Printed Door Mat

Felt takes color the way low pile carpet does

A printed felt mat has more in common with a piece of cut pile carpet than with a rubber mat that has a design stamped on the surface. Color lives in the fiber itself, leaving no film on top to crack, bubble or peel back at an edge after a hot afternoon. What happens instead is gradual and even: the walking lane down the middle softens first, usually a season ahead of the border, and the picture stays readable the whole way through.

• No raised layer. The print has no thickness of its own, so nothing catches on a boot cleat or a dog's nail and starts a tear across the design.
• Feet fade it before light does. Under a covered entry the wear shows up as a lighter band where people pivot to open the door, not as an overall bleaching.
• The face is printed before assembly. Color goes into the felt, then the felt is bonded to the rubber, which is why the backing stays black no matter what the top looks like later.

Where a printed mat holds up and where it does not

Felt scrapes dry grit well and holds it down in the pile until the next shake. It is not a scrubbing surface and it is not a drainage mat, so standing water is the condition worth designing around. A covered porch, a vestibule, a landing under an overhang or a spot just inside the door will all give a printed mat a long life. An uncovered concrete step in a wet climate is where it will look tired the fastest.

• Under cover beats out in the open. A mat that dries between uses stays flat and springs back; one that stays soaked compresses and starts holding odor.
• Indoors counts as a placement. A printed mat inside the door catches whatever the outside mat missed and never sees weather at all.
• The rubber base needs a hard floor. On tile, concrete, sealed wood or vinyl the backing grips. On a carpeted landing there is nothing for it to grip and the mat will creep out of position.

Cleaning it without taking the color with you

Nearly everything that ruins a printed felt mat is a cleaning decision rather than a wear problem. Keep the routine short: water from a hose for mud, a stiff broom or a vacuum for loose grit, and a low-foam cleaner when soap is needed. A wire brush abrades the exact pile that is carrying the picture. Bleach pulls dye out of printed fiber whatever that fiber happens to be.

• Shake it out weekly. Most of what a mat collects is dry and leaves on its own with one good snap.
• Rinse wet dirt with a hose. Pressure from the nozzle lifts mud out of the felt far better than scrubbing, and a power washer is fine too.
• Skip foaming cleaners. Suds leave a residue in the pile that holds on to the next round of dirt.
• Dry it on edge, never folded. Standing it against a wall drains it quickly, while a fold sets a crease in felt that does not come out.

Which size the doorway is asking for

Printing works the same way at any size, so the choice is about the door rather than the artwork. A larger mat needs the gap under the door checked before anything else. A smaller mat suits the doorways where that gap is exactly the problem.

• Wide entries and double doors. A 24x36 mat lets a full stride land before the door swings, as long as the gap under the door clears it.
• Tight landings and storm doors. An 18x27 mat fits the doorways where a wider one would ride up and drag.
• A pair beats one large mat. One outside to scrape and one inside to catch the rest removes more than either manages alone.