When Turtle Mat offered to supply me with a free washable doormat in return for my views I was really pleased as I don’t yet have a ‘proper’ doormat…only a normal rug in front of the door. I looked forward to the prospect of trying it out and to see if it really does have ‘dirt-trapping powers’ like they advertise. I had a browse through their site and looked at all the wonderful designs they have to offer. There really is a design to suit everyone’s tastes. They stock 5 different Luxury Collections and 9 Original Collections. There really is too many designs to mention. Some of my favourites are Cup Cake and Wipe Your Paws. The rug that really stood out for me was Dotty Red – which is a fun polka dot doormat that just screams shabby chic and country style living. Which is very appropriate since it is part of their Country Living Collection.
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| Multi-grip backing |
The rug sells at £49.95 for a 60cm x 85cm mat with a multi-grip backing.
I will admit the price does seem very expensive for a mat which you have to wipe your muddy feet on and I really don’t think I would ever normally consider paying that amount of money on a mat. But since I was being given the opportunity to test it for free I thought I really couldn’t lose!
All Classic Turtle Mats are made of a blend of cotton and microfibre while the design mats, like the one I had picked, are made of 100% cotton pile. The mat arrived by UPS courier and it came all neatly rolled up in a packet. The mat only took 2 or 3 days from dispatch to arrive with me which was really quick. I was very eager to start using my new polka dot door mat so I was very grateful for the quick delivery service.
After looking at the Turtle Mat site it seems that when you order a mat from them it can take about 10-14 days to arrive after dispatch (which is normally with 48 hours of you ordering) and costs £4.95 per order. I phoned Turtle Mat to confirm that all customers get sent the mat by UPS like I did and they said that they do and that they quote approx 7-10 days for delivery. This sounds a bit better than the 10- 14 days as stated on the website . This does seem like a long while to wait for the mat but it is said that good things come to those who wait! Hopefully you’ll be lucky like me and get it delivered in a few days.
Turtle Mat advise that you wash the doormat in the washing machine prior to first use. This is to get rid of any yarn dressing that may be on the mat. You can wash the mat in a washing machine at no higher than 40° and you must not use fabric conditioner as it will affect the absorbency of the mat. Once washed you can tumble dry the mat on a low heat setting though I put mine out on the washing line to dry.
I had intended to put my new mat down at my front door but unfortunately the draft excluder brush on the door wouldn’t go over the mat. As my hall is so cold I really couldn’t forgo the draft excluder so instead I put the mat down in front of my patio doors. It took a while to put the mat down though as my little girl kept trying to take it from me. She thought it was so pretty she wanted to sit on it to watch her children’s TV programmes! Once the mat was in it’s place by my door I set about using it. I found that the mat really did stop me treading mud into the house and because of the multi-grip backing the mat hasn’t moved or rucked-up once. This is great as it mean the carpet stays clean and saves me having to hoover up every 5 minutes so my daughter doesn’t pick up bits of dry mud, etc. Also because the mat doesn’t move it means that it isn’t such a trip hazard with my little one running about.
My mum was very jealous of my newly acquired mat so I was very kind and lent it to her for a week. In my mum’s house the doormat was placed at the front door and it was used constantly. There was the dog running in with muddy paws and people always coming in with dirty shoes on. My mum was shocked to see how well the mat actually worked and was so pleased that it stopped the mud at the door. The thing she didn’t like was that the mat started to look very grubby after that week of use and she didn’t like the idea of washing it in her machine and all the dirt and dust going in to the drum. I washed the mat in my machine and have since washed white clothes in the drum and I haven’t had any problems.
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| Here is a photo of the doormat before it was washed. As you can see it is quite dirty after a week of non-stop use in muddy weather. |
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Here is a photo of the doormat after it was washed.
As you can see it has come up as good as new.
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Overall I was delighted with my Turtle Mat. It did it’s job of trapping dirt and thus preventing it being trod into the home. My mum however is now very unhappy as she has returned to using her old doormat and now the muddy foot prints and paw prints are once again ending up on her carpet. I do feel guilty taking the mat from her but as winter is on it’s way I shall be needing to use my mat to prevent my pushchair getting mud into the house. Or at least that is the excuse I’ve given her! Really I can’t bear the thought of not having the Polka Dot mat by my own door. ( As a side note – I am a complete Polka Dot addict! It doesn’t matter what it is …if it is polka dot I can think of a reason I have to have it! Even polka dot cake cases! Thus having the polka dot doormat in my home was a dream come true.)
I highly recommend these mats. They do seem expensive at nearly £50 but they are worth the price as they can help to save you time on keeping the home clean and tidy. As a busy mum I really appreciate anything that can help save minutes in my day. I do feel that the price of the Luxury Collection mats are out of my price range but luckily Turtle Mat do sell cheaper mats in their Classic Collection. They start at only £14.95 for a micro mat
Turtle Mat also sell Pet Mats, Bath Mats and Kitchen Mats. I would love to try out one of their bath mats as I haven’t yet managed to find a bath mat that absorbs any water. Instead I have ended up with 3 useless bath mats that I use one on top of each other in a vain attempt to try and prevent the water going through onto the bathroom carpet.
If you are looking for a doormat to use outside the house then you can choose from their Cape Cod doormats or their Mud Hog doormats. If you are in the market for a new vacuum then they sell the Turtle Vac which the Turtle Mat website says is ‘one of British industry’s best-kept secrets’.
It is great to see that most of the doormats on the Turtle Mat site are made in Britain and and manufactured by one of the World’s most eco-friendly textile groups. Plus they offer a 5 year guarantee on most of their items! You can’t get better than that!
If you would like to visit the Turtle Mat website then please click here.
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Updated on 10th September 2011… My Turtle Mat is still in great condition. I wash it every couple of months or so and it still does it ‘s job of stopping dirt getting in to the house. You can no longer buy the Dotty Red mat but they do sell another polka dot design called Bright Spot.
After writing the original review Turtle Mat were very kind and sent my mum her own Turtle Mat. She was delighted with it and it too is still in superb condition after close to a year. She chose the design called Maple Leaf and it is a very warm coloured mat that looks very welcoming near the front door.