Best wicking mat material... or least bad wicking mat material

Question:
Does anyone know of any natural, inexpensive and/or long lasting, wicking mat material?

Details:
I tend to favor soil blocks for seed starting. I like not having tons of little containers everywhere, but I have struggled with the watering. In the past, I have put maybe 40 blocks in the classic 1020 trays. I add water to the bottom, and let the blocks wick up the water. This has been quite successful... as long as I remember to keep them watered. I work full time, and my wife is not a fan of gardening, so having her water them in the heat of the day is out. If I do it only in the morning and evening, I either drown the roots by over watering, or there is not enough, and the blocks dry out by the evening. Also the trays are getting more expensive, are made out of plastic, and tend to only last a season or so before cracking/breaking. I considered stronger trays, including building my own with wood... but I find myself starting a couple hundred plants, and considering more, so I needed something to scale. I saw a guy on youtube who used soil blocks with a wicking mat. The mat was hanging over the edge of the table in a tank of water, and the blocks were simply sitting on the mat and could get all the water they needed without getting too much. The tank could be filled every couple days without problem. The problem is that most of the wicking mats I've seen, seem to be made from stuff I'd rather avoid.

Anyone ever dealt with this?

I would suggest going to a thrift store and finding some wool material.

Usually, there are sweaters made from wool if nothing else.

If none there go to the fabric store and buy some wool fabric.

I just wanted to add that if the wool seems impossible 100% cotton will be easier to find.  You might need more layers to get it to work.

Maybe even some 100% natural rope would work.

I used to put my plants in the bathtub when we went on two-week vacations and this worked well for me.  I added enough water to last the time we were to be gone.

Putting the soil blocked in a deep container might work.

Well, clearly, I was looking for the wrong things. I just found a 7.5" x 30' roll of wool capillary mat for $35. I want to confirm it's 100% wool, since the description is a bit ambiguous, but that not a bad price, and I could fit a whole lot of plants on that.

https://www.silksareforever.com/vases-and-planters/planter-accessories/self-watering-wool-capillary-wick-mat.html

Also look for stainless casserole pans and serving trays at thrift stores.  These have an almost unlimited life time.
I have not run out of under carpet mat.

Wondering how it worked out for you and if you found the capillary mats to provide your blocks the right amount of water?

Hi Allison,
Unfortunately I have not had a chance to try it out. I did not get any gardening done last year because my wife decided it was a good time to call it quits on our marriage. I have not had any place to do much gardening or seed starting.

I'll try to remember to come back and report on how it went once I get setup for gardening again.