I'll start by saying that I am somewhat on the sensitive side when it comes to toxic smells. There is some rubber smell with our new Indus-Tool Cozy Electric Foot Warming Pad, but it is not very strong. I did not notice any smell upon removing the mat from its packaging. Upon heating up, I could smell the rubber (as could my husband and kids), but it wasn't obnoxious enough that anyone commented upon it before I asked if they thought the smell was too strong. (I have a cold and worried I was just too stuffed up to notice the stench others mentioned.)Now, as far as the functionality of the mat, I am already in love! I bought this Warming Pad for my husband to use under his desk in the office, but I figured I would try it out myself first in case anything was wrong with it, like the super stink or not working out of the box.Our family room is an addition built over a section of the basement that doesn't get warmed by the furnace. There is insufficient insulation, too. So I'm spending all my time sitting at a desk in a room that stays about 10 degrees (F) cooler than the thermostat, and the floor is particularly cold. It is really hard to feel comfortable without cranking up the heat to a ridiculous level that leaves other areas of the house much too warm. With the mat under my feet yesterday, I never got to that restless, must-go-raise-the-thermostat stage of the afternoon. Warm feet really do make a huge difference. In terms of energy savings, this is especially important in an old, under-insulated, single-zone heated house like mine.Another reviewer for either this size or the larger warming mat suggested using Carex Bed Buddy Warming Footies in conjunction with the heated pad. GENIUS! With Birkenstocks on, I couldn't feel the heat radiating from the mat to my feet, and I really wanted to feel the heat as the day wore on. (I wasn't cold, mind you, so it was already an improvement, but I wanted really cozy feet.) Wearing just socks, the Foot Warming Pad is actually too hot for me to rest my feet on for hours while I work. With the Bed Buddy Footies, I pre-warm the "bean bags" in the microwave, put them in the booties, and wear the booties on top of the Electric Foot Warming Pad. The booties stay comfortably warm ALL AFTERNOON (several hours+), much like a coffee cup warmer can keep a hot cup of coffee at ideal temperature though it wouldn't be enough to heat that coffee up in the first place.I hope my husband tries the Indus-Tool Cozy Electric Foot Warming Pad and doesn't care for it, because after two days with it, I'm loathe to give it up. If he wants to keep, I'll definitely be back to order another one for myself.