Best mat for inside door?

[LadyBug]

Opinions, please! I need a really good mat to absorb water/snow from doggie feet after they come in from the yard that also looks nice. My floors are hardwood, and I hate seeing puppy footprints everywhere when it’s wet outside, especially the day they’re cleaned!! It isn’t realistic to towel off their feet every time they come in, and DH wouldn’t do it anyway.

Some of the options out there are quite pricey (LL Bean Waterhog mat, Soggy Doggy). I don’t mind spending the money if it’s worth it, but I hate to spend a ton on a mat that’s no better than a remnant piece of carpet.

[Jchambers]

We have a regular large rug with rubber backing that can be thrown in the washer if need be but we also wipe both dog’ paws with a towel when they come in. If we didn’t we would have to wash the rug every week which I don’t want to do. We have tried the soggy doggy (whatever they are called) rugs but they are just too small to effective for the size of dogs we have. The rugs look nice - I buy them at Homesense where they are reasonably priced.

[bdj]

A bunch of my RV-owning friends have the Soggy Doggy mats and swear by them. I have one (that I won in a raffle) that we’ve been using for a couple of months now, and it’s definitely helping to cut down on the pawprints. (Haven’t seen any snow yet, though.)
The friends who have them say that when the weather is nasty, the rugs do get very heavy (which means they’re doing their job), so just be aware of that when you go to pick it up!

[Bicoastal]

Where you want the mat, is the door sliding or hinged?

[LadyBug]

Hinged french door, which is my concern with the Soggy Doggy mats. They look thick.

My dogs are large, so I need something big enough that they aren’t going to hit 1 paw on the mat and otherwise essentially pop right over it.

[Bicoastal]

What’s the new secret for quoting someone’s post??

Yes the soggy doggy mats and their ilk are a hassle in front of hinged doors that open over the mat. I have a huge, cheap, thin area rug because my front door opens directly onto carpet and has about zero clearance. A standard door mat is too thick for the door to open over. Terrible design!

[LadyBug]

[QUOTE=Bicoastal;8998223]
What’s the new secret for quoting someone’s post??

Yes the soggy doggy mats and their ilk are a hassle in front of hinged doors that open over the mat. I have a huge, cheap, thin area rug because my front door opens directly onto carpet and has about zero clearance. A standard door mat is too thick for the door to open over. Terrible design![/QUOTE]

Right click “reply with quote”, Open in new window. Voila!

Good to know about the Soggy Doggy mats… thank you. I think I’ll keep an eye out for an LL Bean sale and grab a huge Waterhog mat unless someone pops in with a better idea.

[bdj]

I haven’t had any trouble with the Soggy Doggy and clearance issues so far, unless it gets wrinkled up. Mine is a normal doorframe, though - it’s got a little bit of clearance above the actual floor surface.

[Bicoastal]

When I click “Reply with Quote” like I’ve done countless times in 2016, it just spins and spins and spins without ever loading. I thought I saw someone post about that but can’t find it.

I think the Soggy Doggy mats work so well because they are so thick and plush. All of that fabric soaks up moisture. The Waterhog mats seems so thin… how is that effective? I love that they appear neater and will work in many doorways.

For rainy days, I add a towel at the door and tell my dog to stand-stay there while I clean off each paw.

[bdj]

I had one of the LL Bean Waterhog mats (at least I think it was one of those - got it at the LL Bean outlet years ago) - I didn’t use it in the same place as I’m currently using the Soggy Doggy (and I didn’t have the current dirt-loving beast at the time), so I can’t speak to how well it helped with the muddy paws issue, but it was great at minimizing the slippery wet-floor factor (in part because it was HUGE - like, 6 feet long).

The Soggy Doggy seems to work because it is so absorbent - it almost seems like it pulls the wetness (and dirt) off the bottoms of their paws as they run across it. The Waterhog was more abrasive - good for dirt, but didn’t really seem to grab the liquid in the same way (but it does work really well for cleaning shoes!)

For the record, the Waterhog got moved out to the barn after the cat decided it would be a great spot to pee. Cat has since passed on, so the Soggy Doggy is safe from that kind of abuse.

[corgif]

I use the LL Bean Waterhog mats at my doors. They are great, but I still towel dry my dog’s feet and wet underbelly.

I use the Soggy Doggy mats for dog bath time. They absorb a lot of water.

[Foxtrot_s]

I have a length of carpet from Home Depot as a carpet runner - shake it out often but it is long enough to take a few strides before coming off the other end.