Coconut matting is a staple material for entrance matting, with coir acting as an environmentally friendly material perfect for scraper mats that will keep your shoes and flooring clean. But as coir is a natural material, how well do coir mats fare with day-to-day use?

In this guide, we will highlight some of the main elements that affect the lifespan of coir, and how you can make your matting last longer!

Eco Friendly Matting.

Coir products are an Eco-friendly and sustainable choice made from natural coconut fibres, with all the materials used for our Standard mats and hand stitched products being entirely biodegradable.

However, as coir mats are made from natural coconut fibres, we are unable to guarantee an exact lifespan for our coir mats.

This is because being an Eco-friendly natural product, each mat will deal with its environment differently, and each batch of our PVC backed coir matting cut to size will behave slightly differently depending on the fibres used.

Environmental damage

We do not recommend our coir products for unprotected outdoor use as over time, they will become weathered. This is the case with any natural material.

Surface moisture from the average wet shoe is perfectly fine, but if the mat has directly been exposed to rain/snow, this is likely to exacerbate the weathering process. We have also found that uneven surfaces beneath the mat can result in irregular wear, which can then break down fibres of the matting and lead to excessive shedding.

Standard coir door mats can be used outdoors, so long as they are allowed to drain or dry after periods of heavy rain or snow.

PVC-backed coir matting, however, struggles to drain and can only withstand a certain amount of exposure to moisture. The PVC backing does not allow the mat to drain, which leads to moisture becoming trapped within the mat.

Once this occurs, the action of people rubbing their feet over the mat will begin to exacerbate any damage, causing the fibres to break away from the mat.

Finally, our Coloured PVC Backed Coir is also not suitable for outdoor use, this is because as PVC backed coir mats are designed to be kept dry in an indoor mat well, the dye we use is not intended for outdoor use either, and can run due to the mat getting wet from the rain.

Shedding

When you first get your mat, you may find that some fibres have been shaken loose in transit, leading to some initial shedding as your mat settles.

To remove these loose coir fibres, we recommend picking them up and simply shaking the fibres loose periodically as a good shake can remove dust, dirt, and loose fibres.

We do not recommend that you run a vacuum over the mat, this is due to the suction of the hover loosening / pulling out more coir fibres and result in pile loss which can further exacerbate the situation. instead we recommend using a A stiff brush like our Coir Mat Cleaning Brush for cleaning your coir mat.

For those who want to avoid the chance of your entrance mats shedding entirely, we recommend other mat materials like our Synthetic Course Man Made Coir Matting.

These are suitable for indoor and unlike natural fibres, many of our synthetic mat materials are non-shedding.

Printed Coir Mats

Our Personalised Coir Doormats have the design printed onto the surface of the matting.

With coir being a brush pile, this means that the printing is created on the ends of the bristles and does not extend across the full length of the bristles.

As such, over time depending on the level of footfall over it, it is expected that the text will wear away.

For indoor coir printed in commercial areas with heavy footfall, our Coir Logo Mats are made via having our coloured coir cut and inlaid into the mat, so the colours of the design run throughout the mat’s full depth.

Printing can also wear away if exposed to the elements, so our personalized doormats are designed to be used indoors or under a covered porch where they will be protected from rain and snow.

This will ensure that they last as long as possible.

For a personalised doormat that will be situated outdoors, we recommend our, as the All Weather Made to Measure Doormat personalisation is specifically designed to not wear away or fade with exposure to the elements.

How Often Should I Replace My Doormats?

The simple answer is when you feel like it.

If you have the mat for decorative use, you will probably want to replace it more often so it looks fresh and clean, but as a tool for keeping your flooring clean, your mat can last years, so the unsatisfying answer is it's up to you.

Contact Us

We understand there is a lot of information when it comes to choosing the best entrance matting and coir mat for your home. So, if you are still unsure or just looking to confirm your choice with our team, or for advice on how to keep your mat looking its best, we would be more than happy to help and advice.

Our phone lines are open Monday to Friday from 9:00am to 5:00pm just call 020 8305 5357, or alternatively, you can email us on help@coirmats.co.uk.