hi all, I've seen various threads on here before about dirt trapper mats, the ones that are usually mentioned are out of my price range. I've just found these :http://www.splendidpets.co.uk/dirt-trappers-c12 
anybody tried them? they're cheap but I don know if they're any good!
thanks

A lot of people I know use these buy get them off eBay cheaper

thanks, will have a look. Im just worrying that they will just be like normal industrial carpet and not particularly absorbent. Might get some of teh kennel grade ones and see.

do you know the difference between turtle mats and dirt trapper ?

probably not, I presumed that turtle mats are a brand name and dirt trapper a description, but I'm ready to be enlightened!! What i want basically is something that will absorb mud and water and help clean the feet of 4 big dogs that walk in a muddy field/garden and come straight indoors!

will watch this thread with interest then. I have turtle by the back door which is great for sticking in the washing maching and fairly non slip on the laminate but after three years is looking a bit over used but still effective

I don't think you can beat turtle mats, yes I know they are expensive but you get what you pay for, we have quite a few! Three in the dog van, 2 in M'home garage and three in the house, one is 15 years old and as good as new. Wash well and are still non slip on the tiled floors.

I have several of the Splendid Pets dirt trapper mats, both the kennel grade ones (which sometimes arrives with holes in) and better quality. I have nothing to compare with though as I have never used Turtle mats.

At the moment I use one mat by the back door and one cut in half as a doormat at the front door -I have one of these little spaces (what on earth would you call it?) in between the front door and the inner door, roughly 4 foot square. Also my mother in law has one by her bed as she walks using a walker and slips easily, but we had to remove her fitted carpets as they were just too impractical -both she and her two dogs made them too filthy. We had to put her mat partially under the bed's legs to keep it in place as it WILL slip away underneath her when she gets out of bed otherwise, so they are not perfect non slip.

The mat by the back door tends to attract my cats, in fact it is funny to watch. I have counted to as many as 19 cats sleeping on it at the same time. So it gets rather hairy and it can be a bit of a problem to get the fur off it when vacuuming, but the turbo head for my Henry tends to get most of it. It does take off a lot of the dogs' muddy paws when they come in from the back garden (6 big dogs that go in and out via that door) but not ALL -there will still be some pawprints. Not like you can tell the dogs to stand still and wipe their feet. If it rains heavily I put a second mat down to get a bigger space for them to walk on.

However when it rains and the dogs go in and out the mat gets really wet underneath. Top seems pretty dry but there will eventually form an actual puddle underneath it which you see when you lift it up. So the wetness doesn't stay in the mat.

For the front door the half mat works well as a doormat but again doesn't remove all mud. A lot of dogs go through that door though, as well as people. 7 Papillons and 4 Malinois and 2 crossbreeds, in 3 groups each time. I had a mat inside the hall, on the other side of the inner door, to start with, but found that for some reason the Papillons AND cats believed the mat was there to pee on! So now I instead put down a large rubber backed vetbed which I can chuck in the wash every morning, quicker to wash and dry as it can be tumble dried and does not come out as wet and heavy as the dirt trapper mats do. I can honestly say I notice no difference between the vetbed and the dirt trapper mats in how effective they are at catching mud. Both get some but not all. The rubber backed vetbeds are a LOT better at staying in place and not slipping.

I have Hug Rugs which I buy from ebay, they are the best purchase I have made as we live in the middle of a field and have very red clay!!

We use fairly cheap cotton rugs from Ikea however they have to be washed on an almost daily basis in this weather.We need to buy a couple of these mats but just wondered how often they need to be washed.Bearing in mind I know that it greatly depends on usage.Would they also have to be washed very regularly as the mud and dirt needs to go somewhere???.

DUNELM sell a very similar product for about £20 and I find it very absorbent and it washes well.

We use fairly cheap cotton rugs from Ikea however they have to be washed on an almost daily basis in this weather.We need to buy a couple of these mats but just wondered how often they need to be washed.Bearing in mind I know that it greatly depends on usage.Would they also have to be washed very regularly as the mud and dirt needs to go somewhere???.

I use IKEA rugs as bedding, and they fall apart after too many washes. The dirt trapper mats, the cheap ones, I only wash about once a month normally, although if the weather has been really bad it can be as often as once a week. Worst part about them is finding somewhere to hang them to dry.