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Door mats are an area of the home that most people forget to clean. However, they are likely to be one of the most unhygienic items in your property as it’s where people walk in germs from their own homes and outside on their shoes.
Cleaning a front door mat may not be as straightforward as a carpet or a rug as they tend to come in varying materials like rubber, coir and fibre.
Luckily, Richard O’Connor, Director at FirstMats has shared his advice for cleaning front door mats in a plethora of materials.
He said: “When was the last time you cleaned your doormat? As a nation, we are pretty house proud but, despite this, a large number of people neglect to clean their doormat – meaning that it can be harbouring some pretty nasty germs, as well as becoming less effective.
“The following tips will help you to keep your mat clean and make sure that dirt stays off of your carpets.”
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Coir mats
These are a popular choice as they’re often more attractive than rubber or other materials and can have funky designs on them.
Richard said these mats are constructed from coconut husks so after vacuuming they can be cleaned by sprinkling a carpet cleaner on them. Leaving the cleaner on the mat for an hour or so before hoovering it again.
He added: “If you don’t have any commercial carpet cleaner to hand, you can use bicarbonate of soda to freshen and disinfect your mat.
“Always avoid using detergents on these mats though as this can stain or discolour them.”
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Rubber mats
These are the easiest to clean as they’re not made from fibres. The “simplest way” to clean a rubber doormat is with a sponge and “good old-fashioned soap and water”.
It may be necessary to use a toothbrush to get into any gaps in the mat that the sponge can’t reach.
How to remove pet hair
As well as general dust and dirt, pet hair can become tangled in doormats and this can be difficult to remove just by vacuuming.
Instead, Richard suggested using a stiff brush to remove hair before hoovering.
He said: “Before hoovering, use a stiff brush to untangle and remove hair or, alternatively, put on a pair of rough-soled shoes or trainers and scrape your feet across the mat to loosen the hair and drag it to the edges of the mat.
“While cleaning your mat regularly may be a hassle, it will absolutely help to keep your home fresh and keep unhealthy bacteria at bay.
“For optimum effectiveness, you should replace your doormat every two years – or more often if it gets a lot of heavy-duty use.”
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