When we come in from outside, we have a door mat on the outside, plus one on the inside and one set to the side where we place our boots. I think I need different type of mats. Right now I can see a path from the back door through the kitchen plus some little mounds of dirt. What mats do you use? Other thoughts? Leaving them outside isn’t an option as it’s usually raining here (either that or just finished raining or just getting ready to start raining). Thanks in advance!
Take them off on the porch and then carry them inside. Have a boot scraping brush thing set up outside.
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We take off our boots right inside the door, onto a mat like…uh…this one. I don’t think it matters what kind of mats you have if you’re walking across the kitchen in your muddy boots–you’ll have a trail on the floor. Can you take the boots off when you step inside (or just outside, like scribbler suggests?)
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I like those waterhog mats. Right now, we either take our boots off outside on the mat or inside on the mat and then place then on the second inside mat. We still have a trail even though we’re not walking across the floor in our boots. I think it’s the dirt from the boots on the inside mat and then we step in that leaving a trail across the kitchen. I think if I change the mats, I’ll be in a lot better shape! Thanks!!!
OP, I think I totally get where you’re coming from.
I take off my boots as soon as I step inside on the mat (which is very similar to the one @Simkie posted). I have a mud room that attaches to the kitchen, with a second door mat at the threshold of the kitchen. But mud is still overtaking my house this year!
I’d also love a recommendation really good, durable mat for outdoors + a good boot scrubber. We don’t have an overhang outside the mudroom door, plus the entry way has large, slate stepping stones. Boot scrubbers that have to be anchored down are not an option because of the stone.
Anyone use something like this?
https://www.amazon.com/Safety-Care-Natural-Coir-Scrubber/dp/B07C461L4Q/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1546712950&sr=8-7&keywords=boot+scrubber
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We take them off right outside by the door and put some kind of house shoes that can in a pinch go out for a bit.
We then put the muddy outside footwear on one of those plastics made to put dog/cat bowls on right inside the door.
They are cheap and come in all sizes and colors, even transparent.
We are using right now one like this but in light blue:
https://www.chewy.com/van-ness-dinne…SABEgJDffD_BwE
If you have many people and boots, put more than one mat down.
There are specific kinds of plastic boot trays you can buy, even Walmart has those.
We meant to get one of those, but the dog mats work just fine.
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You need to have a lip on your boot tray. Also a dust pan by the front door to sweep up. I personally get ambushed by wearing work pants or jeans rolled up to do chores. I get well inside the house before a cupfull of hogfuel spills out on the bedroom floor.
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@Texarkana , I’ve used that boot scrubber. We don’t get mud like you guys do, but it works perfectly… .and maybe a little harshly on nice leather.
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This is the kind of boot mat Walmart sells:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays…-Tray/15734493
Have seen them in Home Depot also.
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Good to hear! Nice leather boots rarely get subjected to the swampy standing water around here, so no worries about that.
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We use a boot scrape (attached to our deck outside) and three mats as well (one outside, two inside). Its typically our two dogs that track the dirt - even if we keep a towel right by the door and try to catch them before they dance around, we inevitably end up with doggie prints everywhere and very muddy towels! lol We do an exceptional amount of laundry this time of year!
There are boot stands that hold your boots upside down (so no issue about getting wet inside the boot if put outside - but then, this time of year we only use rubber boots/gum boots) and they would fit inside one of those trays others have mentioned. Like this:
https://www.amazon.com/INNOKA-Organizer-Standing-Aluminum-Storage/dp/B06XG9YMYH?th=1
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We have two boot scrapers outside on the porch; one is the flat, rectangular type with both horizontal bristles and short vertical bristles, while the other is a large brush on either side of a piece of metal (to scrape mud clumps off) with a convenient tall handle to hold onto while using.
Then we have a door mat outside the door, with a carpet mat inside the door. Plus, we change our footwear. We used to keep a large rubber boot tray, with a lip and a raised design on the bottom surface, next to the front door, but I tired of constantly cleaning it (I find it easier to simply wipe the floor, as needed).
We are good about using the boot brushes/scrapers, changing our boots to shoes, and don’t live in a climate with a mud season, so this works well for us. I prefer to have an inside door mat that can be machine-washed, which is why I’ve never gotten a Waterhog mat.
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Ohhhhhh. I see. We don’t have that problem, I think because there’s a stair up. Open the door, leave muddy shoes, step up into mud room. I bet a mat with a lip would help contain the crud!
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Whatever you get, if it’s a rubber mat make sure they ship it flat, or else buy it at the local store. A lot of rolled up mats are very hard to get flat, because many of the cheaper ones are thinner rubber than they used to be. I have a regular thick rubber, with a nylon carpet type pile top in the garage, where I come in the people door, and that stops a lot of the dirt since I go in and out that way a lot.
Another reason to buy mats locally, is that you can see if there’s a heavy chemical smell in the mat. Lots of the cheaper rubber ones have that smell, and it may never disappear completely.
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I can’t find the exact one but I use something like this from Lowe’s. I have them everywhere, including out in the grass (currently heinous mud) in front of my feed shed, been out there for 4+ yrs. I love them, also have them inside my mudroom where boots live. they are all rubber & have tons of grooves & a lip to catch all the bits. i run a vacuum over inside one every few months (what, I’m a horse person). I shake out the outdoor ones occasionally.
they are great though, totally worth the $15 or so.
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I find a bigger mat helps, and fairly regularly I take it outside and slap it repeatedly against a fencepost or tree to shake out most of the crud, then vacuum.
Basically, you’re simply overloading your mats’ capacity to store dirt. Need a mat with bigger capacity, but ultimately you still need to ‘empty’ it every now and then.
I don’t spend a lot on high-end mats-- the above shake-out routine lets me get away with the cheapy mats from the big box home improvement store. And they’re cheap enough that I can easily replace.
But, best thing I ever did was to add a mudroom to the house as part of a larger renovation. Slate floor sweeps up nicely and keeps the rest of our house much cleaner.
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we just got these and I have been impressed with them. If they get trashed I won’t feel bad tossing them because they are cheap.
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In addition to a boot scraper by the door - I keep a whisk broom there. That attacks the dirt in the crevices of the soles.
I use those old-fashioned, recycled-rubber mats that are links of rubber with spaces between them. The dirt falls between and you just sweep under them. They last forever. I also keep an old key on my key ring for digging out the hard to get dirt. There’s another carpet inside the door. Boots are kept by the door. Dogs refuse to obey the rules.
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For those that keep boots by the door, remember to do something about it when you get a puppy.
A friend kept forgetting to put his boots up until the puppy quit teething.
It cost him two pairs of boots to learn to put the boots up.
The puppy outgrew that soon, as they do.
Some times, it is harder to teach the human than the puppy.
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Repurposed Materials carries used commercial floor mats, 3x5’. At $85 for 5 mats, that’s a really good price for high quality mats, and free shipping! https://www.repurposedmaterialsinc.com/entry-mats/
I know I plug this website often, but it’s so great for finding stuff that is useful on a farm.
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