View Full Version : Carpet entryway mats. (Love 'em or hate 'em).
Personally, I hate' em! Nothing like keeping a clean house and having people track (back and forth) over a thoroughly soiled and dirty entryway carpet/mat, then track that same dirt and soiling (in it's entirety) through ones clean house!
Inspiration for me starting this thread? Company and guests (continually) passing their off-the-cuff comments (my way) related to, "why don't you have a carpet/mat down in the entry, Margaret"? "You should have a carpeted floor-mat down in the entryway, Margaret". No, I shouldn't! And, no, I don't want one!
I gave up on keeping an entryway rug/carpet in our home (many years ago), due to the opening reasons I stated. I prefer a floor that can be washed/scrubbed, instead. Sure, a narrow carpeted runner tucked neatly against the wall (out of the way of where everyone walks and tracks-over), is nice for storing footwear, but IMO having an entryway carpet that seldom (if at all) ever gets cleaned, doesn't make sense to me.
What's your take on the matter? What have you come up with in your home as to entryway flooring/material?
Our front door just has an outside mat and I can be heard yelling 'wipe your feet' any and everytime we use the front door. There is a wood landing area and then carpet (which I can't wait - but must - get rid of).
The back door has an outside mat and an inside rug (on top of wood dining floor). I hate that area, it's the eat in kitchen area and it is not big enough. Feet must be wiped outside and inside and then shoes removed because....well...to be honest the chickens have rule of the back yard.
There isn't enough room for 10 pair of (size 13 and 14) shoes and that is what I normally find piled up by that door. I HATE IT!!!
Oh, it is so messy here in the winter that I give up on appearances and put down two 5'x7' indoor/outdoor mats to catch all the slush/snowmelt/ice/salt/gravel/etc. But as soon as the mess ends, we stash those and the boot trays in the garage and go back to bare floors.
I've got floor mats both front and side (there's no back door). The front door area would look better without a mat, but there's a small semi-circular area of sheet vinyl immediately inside the door where it would be easy to slip with wet shoe soles. Besides, the cat adores the mat. She tosses it around so it lands in a heap right where the door opens, creating the perfect trip hazard. She thinks this is entertaining.
The side door leads directly into the mud/furnace/laundry room and because this is the door I usually use when trekking in and out gardening, I have a washable carpet runner in this area. This room also has a sheet vinyl floor.
I wish I could get rid of both mats. The mats are just two more things to wash and who needs that?
So funny you mention it... I typically don't have one because it gets caught under the draft guard and is a PIA. Well, DH tracks in all kinds of dirt, so I bought these REALLY cute mats from Stephen Huneck's website, dogmt.com (I ADORE that website, and that artist). They were SO cute, DH was compelled to step OVER the mats onto the floor so he wouldn't dirty the mats!
Well, we just FINALLY redid our floors in a wood laminate. The old floors were a horrible 70s vinyl that never looked clean even if you scrubbed for days. So I'm in heaven right now. My first thought was, I have to get mats now so my new floors don't get dirty--but you know what? They clean so nicely with a spritz of vinegar and water and a microfiber cloth that I'm having second thoughts about those PIA door mats!
It's been well documented here that I don't enjoy cleaning, so there's a large rug inside the kitchen door (where we take our shoes off) and a mat in the entryway- more of a runner. The runner gets vacuumed, the rug in the kitchen goes into the washing machine when needed. Since in the summer I'm often barefoot in the garden, the runner gives me the opportunity to get some of the dirt off my feet before going into the kitchen with my harvest.
I agree they don't look particularly nice, but they are practical ways to keep mud/dirt from migrating further into the house.
I see I am in the minority here. I read Don Aslett years ago on the subject of mats. As a commercial cleaner, he swears by mats at every door. So I try to mat outside the door and just inside the door. The mats inside are carpet. They are shaken out at least weekly and washed in the washer as needed. Sometimes that is also weekly. When we don't have mats, people walk into the living room with wet boots to take them off. There isn't room enough in the entryway. Also the mat helps the dog to "wipe" his feet. The mats at front and back door are positioned so he cannot miss them.
Before we matted in the living room, the dirt was ruining the finish on the hardwood floor. It is better now, though not ideal. What I'd really like would be to have a roof over the back deck so that I could have heavy duty mats outside that door. These can be vacuumed with the shop vac or hosed off. But since there is no roof yet, I have to just have the rug mat inside.
