Bathroom mats

[iteles]

Currently we have a number of different mats we have tried in order to test the options.

We need to buy some more in order to have a comfortable rotation going .

Option 1 - IKEA OSBYSJÖN

https://www.ikea.com/pt/pt/p/osbysjoen-tapete-de-casa-de-banho-cinz-40514205/

These are recycled polyester on the back.

I personally hate them: I think they're too small and take AGES to dry when wet. I feel like the plastic backing holds on to moisture at the base layer, particularly in the Winter.

They are machine washable but not tumble dryable of course and as I said, take a while to dry.

Option 2 - IKEA TOFTBO

We have a darker, possibly even black version of these:
https://www.ikea.com/pt/pt/p/toftbo-tapete-de-casa-de-banho-branco-acinzentado-mescla-90422251/

These are a good size but they are super thick. This is nice and luxurious but again, it takes a LOOOONG time to dry and so if it stays on the floor, it's game over. Even when hung up to dry, it just does not dry in the Winter.

Not the biggest fan of these either.

Option 3 - Towel-type bath mats

They weren't from this company but this is the third kind we have:

https://www.homa.pt/tapete-saida-de-banho-cinza-escuro-timeless-50x70cm-441495.html

I LOVE these. They are by far and away my favourite ones.

They are just towels so they soak up the water from your feet really well, they dry super fast in the summer and acceptably so in the winter (at least they don't dry so slowly that they smell mouldy) and they don't splash you like the plastic-backed ones do when you hang them up.
You can throw them in the washing machine with literally anything else (clothes even or other towels), they don't need a super long cycle to feel clean and can be tumble dried (great in winter).

---

I think this is a summary of what we've tried and I wanted to open the issue before we bought any more.

My preference is pretty clear but I'm open to all arguments!

[nelsonic]

Can we A/B test these to figure out which are most effective at meeting the requirements? 💭

[iteles]

Of course!

My list of requirements:

• Dry feet or mop up spills and overflows well (ie absorbent)
• Dry quickly
• Easily washed
• Preferably tumble dried
• Don't show dirt too easily
• Size spans the whole width of the shower cubicle

What would yours be?

[nelsonic]

@iteles these are all good requirements. Are they in priority order? You haven’t mentioned price … where would you rank price? (Given that we are need at least 16 to be able to cycle them…)

[iteles]

Fair. Quite high up there, probably at number 4 after easily washed (hygiene being a bigger factor than price).

With this criteria, only one option fits the bill - maybe I've engineered it to be my favourite 😅

[nelsonic]

My list of priorities; pretty similar to yours:

1. Non-slip. As much as possible.#SafetyFirst The last thing we want is a wet bath mat slipping under someone. 😕
2. Fast drying . Tumble Dry-able is a bonus but definitely not a requirement (IMO). If we have a laundry room and enough of these. Tumble drying increases the cost of ownership by 5x. If you spend 5kwh per week (per batch) drying these it's €1! That rapidly adds up to more than the price of the item. e.g. you can fit 10 mats in a wash+dry load. That means €1 x 52 weeks = €52/year on drying... 💸 This is "OK" if there's no other alternative. But we know we can do better.
3. Easy wash - this doesn't rule-out non-slip materials like rubber-backing. Just worth consideration.
4. Ease/speed of processing time, e.g. non-iron.
5. Price. (I'd sooner pay more for the above features than less for an inferior product..)
6. Dark color. e.g: charcoal grey. this matches our bathroom floor tiles. 👌

@iteles happy for you to order any you want. But for me the most important thing isn't the mats but the #system we need to define for cycling them regularly and NEVER removing a mat without replacing it. 🤦‍♂️