# Do doormats go inside or outside?



## staceychev

Please help settle this! DH bought a doormat--not a thick sisal one or a plastic green one, but the kind that looks like this one. He insists that it belongs in the front entry _inside the door_. It constantly slips and slides around on the hardwood, has to be away from the swing of the door (there's no space under the door for even that much thickness), and is generally ugly.

I claim that doormats belong outside the front door, so that people can wipe their feet coming in. (This works especially well for us, since we have a front porch with a roof, so the doormat is out of the weather.) He claims that doormats belong inside where they can protect the floor, and besides, that's where we take our shoes off.

So, what do you think? Inside? Outside? Obligatory "other"? For what it's worth, we have one inside the back door, too, in the mudroom, but it doesn't bother me as much because (a) the door doesn't stick on it (b) we don't have a porch roof outside there and (c) aesthetics aren't as important there.


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## Mama Mko

We have one outside the door and then a regular rug just inside. In the garage entrance, we have one just outside and one just inside. I prefer to have them on both sides of the door. If it doesn't really fit there though, I'd just leave one outside!


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## ChristyMarie

With the one you posted, it would go OUTSIDE the door. Then you can also have a more decorative one on the inside. This set up is my preference.


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## Ola_

One like that I would put outside the door. We do have a rug inside also (no issues with clearance fortunately) but it is larger and looks more carpet-like. I'd guess it's around 4'x6'.


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## nd_deadhead

Definitely outside!


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## laohaire

The main doormat is outside. Our thick one is outside.

That said, we do have a "light" mat just inside the door as well.

But if you have only one mat, it belongs outside. Outside and inside is the best, thought.

Aside from the problems with opening and closing the door, the point of the mat is to collect dirt, debris, snow and rain moisture and so on - so it stays OUTSIDE of the house. It doesn't make sense to deposit these things INSIDE the house if you can help it.

I shake out our outdoor mat every now and then but it's never clean. It's very rough so that it can scrape the soles of our shoes and such - but you can't really clean that entirely.

The inside one, which is just a little rug, I can vacuum and get reasonably clean.


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## lolar2

Astroturfy mats go outside, with a nonslip rug-type mat inside. You should have one of each, at each door, for maximum dirt control.


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## ChetMC

I think this depends on your climate, the type of mat, if you typically wear shoes in the house, if your entrance goes right into a room or if you have a porch/mud room, etc.

We have always put door mats inside the door. Wet or icky shoes and boots get left on the mat. The mat is where you take off your shoes. We don't wear shoes in the house.

I think that any time we had a mat outside we had one inside too. If we had one inside though, we didn't necessarily have one outside.

Personally, I don't want to stand outside wiping me feet. In our old house, we had a closed in porch for that. In our current house, there isn't any place to put a door mat outside anyway.

I've certainly seen plenty of sisel door mats inside and never thought it was odd.


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## odenata

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ChristyMarie* 
With the one you posted, it would go OUTSIDE the door. Then you can also have a more decorative one on the inside. This set up is my preference.

This is what we do, too.


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## eclipse

It goes outside. Like others have said, you can also have a smaller, prettier one inside if you have the door clearance for it. We don't, so we only have one outside.


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## staceychev

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ChetMC* 
I think this depends on your climate...

We have always put door mats inside the door. Wet or icky shoes and boots get left on the mat.

Makes sense, especially since this whole thing started over the winter with the crazy snow we got here in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic.


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## EdnaMarie

I put other because it depends on the doormat, but the kind he bought belongs inside. You can get a kind of tape that keeps it from sliding around.


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## lifeguard

We have the type you show inside & then the rubber or sisal ones outside. I agree with the pp who said your climate could really influence this. I hate drips & puddles inside in the winter so a good rubber backed mat is needed inside or else the moisture goes through & can run the flooring.

In a nicer climate I'd probably just have one outside.


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## HappilyEvrAfter

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ChristyMarie* 
With the one you posted, it would go OUTSIDE the door. Then you can also have a more decorative one on the inside. This set up is my preference.











We wipe excess stuff on the outside mat then step on the inside one to take off shoes just inside the house.


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## Purple Sage

I voted for one in and one out. We have one like this inside (just like in the picture) and one like this outside.

But I would not put a mat inside if the door could not open over it. It seems pointless to have one that far out into the room.


