The Best Outdoor Door Mat

Buying Guide

Make a statement while keeping your house neat and tidy with the best outdoor doormat. When shopping for a doormat, you’ll want to consider style, size of the entrance, materials and durability. These are a few ways to get great value and a long life out of your doormat.

Let’s first take a look at a pretty common type of doormat, a coir doormat. Coir is coconut husk fiber. You can find them either backed or unbacked and they are typically very thick. The unbacked mats are good for an uncovered entrance because they let water drain through them. Another additional pro is their ability to get dirt off of shoes. With such coarse and rigid fibers, coir can clean the dirt right out of all the nooks and crannies in your shoes. The biggest con to a coir doormat is the shedding. If you can find a high-quality product, the shedding is typically minimum. Some doormats feature simple and beautiful designs with durable PVC backing for a long-lasting product.

Rubber is another material to consider. With excellent traction and effectiveness at removing dirt, rubber doormats are a great choice. Usually, these are used in more discreet areas such as garage entryways where style doesn’t matter much. The Gorilla Grip Rubber Door Mat comes in a variety of styles and colors so you don’t have to necessarily compromise style for function.

One more choice for doormats is a synthetic pile material. Usually backed with rubber and featuring a rubber edging, these doormats will wick moisture and dirt off your footwear. The synthetic material is typically polypropylene. The biggest con is that the pile will flatten relatively quickly, especially in comparison to coir. The Slip to Grip Outdoor Door Mat is an excellent synthetic rug that is also aesthetically pleasing.

Next, consider the size of the doormat. Before you go shopping for a doormat, measure the width of your front door or doors if you have a double door entry. You’ll find that the most symmetrical measurement is roughly 80 percent or more the width of your entryway. So if you have a four-foot-wide door, you’ll want a mat that is roughly 39 inches wide or more. For length, you want to think about foot traffic. Most people will take two steps onto a mat to wipe off their shoes. A typical step is about 12-18 inches with some longer or shorter than others, so a three- or four-foot length is best. Consider a longer mat if you live in muddy areas so there is enough space for all the foot traffic to get their dirt off.

Whether you want to spruce up your curb appeal or want to keep a clean house, consider all these features of a doormat before you buy. You can find excellent mats within your budget and give your home a little bit more of your style while keeping it tidy.

• To keep your vacuuming to a minimum, place a mat at every single entryway to your home. This includes garage entryways, too.
• Place a mat on both sides of the doors. One mat inside the home and one mat outside the door will surely keep your floors neat.
• A coir mat is best used outside the door because it not only stands up to the elements better, but it also catches all the dirt. Using a synthetic mat inside the door will help soak up the rain or water before walking on your floors.
• Taking care of your mats will increase their effectiveness. Try shaking or hitting your mat out on a clothesline once a week depending on your foot traffic and weather.
• Some types of mats will take vacuuming very well while others like coir will not. Be sure to look at the care instructions on the mat before using any chemicals or methods on it.