Lots of things can be used. I've been known when serving several hot things to use folded up (clean) dish rags. lol Yes you can use the silicon pot holders. Go online and do a search. There are tons in all shapes, sizes and materials. For your marble though I would be mindful of any trivets that have "feet", making sure they have smooth bottoms or rubber on them.

And I store my few on top of my DW.

I have porcelain tile and it's so tough, no trivets needed ever, BUT I do use them on my glass dining table. I keep them in a basket and just put them out when needed. Mine are woven straw, but I've used many over the years.
I often use potholders on the counter to keep the meat warmer than if the pan sits on the porcelain tile, which is kinda cold.

I have stacks and stacks of the Ikea cork trivets in a drawer (well two drawers - one in kitchen and one in the buffet). Cheap and effective and the grungy ones go live under plants.

Edited to add picture.

Ikea HEAT

I'm more likely to use a potholder than a real trivet. I don't think I even have trivets in the kitchen--they're in the dining room. You don't need to totally insulate the hot pot, you just need to slow down heat transfer to a nice ahhhhh instead of a shock!!!

You might want to have a marble trivet made to just plop in the most likely spots on your counter, but I suspect that might get annoyingly heavy at times.

I have a silicon potholder with a waffle pattern and it did leave sort of a waffle mark on my cooktop so it might do the same for marble. Keep in mind, though, it was not a clean potholder and not a clean cooktop. And that particular potholder can actually create a bit of suction with its little waffley shapes...I think something that breathes would be preferable if it's directly on the counter.

But yeah, don't overthink it. You don't want to scratch the counter and that fear alone will probably protect it adequately from any thermal shock.

Here's my favorite, carved by hand. And this one reminds me, some made of smoother wood, and definitely tile or glass or anything slick can be dangerous. Make sure whatever is on it can't slide off.

And the back which shows the rubber grippers.

I have a pretty set of cast iron trivets. They have hardware on the back so I hang them on the wall on either side of my kitchen window and just take them down when needed. They tie nicely into the ORB hardware in the rest of the house, as well as go nicely with a set of decorative cast iron brackets we hung in the cased opening between DR and LR.

Another fan of folded kitchen towels or Ikea cork trivets.

Thanks everyone!

beth09, that is a gorgeous trivet - LOL I'd be afraid to use it.

Like many others here I'm fond of the Ikea cork trivets - they are light weight and cheap. I have a frosted glass kitchen table so I use them daily. I also will use an oven mitt or folded towel - whatever is handy.

I do put hot pans from the oven on my induction stove top - in 5 years nothing has happened to it, I never considered thermal shock but I probably should be more careful.

Thank you alexa!

I have a big stack of the Ikea cork trivets, too!

IKEA cork trivets here as well. Keep them in a drawer.

Ikea must sell a ton of those trivets. Thank you all!

I use the Range Kleen mats. I have them in many different sizes, and bought quite a few 7 x 7 that I use for trivets on my marble and walnut island. They are fantastic for marble. I also use pot holders. They are all in a drawer right by the range.

Pot holders do double duty here -- they can serve as trivets, but trivets can't double as pot holders! (Less to purchase, have sitting around, etc.)

I have two recommendations, for the round and for the square!

Traditional Le Creuset trivets. They are made of enameled cast iron, and are the only thing I would use when I am setting down a screaming-hot LC dutch oven. They come in several colors; I have a black one (looks great on the dining table) and a "dijon" one (so sunny). Sadly, LC doesn't offer either of these colors in trivets any longer. In any case, they will last for literally a lifetime. I just checked Amazon, and the prices have skyrocketed on these since I bought mine more than a decade ago. Perhaps check eBay if you are interested. Le Creuset enameled cast iron trivet

I also have an expandable trivet for square/rectangular casseroles of varying sizes. I really like how it expands so I don't need to have different size trivets for all my casseroles. Expandable Trivet

I've had the Ikea cork trivets that lenzai linked to above, and while they are inexpensive, I just like the prettiness of my other trivets. I spent so much on my kitchen renovation to transform my kitchen. I guess I want things sitting on the counter or table to be as pretty. I found the Ikea cork ones tended to discolor, and also curl a bit so that they weren't flat which annoyed me.

i love this Ikea trivet. I have 2 and want to get more.

ikea lamplig trivet

i use them for a lot of thing:

- I put the crockpot on it

- I use it for cooling down cookies

- DH pulls homemade pizza out of the oven and straight onto the trivet.

love them.

Amanda

I've been wondering lately what kind of trivet people use with crockpots... any ideas?

piled up pot holders. :)

It makes me twitchy about fire hazards...

Sorry, maybe I misunderstood: did you mean the entire cooking unit, or when you remove the crockpot pot to set it down somewhere (I thought you meant the latter). I used to place a small saucer under each metal foot/nub while the crockpot was cooking.

I use numerous Charles Viancin silicone potholders as trivets. Mine are different colors in a leaf design & work for many things. So easy to wash if they get something spilled on them & easy to store.

This is my favorite trivet, $4 at Ikea- decorative and easy to store if needed. I just leave 2 out at all times.

Ikea Lagg trivet

I have "pretties" - a variety of colored cast iron ones I set on the table or island for hot serving dishes. And "practicals" which are silicone 11" x 11" squares I got at the Le Creuset outlet. I keep them handy in the drawer under my microwave. They're lightweight, washable and big enough to protect the counter when I pull out a big sheet pan of roasted vegetables or a steaming cast iron skillet fresh out of the oven. I also put one under my elec pressure cooker and crock pot. I like that they're solid, so no hot liquids will drip onto the counter.

I wasn't able to find the large square size online to post a link. Don't know if they're only available at outlets.

Thank you for all the help!

I installed a backslash in our kitchen the was glass and travertine mosaic 1/2 tiles.I took the leftovers ,glued them to some 1/4" backer and picture framed them with walnut.Kind of cool to have trivets to match the kitchen.

My mom has a couple tiles my brother did sketches on when he was in his teens, then they had them glazed. She uses them as trivets. Kinda neat.

I have 3 large wooden cutting boards that pretty much stay out all the time. If something hot needs to be put down somewhere, it is either the stovetop or one of those cutting boards...most times the cutting boards. The only trivets I own belonged to my grandmother and I use them as decorations in the kitchen. On the rare occasion that I use my crockpot, it also sits on a cutting board as it cooks. BTW, none of the cutting boards have ever burned or been scorched.

I use cork, but they're not the IKEA ones - mine are decorated. I ordered them online but I don't remember where.

I'm loving all these differents trivets, thanks for the pics all.

Really great suggestions. Thanks everyone!

I bought a couple of these at Ikea a few years ago and store them with my potholders.

I love my Joseph Joseph accordion trivet. I can use it with any size pan or casserole dish. Even though I have lots of fun ceramic and wood trivets - JJ gets used in the kitchen.

I also love the Andréas silicone trivets. They come in colors and patterns - one of my favorites is my dragonfly one but I am showing my lemons today. You can induction cook on them as well as toss in the DW - although, I usually don't do either.

The other one is a tile I picked up in Tacoma.

What have you been using on marble @Nothing Left to Say?

N, I have half dozen of these - Norpro Silicon folding.

They take up very little drawer space, are sturdy, can go in the dishwasher. They are approx 7 years old.

And nothing wobbles on them ;0)