I don't have a mat answer, but make sure you have everyone take their shoes off before they enter. We live in Phoenix, same problem, after the last carpet cleaning we went to the no shoes in the house rule. It has kept the dirt WAY down. Good luck!

I agree with michelle on this. We don't expect guests to remove shoes, but we usually kick them off when we come in.It is so sandy here it blows thru the screens. We also ripped out all the carpet and have only hard floors.

As far as mats go, I think most of them work equally well for catching sand. It pretty much just brushes off your shoes with most mats.

Living in a construction zone it's not safe to go barefooted. There are several remodeling projects going on and will be for the foreseeable future. On the upside, there is no carpeting in this house and never will be again while I live in it!

B

I love the LL Bean Waterhog mats. Lots of people on the Home Dec forum recommend them, and I took their advice. They are not cheap, but are worth the extra money IMO. They have other styles besides the one linked.

Here is a link that might be useful: LL Bean Mat

I had this same problem while I was living in Florida, and I had hardwood floors to boot, so I felt it was crucial to keep as much sand off of them as possible.
I was constantly searching for the best ones to use; I don't like the coir mats because they're heavy to pick up, and they mat down over time, thereby reducing the amount of dirt or sand they would remove from shoes or bare feet.
The best outdoor mats I found where those "astro turf" kind, the bright green (sometimes brown) ones with the long plastic tufts. You know the ones, they sometimes have a plastic daisy attached in one corner. Definitely not high-end or fashionable, but nothing got the job done like those. They would remove buckets of sand at the door, they were very lightweight, and you could hose them off & they'de be dry again in no time. Once I was hooked on them, I had trouble finding them though.
I will investigate the LL Bean mat, as I do trust the opinions of people here.

telly2, thanks for so much for sharing your experience! I have one of those fake grass mats among my assortment. Every time I buy one I have bought thinking I would compare them, but I haven't been able to make any meaningful comparisons.

Right now we're living on the bare concrete slab, but I want to get a handle on the sand before we finish the floors and start grinding them up with loose sand.

B

I just received a new LL Bean catalog today that has the waterhog mats in it, AND free shipping with no minimum purchase ! This might be a good time to try a new mat !