Bathroom floor mats are a staple for every bathroom. They keep you from tracking water when stepping in and out of the shower, which prevents water damage to your bathroom floor. However, bathroom floormats can get filthy very quickly. If you don’t wash your bathroom floor mat regularly, they can become home to mold, mildew, and other bacteria. You don't want any of that in your home. How often you should clean your bathroom floor mat depends on how many people you have using the shower regularly. Most people prefer bathmats with rubber backing to keep them from sliding across the floor, which will require a few extra steps to keep clean. Here are a few tips you can implement when washing and drying your bathroom floor mat that will keep those pesky bacteria at bay and prolong the life of your bathmat.
Tips for Washing Your Bathroom Floor Mat With a Rubber Backing
Start by verifying the label on the back of your bathroom floor mat. You’ll want to check whether your bathmat can be machine-washed and determine whether there are recommended instructions from the manufacturer for the washing and drying process. Before washing your bathmat, shake the mat outside to clear off any debris or hair which can contaminate the washing machine. It’s best to wash your bathroom floor mats separately from your other clothes.
If your bathroom floor mat has stains along the top, it’s best to incorporate a stain remover before you put it in the wash. We recommend hydrogen peroxide as a low-budget alternative to other effective stain removers. If your bathmat is dyed, you can test the hydrogen peroxide in the corner of the bathmat first to ensure it doesn’t get bleached by the hydrogen peroxide.
Once your bathmats are free of debris and prepped with a stain removed if necessary, it’s time to put your bathmat in the washing machine. Once you add your laundry detergent, we recommend machine-washing on cold for the best results. Using a warm or hot washing cycle could damage your mat and the machine, so we strongly recommend you stick with a gentle, cold-wash cycle. That way, you can prolong the life of your bathroom floor mats and the washing machine.
In addition to your laundry detergent, you can add dish soap and baking soda into the mix before starting the washer if you have stains to remove from your bathmat. If the surface of your bathroom floor mat needs disinfecting, you can add half a cup of either baking soda or Borax to your load.
How to Properly Dry Your Bathroom Floor Mats With a Rubber Backing After You’re Done Washing Them
Be careful with the rubber backing when you’re drying your bathmat. If you use too high of a heat setting, there’s a chance the rubber backing and the adhesive will melt inside the machine. That’s terrible for your bathmat and the dryer, so you want to ensure that doesn’t happen. Instead, choose a low heat setting and dry for about 20 minutes. It’s alright if you need to run it through a second drying cycle if it’s still damp after the first one.
Make sure you pull your bathmat out of the dryer as soon as it’s finished drying. Letting it sit will cause your bathmat to wrinkle and suffer unwanted damage. You can download our app to see when the dryer you’re using is near the end of its cycle.
We highly recommend checking the manufacturer label before washing your bathmat and right after purchasing. Some manufacturers recommend you wash their bathmats before you even use them to eliminate any lingering odors from the factory. Most people would never find this out since they never take a moment to look at the label. That's why you want to look at the manufacturer label to determine how to best care for your bathmat and prolong its life. You can learn more about washing new items in our other blog posts.
Drying off our bathroom floor mats is something we seldom think about in our busy lives. It usually slips our minds until our bathmats are soggy and disgusting. Don’t let your bathroom floormat get gross like that. You truly deserve to have a clean bathmat and a clean bathroom. You want to clean your bath mats monthly or bi-weekly based on how many people use your shower. We’re happy to help you achieve that with our machines and advice. Click here to learn more.