Bath mats

[marthalover4eve]

How often should bath mats be washed? I am doing them weekly at the moment but is it really nessercery?

 

[dustin92]

I have a couple of white cotton chenille type rugs in my bathroom and I usually wash them about once a week, whenever they start looking dull and flattened. I just throw them in with whatever load Im washing, they are well used and shed very little.

 

[maytagbear]

Nowadays,

I use older towels for bath mats, and just wash them when I wash a load of towels, (at least once a week) except for the red towels, which still bleed dye. I've given up on rubber backed bath mats.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[mrsalvo]

I wash mine about every two to three weeks. I've been showering at the gym more often these days, so I don't use my shower every day.

 

[mrb627]

Weekly

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif;">While washing bathroom rugs on a weekly basis sounds like a good idea, I rarely get around to them on my weekend routine.  I really should make a better effort to getting them washed more often.  Especially since I have a small dog that sometimes chooses to relieve herself on one of them.  That is usually the time when I am forced to run them through.  

</span>

 

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif;">Malcolm</span>

 

[georgect]

Vacuum only

I never wash mine, they never get dirty.
I don't wear shoes in the house, they come off at the door.

I only vacuum mine weekly and they last forever.

 

[lotsosudz]

Every Two weeks

We have the terry cloth bath mats. I generally wash them when I do the rest of the laundry, except when our 11 year old boy manages to goober something on them.
David

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

We have one mat that the backing is coming off of from it either having got washed, or just doesn't like getting wet! It was in front of the bath tub, but I moved it back in front of the sink replacing a smaller one I have in front of the back hall doorway...

So that leaves a newer one now in front of the tub that I hope won't suffer the same fate (I try to control my daughter's splashing; wife doesn't) and try to turn it over to dry if it gets overly wet...

-- Dave

 

[sudsmaster]

The memory foam mat just outside the shower gets washed once a week, along with the "toilet mat" at the base of the commode.

Other throw rugs in the bath get vacuumed as needed, washed as needed. The home is 100 hard flooring, so there are a lot of throw rugs - again, washed as needed (in the Neptune 7500 front loader).

With two cats that occasionally make mistakes or vomit here and there, generally the foam mat, the toilet mat, and two throw rugs get washed once a week.

 

[rpms]

Does the backing on bath mats last longer if they are washed in a front loader?

 

[abcomatic]

I have had foam backed mats for 5 years now and no problem so far. I don't dry them though in the dryer.

 

[sudsmaster]

Does the backing on bath mats last longer if they are washed

It's been at least 10 years since I tried to wash a bath mat in a top loader... so I don't know, but I suspect that a front loader is less wear and tear on a bath mat.

I have found the following in the front loader:

I only use a mild liquid detergent. Powdered detergents are generally too harsh and can degrade the rubber backing. I also use warm, not hot, water temps.

I also look for mats with better quality backing. Natural latex backings don't seem to last too long, and they tend to deteriorate even if not washed from exposure to the oxygen in the atmosphere. The most durable backing seems to be the very thin coating on some bamboo fiber mats I got a while back. But these mats also are very floppy and easily kicked up so I don't use them in traffic areas. For traffic areas I use woven 3x5 throw rugs, which are polyolefin and seem to have very durable backing. Even so, the backing tends to come off a bit in the dryer, so I usually line dry them, weather permitting. I use these throw rugs by the bathroom sink, under the cat litter box (yes, it's in the master bath, the cats prefer it that way), by the bed, etc. They wash just fine in the Neptune FL, three at a time seems to be the max load.

The memory foam bath mats are all synthetic and the backing seems not to be bothered by the washer or the dryer.

 

[joelippard]

I wash mine monthly. I vacuum them every time that I vacuum the house which is usually daily. I dry off inside of the tub/shower so the mats don't get wet or hairy. I prefer that method becuase when you dry off you're naturally going to get some body hair coming off in the process. By using this method I can keep my bathroom cleaner and just rinse all the hairs etc, down the drain.

 

[dustin92]

We have some rubber backed mats upstairs in the bathroom, and they are washed on warm and dried in the dryer. They are probably about 5 years old and still look new.

 

[mistereric]

I wash the rugs once every few months, gentle cycle, warm water, and they never get run through the dryer.

I wash the bath mat weekly. Its the towel for your feet, after all. I have a thick white terry towel type mat I alternate with this one: