeats the purpose of having grids. Secondly, these are way thinner and/or less dense than they ought to be. Even pinning at a severe angle away from your knit edge or blocking wires won't keep the T-pin embedded into the tile (see my photo). It will not stay taut and wants to creep toward the center of your work which sort of defeats the purpose of blocking, and it's not that I'm blocking tight or overly stretched, it's normal wet blocking that I've done time and time again. The tiles themselves also tend to bend and bow at the interlocking seam under normal amount of pressure. I think these were never intended for larger projects like sweaters... Those pin holes won't heal up either... once they're there, it's always there and very conspicuous.... The only advantage of these thin, light tiles it that they take up very little room in storage. I invested so much money and thought in choosing and buying of these tiles, thinking they would last me for many years to come, but I just cant wait to get rid of them. I may keep one or two of them to block small kitchen knitting like dishcloths, but never again for a big project like a shawl. I can't believe that my cheap old playroom tiles are better than these tiles that are made specifically for blocking - I'm very disappointed... My next tiles will be plain white interlocking floor tiles, at least 1/2" thick... anything has to be firmer and denser than these things. I think I've decided that the grid feature is not worth it after all. BTW - the blocking wires I use are Inspinknity brand flexible blocking wires - They are pretty much perfect in every way. I love them!