What do doormats do?

Door mats do more than just look pretty.

At first sight, the humble door mat doesn’t do much. Maybe even on second or third sight. To be honest, most people are surprised when we tell them that door mats are multi-talented fixtures. So, what do door mats do?

As well as being an important style icon, your door mat is a critical safety feature. This is true at home or work, but particularly if your entranceways see a lot of people walking through.

When was the last time you wiped your feet walking into a shopping centre? The cinema? What about your kids when they walk into school? When was the last time you even thought about the fact that most public buildings have mats in their doorways?

If you’re anything like us, the answer is hazy. The truth is we don’t tend to think about it when we’re out and about. Luckily for these buildings, door mats do their work without anyone even noticing. Here’s what they do while you’re not looking:

 

Door mats clean shoes for you…

As people step over a door mat – especially a scraper mat – their shoes are cleaned without them even noticing. The sturdy bristles pull dirt and dust from soles and hold it all in the structure of the mat, leaving shoes clean as they walk over your floor.

For a mat to effectively remove all the dirt from a shoe, the person wearing the shoe needs to take 8 steps. That means, your door mat should be long enough that anyone entering your building can take at least 8 steps.

If your building is public or commercial, we highly recommend fitting your entrance with a door mat that is at least 3.6metres long. That said, we also understand that space limits can make this impossible. So, the longer the better in that case.

 

…And dry them too

It isn’t just dirt and debris that door mats remove. Water is another uninvited visitor that hitchhikes on the soles of shoes. After the hardcore scrape and collect, a great door mat will work to absorb the remaining water and keep your floors dry as a bone.

The ideal doormat combination is a durable scraper mat outside and a softer, absorbent mat inside. We understand, though, that some people don’t have the space for this, which is why we also stock multi-tasking mats that both scrape and absorb!

Keeping floors dry isn’t just useful for your cleaning team, it is also an important safety step. Water on the floor reduces friction and causes shoes to slip, and the person wearing the shoes to fall. Which leads us to our next benefit of door mats…

 

Doormats prevent accidents

One reason that people come to us for new door mats is that there has been an accident in their home or workplace that they want to avoid repeating. Slips, trips and falls are a leading cause of workplace injury and account for around 8% of workplace deaths.

The perfect door mat will provide friction between feet and the floor, reducing slip accidents significantly. It will do this without creating a trip hazard, either with bevelled (ramped) edges or by having a very low profile (height).

To make an even lower profile, especially in commercial buildings, door mats can be fitted into a mat recess. Recesses – or mat wells – work to keep the mat still as well as lower it to ground level. This simultaneously prevents slip and trip accidents.

 

Door mats showcase your brand

OK, so this one has a caveat: you need to add your logo to a mat for it to do your marketing for you. But, luckily for all entrepreneurs and businesses out there, we have a huge range of logo mats to suit all your business needs.

Logo mats put your logo at the highest-traffic areas in your building, which keeps your logo at the forefront of your customers’ minds. As they step through the door every morning, make your logo the first thing they see.

Our unique and varied printing techniques means we can get your logo onto almost any type of door mat. If you need something intricate and specific, we can make it. If you need a logo to outlast the life of the mat, we can make that too.

 

Door mats fit your vibe

As well as being your longest-lasting marketing material, door mats tell your employees, customers and friends what to expect once they get through your door. Not only does colour and style portray your personal brand (yep, even at home), they showcase cleanliness and personality too.

Personalising your door mat isn’t reserved just for branding. Do you want to welcome your guests? Make them laugh? Maybe you want to deter any visitors from knocking. Just a few words on a seemingly inconspicuous mat can set the trend for every encounter.

Personalising your entranceway for business is equally important. What tone of voice do you want to portray? A mat in a hospital waiting room might want to lighten the mood. A warehouse might want to warn of a safety hazard. Find out how to design an entranceway for your business if you would like to know more.

 

It’s up to you what your door mat can do

You might be surprised now that you’ve reached the end of this post: door mats sure do a lot. We hope you’ve learned to appreciate mats as much as we do, and maybe it’s even time for you to upgrade yours.

If you’re looking for more personalised mat-related assistance, our team of friendly matxperts are ready and waiting to dish it out. They know everything there is to know about mats and love helping you find the perfect solution for your space.

Reach out to us using the chat function at the bottom of your screen. Or, if you prefer to pick up the phone, you can reach us on 1300 628 746. We are Australia’s most highly reviewed door mat manufacturer, and you can browse all our mats and more right here on the website.