All-Weather Front Door Mats, Pair

This is the only thing in the catalogue that does not live in the kitchen, and the only one sold to solve a problem that starts outside the house. Two mats, each 29.5 by 17 inches, made to be walked on wet. The point of the pair is that one door needs two: one outside to scrape, one inside to absorb what the first one missed.

That two-stage arrangement is the whole reason a mat works at all. A single mat outside gets soaked and stays soaked. A single mat inside takes the grit straight onto the floor beside it. Outside then inside, the first mat takes the mud and the standing water and the second takes the damp off the sole, and the floor past it stays dry. If you would rather cover two separate doors instead, the pair does that too — front and back, or the door and the laundry room.

The fabric is polypropylene, which is the reason these go outdoors. It does not rot when it stays wet, it does not hold the smell that wet natural fibre develops, and it dries without going stiff. At 29.5 by 17 inches there is room for two full strides rather than the single apologetic step a small mat allows, which is what actually gets shoes clean.

The backing is rubber, and on a mat that matters more than the top surface. A mat that slides when you wipe your feet on it is worse than no mat, because it moves at exactly the moment you have your weight on one foot. The rubber holds it against tile, timber and concrete, and it stops the mat bunching into a ridge by the door.

The short version

• Sold as a pair — one for outside the door, one for inside
• 29.5 by 17 inches: long enough for two strides, not one step
• Polypropylene, so it can stay wet outdoors without rotting
• Rubber backing stops it sliding or bunching underfoot
• Also suits back doors, mudrooms, laundry rooms and the garage

Who it suits

Specification