What Is The Best Outdoor Mat Material? 4 Keys To Pick The Best Welcome Mat!

The Best Outdoor Mat Materials handle foot traffic, dirt & water, are easy to clean & mold & mildew resistant. Here’s the best types of mats!

What Is The Best Outdoor Mat Material?

It’s no secret that the best outdoor mat materials are durable, easy to wash, resist mold and mildew, can handle a lot of foot traffic, and resist water and dirt. But which doormat materials do all of that?

Well, it might not always be the stylish, but rubber is one of the best outdoor mat materials. I have some stylish rubber options below that can handle anything your front door foot traffic dishes out!

Another great doormat material is a water-resistant synthetic fiber. That’s because synthetic fibers don’t shrink, like natural fibers, & they can be easy to clean, resist mold & mildew, and hold up very well to use.

COIR fiber doormats are also a popular outdoor mat material. They do cover all of the requirements I listed in the first paragraph above. BUT, they fail my UV resistant test.

I live in Texas, where my front door mat gets TONS of direct sunlight. Every COIR mat I’ve used here fades in just a couple months.

So, you should only buy a COIR mat for a shady front porch. But, don’t worry, I’ve got 10 absolutely beautiful welcome mat outdoor options for you at the end of this post.

But first, let’s go over a few important things to know about picking the best outdoor mat material, size, and style.

Can You Put Door Mats Outside

Yes, you can absolutely put door mats outside every exterior door. Just be sure the door mat is actually made to be used outdoors.

An outdoor doormat will help you keep most of the dirt or water on shoes outside your home. There are actually a few important reasons you should put a door mat outside every exterior door.

4 Reasons You Need Welcome Mats Outdoors

• Keeps most dirt and water on shoes outside the home.
• Protects your floors from water damage.
• Helps prevent slippery floors inside.
• Reduces the amount of times you need to clean your floors.

Using an outdoor front door mat is an important and easy way to help you protect the floors in your home from water damage and dirt. If you have wood floors, water damage can absolutely ruin them.

Most people use an outdoor front door mat and an indoor rug for extra protection from dripping shoes and clothes.

And, you won’t have to clean those floors as often when you’re trapping most of that dirt and water on a mat.

A good mat inside and outside your exterior doors will also help prevent slippery floors. Slippery floors can cause falls. No one likes to fall. Using a doormat can make your home safer from slippery floors.

I always recommend putting an outdoor door mat outside of every exterior door on your home.

So, the average house in America will probably have 3 outdoor mats. They’ll be outside the garage door, back door, and front door.

How Do I Choose A Front Door Mat or Welcome Mat

When you’re picking the best Outdoor Mat for your house there are really 4 key things to think about; the size of your door, the material used, the style of the door mat, and how easy it is to clean.

4 Keys to Choosing a Doormat

• Size of Door
• Material Used
• Doormat Style
• Easy to Clean

Size of Door vs Size of Doormat

You don’t want a front door mat that looks too small next to your door. Generally, you should pick a door mat that is at least 80% of the width of your door.

So, if your front door is 36″ wide then your mat should be at least 28.8″ wide (36 x .8 = 28.8). I have a huge list with my picks for the 50 Best Outdoor Door Mats For A Beautiful Front Door.

Almost all of the door mats on that list of 50 are 30″ wide or larger. So, they’ll be great in front of the average 36″ wide front door.

If you have double front doors, you need to use the full width of both doors to calculate what size outdoor doormat you need.

Even if you only really use 1 of those doors, to get a balanced look, the outdoor mat should sit in front of both doors.

Materials Used

It’s important to pick an outdoor mat that can actually stand up to lots of foot traffic, dirt, and water.

You should also pick an outdoor mat material that is mold and mildew resistant. Especially if your front door mat will be rained on. I love the layered door mat look.

I even have some great mats on this list that would look beautiful layered. BUT, I get so much rain on my front door that a cotton entry mat as the bottom layer just isn’t practical.

It would trap moisture and get moldy pretty quickly.

Buy a synthetic fiber lower mat that will resist mold. OR, skip the layered look all together. Those are probably best on deep, covered porches where the mat will that stay pretty dry most of the time.

And, if you’re door gets a lot of sunlight, you’ll also need a doormat that is UV resistant.

My front door gets tons of sunlight. And, in Texas, that sunlight causes tons of damage and bleaching. So, our current natural fiber door mat has started to lose color and look bad after just 2 short years.

In fact, our front door gets so much sunlight damage that I have 3 popular posts about how to restain a door without removing it, how to fix a sun damaged dry wood front door, and can you stain a door without taking it down. It’s a constant battle.

Doormat Style

Of course, an important part of picking the best Outdoor Mats is getting a look you love. Picking the right look for your doormat is really a matter of personal style. Right?!

Some people love a colorful doormat, some love a home full of neutral colors, other people want a funny doormat.

And, of course, some people have such a beautifully designed home that the doormat looks as beautiful as any picture in a catalog.

There are no wrong style choices as long as you like it. But, I have some things for you to think about when you are picking your doormat.

Will the welcome mat clash with your door color, house color, or patio? If your patio stonework has lots of pattern or colors, pick a door mat that won’t look bad against that busy patio.

Does the style of the doormat fit with the style of the house?? I have a very traditional looking home. It has big columns and lots of details. I pick a doormat with that in mind.

Even if I love a Boho or modern looking doormat, I probably won’t pick it for my front door.

I’ll save something like that for my garage. Where I still get to enjoy it, without thinking that it’s clashing with the rest of my home.

Easy to Clean Doormats

I LOVE a doormat that can be sprayed clean with a garden hose. Low maintenance door mats are my favorite kind.

Woven rubber and synthetic fiber doormats are the easiest to clean. And, they dry fast too. So, they won’t keep moisture trapped underneath.

If you have a wood porch or patio floor, you really want to avoid trapping moisture. So, stick with an open weave rubber or synthetic fiber that dries quickly.

I usually avoid doormats with too tight of a weave because I think that they trap dirt and stains inside the weave.

OK, that’s all of my tips for picking the perfect entry doormat. Now, let’s get to that list of my picks for the 10 Best Welcome Mats made of the best outdoor mat materials!

That’s it for this list of the Best Outdoor Mat Materials, Sizes, and Styles, guys. I hope that helped you find a great new welcome mat for your home.

If you want even more doormat options, check out 50 Best Outdoor Door Mats For A Beautiful Front Door.

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Feeling inspired? Now that you’ve seen my picks for the Best Outdoor Mat, I hope that helped you find a new outdoor mat you’ll love.

Let me know if you have questions. Don’t forget to sign up for the Abbotts At Home email newsletter to get DIY, Remodeling, and Crafty ideas in your inbox.