FAQ's
General Product
Surprisingly no! Natural Step bath and shower mats are warm to the touch, the sensation is more like standing on wood than a cold stone tile.
The word 'stone' may make you think of a piece of rock or a pebble by the river, repelling water.
However, the Natural Step mat is made of very fine stones with a complex, porous structure fused together like a ceramic material would be. It's strong like rock, but absorbent like sponge.
About 2.5kg, so they are easy enough to move around.
Yes, they grip the floor nicely. Even without the extra backing supplied, but with the backing they will not move on even the slippiest of surfaces.
Environmental
Most bath mats are cotton or synthetic cotton, with a rubber back and need machine washing and drying regularly. This takes considerable energy and creates carbon emissions. Natural Step mats are wipe clean. At the end of their life the cotton/rubber materials can't be separated so recycling isn't possible and the mats end up in landfill. Cotton and rubber both have a high carbon footprint and wider environmental impact around soil erosion and use of fossil fuels.
Our mat is made from ubiquitous rock, which we guarantee for a lifetime. That means if it's damaged you can return it to us and we will replace it for free. The mat will then be turned into a powder and used to help plants retain water around their roots in dry soil.
We measure the carbon footprint of our products and offset the emissions created during production and transport to ensure your purchase is carbon neutral.
Even better we are part of 1% for the Planet, so 1% of the sales price of
every product goes to help tackle climate change.
Bamboo and Wood are eco bath mats too but they are not very good at absorbing water, which doesn't make them ideal.
We are part of 1% for the Planet, so 1% of the sales price of every product goes to help tackle climate change.
Find out more here: onepercentfortheplanet.org
DPD use electric vehicles for many deliveries and offset the emissions created by the rest of their operations.
Cleaning
No, Natural Step mats are naturally anti-microbial and anti-mildew. They inhibit the bacteria and moulds that cause smells and dry quickly, so residual water has no time to breed nasties.
During normal use no. The water leaves no marks, but obviously if you drop something on it that would normally cause staining, it is possible. In this case we provide some sand paper that you can use to remove from the surface.
General Bath Mat
A more philosophical question that demands a philosophical answer! It's not essential no, the world will keep turning and consuming less is actually a good thing for the planet.
That said, water on the floor can breed bacteria, bad odours and can end up damaging floorboards and skirting.
Even if you floor is tiled it needs to end up somewhere, so often rolls into gaps. Of course, there is also the risk of accidents with a wet floor.
We have written a really comprehensive article on this subject that explores the pros and cons of different materials used in bath mats.
Obviously, the answer is a Natural Step bath or shower mat!
