Wood bathroom floors, what is the best bathmat to protect?

13 years ago

I've scoured the Houzz web site, and searched on-line, and can't find the answer to my question. "What is the best type of bath mat for wood bathroom floors?" I am in the market for bath mats for our wooden-floor guest bathroom and need to ensure that it will be super absorbent and not damage the wood floors (like some rubber backed mats will do). Are microfiber mats kind to wood floors? Is there 'a best' bathmat for wood floors? (Am I being paranoid?)

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Comments (5)

PRO
Ironwood Builders
13 years ago
Yes and no. We don't recommend wood floors in full bathrooms, just about anywhere else is OK. Water and wood are not really friends. Given that the floors already exist in the bathrooms, I have a few recommendations. Use the bath mat as a temporary drying off spot and then RELIGIOUSLY hang it up to dry, just like the bath towel (hard to do with guests). Or use a wood or bamboo mat with a soft backing (like this one from Formbu. http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/204156896?productId=204156896&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_sku=204156896&cm_mmc=shopping-_-googleads-_-pla-_-204156896&ci_gpa=pla#.Ud5BEFN5jw4 Finally, tear out that wood floor and install tile. Hard choices...sorry!
Mari O'Connor
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you. I didn't realize that those wood mats could have soft backings. The wood floor is beautiful, so we won't tear out (until it gets destroyed) but I'll try out different bath mats. Sadly, the bathroom floors in our main bathroom are wood, too, but I'm in that bathroom throughout the day, so can check on wet bath mats. The guest bath, not so much. I wonder what the last owners were thinking, by installing wood floors in full baths. Beautiful, but potentially scary.
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Alex H.
9 years ago
hi. I have the same issue: beautiful oak floors in master bathroom. I was thinking of drying off in the shower, then stepping out on a woven/microfiber bath mat, which would rest on top of a wooden bath mat, that way the woven one wouldn't sit wet on the floor every day... thoughts? is that a good strategy?
Patti Prado
9 years ago
Alex, It sounds great to me. We haven't moved into our house yet. We did bamboo floors throughout. So, I'm going to put a thick, extremely absorbent cotton bath mat on the bottom next to the floor. Then a bamboo mat on top of that. Top it off with another incredibly, thick, absorbent and did I mention cheap?---(at Bed Bath and Beyond). I've used these same bath mats for years and as long as you don't use fabric softener on them---they stay absorbent. Then immediately hang them up.
AJCN
8 years ago
Patti,

Did you get the cotton mats and the bamboo mat at BB&B? What does the bamboo mat look like? Can you post a picture?