I have a small entry rug at the doorway entrance. When it gets dirty I just throw it in the washing machine. I prefer having one since it catches the bulk of the dirt and wetness people are tracking in that I don't want on my wood floor. Works for me. :) I do not have a mat outside the front door though. I don't like those - they get so yucky over time and leave a permanent stain on the front porch. When we moved to this house I said no more front door outside mat!
Edited to add: I also keep a washable rug at the back door where our three little dogs go in and out, plus if it is raining I put a long towel down on the floor as well. This combo seems to catch all of the little wet feet prints. :)
I don't have one inside the front door. Our entryway is tile and easy to clean.
The kitchen/back door has a rug and towel combo needed to clean the 8 muddy dog paws that are a winter and spring inevitability around here. The towel gets changed once a day and the rug gets washed as needed. I certainly understand not wanting to have a mat, but if one has a washable mat(and actually washes it), I don't know how this makes things more dirty.
My dogs are trained to stand on the towel until each paw is wiped (they even lift their paws up, one at a time :)). Then, COOKIES!
Kara
I'm a fan of the rugs inside each doorway. I've chosen rugs that complement our decor and are machine washable. I think they help keep the floors clean. I especially want to control sand and grit which are unkind to the hardwood floors.
Don't hate 'em, don't love 'em but need 'em. Nothing at the front door because no one ever uses the front door but we have a runner from inside the back porch door to the kitchen door. It is necessary with dogs (and with my husband and with me). The runner is trimmed to fit 4' wide indoor/outdoor carpeting (we keep a roll on hand) so we can replace it as needed. We also have a mat a the bottom of the outside step. Sometimes the dogs hop right over the outside mat, take a couple of steps on the runner and into the house with muddy paws but for the most part the runner catches everything.
So nice hearing from everybody. Thanks, guys! Surprisingly, as frugal and home-savvy as I am, I never gave thought as to a machine washable version... Definite food for thought.
Thing is, if everyone was more committed towards avoiding stepping on the dirty mat with their clean stocking feet, I'd likely be a more accepting of using one (again), but watching the kids (and company) with their clean stocking covered feet, standing-on, walking-on, and tracking-over a filthy dirty mat, then tracking through the house, keeps me on the opposing side of considering going back to anything but plain washable floors. At least with plain washable uncovered flooring, the kids (and company) tend to step around wet/dirty areas, whereas with a mat, moisture and soiling is hidden, and, for some unknown reason, people like to walk-on and track-over such mats with their clean stocking feet!
Me, I'm grossed out whenever we visit people who have dirty mats in their homes. Dirty mats where I have to do the funky-chicken, in order not to touch my clean stocking feet on the filthy surface of the mat!
We have hard surface floors on the first floor here, and I can't see any reason for a dirt trapper. I prefer to just sweep the dirt away.
And besides, our dogs pee on floor coverings, anyway. We will never be able to have a rug. Well, I think I might buy a small one for the living room and unroll it for company, and roll it back up for regular times. But really, I don't mind a bare wood floor.
At the back door I will often lay down a towels to sop up wet stuff on an especially wet day.
I'm pretty particular about cleanliness in the house and I have to say, our mats don't seem to be a source of dirt. When we walk in, we take boots off immediately and put them on the boot trays. The mats catch small amounts of residual moisture, dampness from gloves, etc, but mostly gravel and salt, which are vacuumed off regularly.
IshbelRobertson
4-3-12, 11:20am
We have outside mats and a small mat inside the 3 entry doors into the house.
Iris. I do the towel thing also, on wet, snowy days.
Rosemary. I've become such a fuss-nut over the past few years... Much of the change in me (I believe) is the result of seeing babyhood, come to an end in our home, which for me, equates to less mess (overall), and, provides me with an opportunity to turn a new leaf as to how I really want to live. (Cleaner, more efficient, etc). Milestones and rewards in relation to having to fuss less (over everybody).
Ishbel. With multiple entries, my dream would be to reserve one entrance (alone) as a formal entrance, another as a family or everyday sort of entrance, and the other as a utilitarian entrance, possibly for use after gardening, etc, where the entrance borders or shares space with a shower/laundry area.
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