More Mat Horrible-ness

Come on in to our super duper Vietnamese Grocery Store!  Watch your step, though...the rigid interlocking commercial kitchen matting we have at the entrance might break apart as you pass over it!

Yep...Friday night, out on the town for some Pho for dinner and ran across this beauty.  And you might notice upon closer inspection that there is another type of drainable anti-fatigue matting just inside the door. I give them credit for providing a non-slip mat for customers. I do not give them credit for how cheap and ugly the entrance has been made to look with these mats.

I do not speak any Vietnamese but if I could I would issue a stern, "Tsk Tsk," to the business owners here.

New Entrance Mat from NoTrax is Class Act

Evergreen Diamond Entrance Mat

Let me introduce you to the new entrance mat being offered by NoTrax called Evergreen Diamond.
Such a simple design and yet why has no other manufacturer thought of it yet? Available in Brown with black pattern and vinyl edges, Blue with black pattern and vinyl edges, Charcoal with black pattern and edges, and Gold with dark chocolate pattern and edges. Call me crazy but it reminds me of a very nice men's neck tie.

What's that you say? You wish it was environmentally kind? Oh, but it is! The carpet-like surface is made from 100% recycled nylon. (Don't ask me where they get the nylon from!)

Wish you could see another stunning photo of the mat?  Sure you can!!!

Evergreen Diamond Mat in Brown, Blue, Charcoal and Gold

Give us a call 800-858-3417 or send an email sales@mattingexperts.com.
We will happily quote any size order for you and even send out samples.

Little Known Mat Fact

Less Expensive & Less Awesome

Awesome & Expensive

Today's installment focuses on a fact not known to many people outside of the industry of matting. Specifically, why there is such a price variance among open hole drainage/anti-fatigue mats for wet areas.

We sell both of the mats pictured above because we want to serve all budgets and needs for our customers.  To look at them, there isn't a gigantic visible difference between them. To touch them and stand on them is not super different either.

So what makes the difference between a value priced kitchen mat and a more expensive version?

For one thing the more pricey mat includes an ingredient called Nitrile rubber. This additive drives the price up but makes it stronger, longer lasting and, most importantly, grease proof.  In other words, the mat will repel fats and oils that come in contact with it. 

Another factor is the higher content of all natural rubber. Less expensive mats will often have a low amount of actual rubber and utilize clay fillers to build out the bulk of the mat. For light-duty settings and situations this might be just fine for a customer application. The downside, however, is that over time and under heavy use, these clay mix mats will break down and disintegrate.

So consider the facts when deciding price versus quality...my mother always used to say, "You get what you pay for," and she was right. Of course she was...

As Promised...Horrible Entrance Mat

Although I initially was picking on the dish room mats used as business entrance mats, there are all sorts of other offenders out there.

I present Exhibit A:

Sigh...yes, it is true. I actually shopped here and spent some money on groceries.  I get the idea behind the cardboard box entrance mat as Eco-friendly and costs nothing. What I am having trouble with is how utterly pitiful and awful a first impression this casts! OMG!!! Will this mat dry off shoes? Maybe a few but won't take long if it's raining or snowing for this area to turn into a hot mess.  Will this prevent slips and falls? Um...NO! It is a bit like an ice rink in that regard.  Can you vacuum it? Duh.  Dirt, sand, rocks...come on in!  Make yourself right at home in the produce department!

People...please let me sell you a decent mat at a really decent price. We can even pick one out that is recycled material if that floats your cardboard boat. 

But, as I said...I spent some money here and will probably go back in the future for their ensalada de nopalitas...which was bomb.

Happy matting!

Nobody Puts Aqua Trap in the Corner!

Aqua Trap

It seems like I am alone in my complete and utter devotion to the Aqua Trap commercial entrance mat by NoTrax.  I am constantly suggesting it to customers, sending out samples of it...heck, I even bought one with my own money and gave it to my nephew for his apartment!

So why then is it so very seldom that I actually SELL this mat? I have thought about this more than is normal, believe me. I guess maybe it is the raised nobbules that give customers pause. But why? People buy the Waterhog mats all day long and their surface is just as aggressive as mi amor, Aqua Trap. Is it too moderne? Too edgy? Too WHAT? I really need to know.

So I turned to my trusty account rep from Superior, Mary Newell.  I asked her how it sells in general and why does she think I am not having any luck selling it.  I guess her crystal ball was broken that day because there was no clean cut reason she could come up with as to my lackluster Aqua Trap sales.  She did, however, mention that it does really well across the board in what she called "Special Markets". When pressed for what that meant, she added that the anti-microbial treatment the mat undergoes in production is especially popular among health care facilities.

Aha! Now we were getting somewhere.  The keywords and market segment that I should begin to target need to highlight this feature more intensely. I had honestly not realized this was even an important feature of the mat. Ooops. :)  So off I go to adjust the listing.

Wish me luck!

Kitchen Grid Mat Sample a.k.a. Soap Dish

Kitchen Grid "Soap Dish"

Hello fellow Internet surfers! Sarah here at MattingExperts.com coming at you once again with randomness. Hopefully you already know that for everything you would ever ever ever need concerning commercial entrance mats you can call or click to contact me!

But today's installment concerns the little buddy in the photo. (No, not the soap, silly!)  What you see is my (clever?) use of a sample of Kitchen Grid by Durable Corporation as a soap dish.  You see, blame it on my dad but I have a super obsession with things in the bathroom drying completely between uses.  This includes the shower curtain, towel, bath rag, shampoo bottles and of course, the soap.  Storing  my soap on top of this little anti-fatigue kitchen matting is just so perfect! Not only does it allow airflow to the max which dries the soap uber effiiciently but also the anti-slip surface pattern helps keep the soap from skating off to that sketchy area behind the toilet!

Think about it...same thing applies in a wet, greasy, slippery kitchen!  The rigid construction of Kitchen Grid holds its shape under the traffic racing around in that environment. The open design encourages airflow and, therefore, drier surface and floors beneath. Brilliant, simply brilliant!

Twit...twit..tweet...TWEETING!

Call or click for your free mat sample from MattingExperts.com!! twitter.com/MattingExperts…

— Sarah Andrews (@MattingExperts) May 3, 2012 ">

Call or click for your free mat sample from MattingExperts.com!! twitter.com/MattingExperts…

— Sarah Andrews (@MattingExperts) May 3, 2012