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## Llyra

We have both-- a thick, sisal one outside, and an attractive one inside. Both get used for foot-wiping. My door opens directly into my living room, with no real entryway, so double protection is important to me. Dirty shoes get left on the indoor mat until they can be cleaned and put away, and it gets tossed in the wash frequently. I live in NJ, so we have snow and mud to contend with, and we spend a lot of time in farm fields, our kitchen gardens, and in the woods. Actually, on the worst days, I put layers of towels over the mat, and change them several times a day.

But we have plenty of clearance under the door for our mat. If it frequently catches on the door, that would irritate me.


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## MissMommyNiceNice

I voted "other" b/c it's not really a preference to have one inside & out but by default that's what we have. We have big thick onees outside. I think the one you showed would probably belong outside or inside a mudroom, not inside the front door. We have thick muddy ones outside, and one inside the front door. It says "Hi, I'm Mat" and I love it b/c dh's name is Matt & we searche forever to find one, and MIL found it for xmas a few years ago and it will live inside our door forever.


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## lovebug

that kind goes outside and the smaller nice looking ones goes inside...


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## newbymom05

I have a similar one from LL Bean inside by our back door. I actually have two--one in front of the door, and another before you go into the carpeted living room. It may be ugly, but we have a pool/dog/weedy yard and those mats help a lot. For the front door we have a sisal outside and rug inside. We're a no-shoe inside family w/ light carpeting so I want dirt to fall off ASAP.

ETA in the online and catalog ads for the Bean Waterhog mats, they have them both inside and outside--more pictures inside.


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## annethcz

Doormat outside, rug inside.


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## zebra15

Quote:


Originally Posted by *annethcz* 
Doormat outside, rug inside.

sorry, anything called 'waterhog' goes on the OUTSIDE.... I may not be an interior decorator but... waterhog equates to outside


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## russsk

I prefer them outside, but here they get stolen if you leave them outside.


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## Purple Sage

Quote:


Originally Posted by *zebra15* 
sorry, anything called 'waterhog' goes on the OUTSIDE.... I may not be an interior decorator but... waterhog equates to outside

But if your outside door mat is exposed to the elements, then having a 'waterhog' outside would just get soaked in the rain. It would make more sense to have it inside where wet shoes are stepping in.


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## Drummer's Wife

We have them just outside the doors.


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## Chloe&Coop'sMom

I would put that kind outside.


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## newbymom05

Quote:


Originally Posted by *zebra15* 
sorry, anything called 'waterhog' goes on the OUTSIDE.... I may not be an interior decorator but... waterhog equates to outside

We have a pool so the waterhog mat gets plenty of use inside, and since it's inside, it's always dry, right? Think mudroom, not formal entryway.


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## noobmom

Quote:


Originally Posted by *newbymom05* 
We have a pool so the waterhog mat gets plenty of use inside, and since it's inside, it's always dry, right? Think mudroom, not formal entryway.

Good point about mudroom entry versus formal entry. I'm guessing since the OP was talking about hardwood floor, this was her front door. I would put a mat like that outside with a rug inside.


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## Turbo Joe

No matter what type of mat you have, periodically shake it out to remove small pebbles, stones and loose dirt or sand. These materials can be tracked inside or become an issue when wet if they are allowed to accumulate inside the mat material for any length of time.


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## 4evermom

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Purple Sage* 
But if your outside door mat is exposed to the elements, then having a 'waterhog' outside would just get soaked in the rain. It would make more sense to have it inside where wet shoes are stepping in.

Exactly. A waterhog should be inside.









But if the OP has a covered front porch, it can go there. And I wouldn't put it at a formal entrance on the hardwood (though I might put a nicer looking waterhog one there. I think LLBean has some better looking versions).

Ideally, one should have a sisally type outdoor one for wiping off mud and an interior one to dry off wet shoes.


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## SophieAnn

Door mat outside - something coarse to wipe your shoes/boot on.
Decorative rug inside - something washable to take shoes off on.
Boot tray inside for wintertime.


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## Ygle

Quote:


Originally Posted by *russsk* 
I prefer them outside, but here they get stolen if you leave them outside.

People steal door mats?!? That's just insane









I have a sturdy mat I can hose down outside and a large bath mat I can throw in the wash inside -at the front door and back door.


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