Floor mats are used in many different locations . . . well, they’re generally on the floor, but all floors are not the same so you might need a floor mat which is specifically designed to cope with – door mats, entrance mats, anti static mats, gym mats, rubber mats, garage mats, kitchen mats, welcome mats, sticky mats, safety mats, bathroom mats, pool mats . . . see what I mean, there are loads of different types of floor mats.

Okay, so now that we’ve established that floor mats come in many different shapes, sizes, materials and locations, let’s look in a little more detail ay exactly what makes these individual floor mats special.

Types of Floor Mats

• Entrance mats and runners need to look attractive and welcoming yet reduce falls and slips. Runners are required in various lengths, largely depending on the length of the hallway the floor mat needs to run along. It’s important that these types of floor mats are sturdy and able to withstand the odd pair of dirty boots (very often their the first point of contact from the outside, especially with those children who have the most annoying habit of jumping over the outer door mat in the name of ”fun”).
• Coco Welcome Floor Mats – these are also required in a wide variety of thicknesses and styles. Some people like to have a welcome message emblazoned across their welcome floor mat – Home Sweet Home – or some other logo or design. These types of floor mats are also popular amongst companies who can have their own logo printed onto the welcome door mat, in case you’re not sure whether you’re in MacDonalds or Pizza Hut.

Ha ha, they’ve got some cracking floor mats haven’t they?

• Anti Static Floor Mats – these protect sensitive equipment (and workers, don’t forget about the workers) from deadly electric shocks which can be generated by high voltage equipment. Are you one of those “electrically charged” individuals who gets an electric shock every time they climb into or out of their own car (it’s just my electric personality), well there are mats which are designed to take the static off the workers before they touch any susceptible apparatus . . . never mind the apparatus, what about protecting me from the car!
• Kitchen Floor Mats – kitchen floors get a pretty hard time of it, so kitchen floor mats are designed to help out with the tough stuff. Kitchen floor mats are often made of dense rubber which are comfortable for standing on (how many hours do you spend standing in the kitchen each day . . . no, don’t count, it’s too scary) but can keep the floors clean and safe even when the inevitable spillages take place - water, grease, food . . . . it’s tough work being a kitchen floor mat. 
• Gym Floor Mats – floor mats which are designed for gym floors are designed for added safety and comfort in exercise areas. Some gym floor mats do need to be quite thick and padded (for exercise machines or weight lifting) whilst others just need to be easily rolled and moved (for yoga and pilates for example).

I’m not sure that’s what the designers of the gym floor mats had in mind . . . but it looks like great fun anyway!

• Chair Floor Mats – chair mats, what do chairs need mats for? Glad you asked that question, because I’m going to tell you right now. Chair mats are designed to add both comfort (for the feet of the person sitting in the chair) and protection for the floor which the chair is standing on. Office chair mats can help you to wheel about on carpeted surfaces . . . in fact, there are office chair floor mats which are specifically designed for hard surfaces, and those which are specifically designed for carpeted surfaces.
• Bath Floor Mats – wowee, where would we be without a bathroom mat . . . flat on our faces on the floor in no time at all. Bathroom mats are designed to not only give you somewhere dry, warm and cushioned to stand when you get out of the bath, but also to stop you from slipping on the wet bathroom floor and causing yourself (or your bathroom) some serious damage. Bathroom mats need to be fully washable because they can get really dirty.

• Urinal Floor Mats – ditto the bathroom mats really, but, contrary to popular belief they are not designed to “catch the splashes” . . . they are simply there for your bathroom to look warm and appealing, and for somewhere comfortable and warm for your feet whilst you sit around (or stand around) going about your private business.
• Car Floor Mats - wow, I nearly forgot about those. Well, car floor mats protect the carpet which is built into your car, after all, it’s not so easy to just replace it you know. They also make cleaning the car out quicker and easier (remember that little job . . . car cleaning . . . generally takes place on the first warm Sunday morning of the year . . . never to be repeated until absolutely necessary). Anyway, you can take your car floor mats out of the car and give them a good bashing against the garage wall, or brush them, or wash them, or vacuum them in comfort, instead of having to bend over and risk putting your back out again like you did last year.
• Waterproof Floor Mats – there are various innovative designs of floor mats which are . . . well, you can’t exactly say that they’re waterproof, but they’re designed to hold tons of water so that if you, say, stand on the floor mat with very wet boots and spill a glass of water, the soles of your boots will be dry when you walk across the potentially slippery floor. Some of these floor mats really are pretty remarkable, you can literally wring them out to dry! Beats soggy door mats which take days to dry out, eventually exuding a rather musty whiff!

I bet you can’t believe how many different types of floor mats there are can you?