The Vine: April 3, 2009
Sars, I’m hoping that you or the Tomatolings can help me find an unfindable item…
My mother-in-law has had both hips replaced, and last time she came for a visit she asked (politely) if we’d mind getting one of those grippy non-slip bathmat thingies that go on the floor of the tub. I totally understand her concern, and I’d be happy to get something for her.
The only trouble is, all of the mats I can find are those faux-pebble ones or the plain nubby beige ones that scream “a very old lady lives here.”
I realize it’s only a tub floor, but I’d like to keep our house, well, pretty. As a lifetime non-grippy-bath-thing user, I’m also worried about mildew and proper tub cleaning and all the other ickiness that I imagine goes along with keeping a plastic mat in the tub (do you roll them up and put them away? Hang to dry? I have no idea).
I was hoping that Etsy would have something cool-looking — funky bath decals, or some artsy tub-floor pattern. Do these things exist?
Any ideas would be appreciated (by me, and by my bionic mother-in-law).
Thanks!
EP
Dear EP,
I’d suggest going as basic as possible — sometimes trying to pretty up a fundamentally functional/un-design-y item results in tackiness, like those knit dolls that go over the extra roll of toilet paper.You may just have to accept that the grippy thingies don’t do “pretty,” and that visitors don’t spend a lot of time looking into your bathtub and judging you.
If you go with a permanent solution, I’d get the pebbly black strips that look like asphalt; it’s neither particularly attractive nor disguisable, but at least in black you won’t have the nubbles aging/mildewing at a different rate from the rest of the tub and making it look dirty even when it’s clean (my apartment’s tub has that issue; nothing to be done about it, really).
But I’d go with this guy.It’s clear, not white, which looks marginally nicer; you can take it out of the tub to clean it (a solution of bleach or baking soda/vinegar once a month should do it); and it seems to roll up, so when your MIL isn’t visiting, you can stash it behind the toilet or in a closet somewhere.
Perhaps the readers have a more elegant suggestion, but products designed to keep people from falling down in the tub will necessarily be a bit lumpen in the presentation, I suspect.Readers?
Tags: Ask The Readers retail
I have two kids who treat the tub like a jungle gym. We opt for the funky frogs and ducks that you can find at Target. They do the job (and come in other shapes) and are easily removed. The one-year old baby loves to pull up the frogs and cart them around. So EP could spread them out when her mother-in-law visits and remove after the visit. Heck, it can be done in less than a minute after she showers. They are not too large, so a quick wipe with a towel and they will fit easily in a ziploc bag or decorate basket/container.
I can’t rate them from experience, but I remember seeing stick-on non-slip thingies mainly in baby departments. This website – http://www.nonslipbath.co.uk/ – has an example of a more adult, discreet type, which they boast is also more hygienic than a bathmat, so it might be more up your street. I searched under bath non-slip “splats” and googling this with some more relevant keywords may turn up some more snazzy ones to match your decor.
Hey Sars, I bought that one you recommended a few days after I took a pretty bad fall in the tub. I wouldn’t recommend it. The suction cups were tiny didn’t really work and it was actually more slippery then the bare tub.
After we took it back we bought one that looked like it was weaved together (it had a bunch of holes in the mat) and was really flexible. But the problem was it was so flexible and the cups didn’t really stick that great either. I would say if EP was to get one, get one that is like a continuous mat with no holes in it. Or do what we did and switch to the grippy stickers.
Google “antimicrobial bath mat” and you can find a variety of machine-washable solutions. Pop it in the washer along with the towels when she leaves, and stash it in the linen closet until she comes back. If you’re especially neurotic about germs, wash it with your bleachables.
I’ll go with Nicole recommending that you look at the ones designed for kids. We have some pretty cool looking fish for my toddler.
I love these shower mats – http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1274205&cp=1255014.1260720&parentPage=family. They are soft and comfy to stand on, and they are machine washable.
I do think the safety and comfort of you MIL should be the first priority; can’t you just put the mat away when her visit is over?
The Solutions catalog! They even have a really pretty flowery trimmable thingy here. The catalog is a lot of fun just to read through, and they have some good stuff for older people (like Good Grips type of things).
I would just get a nice one (maybe even from a medical supply store) that you can take out of the tub when it’s not needed. They even have some machine-washable ones now.
OR, depending on the size of your shower, you might look into a nice Teak shower bench for her to use when she’s there. They look cute, IMO.
I got my tub mat at Target. It’s blue and pretty. Here’s a link to their selection: http://www.target.com/Tub-Mats-Bath-Bed/b/ref=sc_fe_l_2/189-5893051-7637014?ie=UTF8&node=13892111
If you don’t like these, I’d say just buy an ugly, functional one for when she visits and stash it in the cupboard when she leaves.
I’m a bigger fan of sticky things that actually just are affixed to the tub. We got white strips that I really liked. They aren’t more noticeably dirty than the tub. (I think they’re Duck brand, … uhm makers of the name brand duct tape.) In my experience the mats with suction cups slide, and I felt less safe using one. (Myabe I have an extremely slippery tub?)
Like Saras said, it’s not like people will judge you for what’s going on in your tub. I can’t tell you what the inside of a single friend of mine’s tub looks like.
Sars,
My mom has the one you recommend, and just yesterday almost fell in the shower. She was able to catch herself, but that mat came out and went in the trash, and today I’m going to look for some spray on anti-slip, or something much grippier.
Avon use to have a cool one that looked like green stones…labeled as SpaFinder Massaging Pebble Shower Mat.
Would that kind of waffle weave shelf liner work? You can get that stuff in rolls, so it can be cut to fit (or cut in strips), and it’s easy to take up and clean (bleach solution).
I like it for all kinds of things, although I’ve never tried it in the bathroom. Just thinking outside the tub, so to speak.
The ONE mat I pick! Okay, guys: I’d suggest NOT that one.
I’d actually also suggest those suction handles (http://www.target.com/Mommys-Helper-Extra-Long-Safer-Grip/dp/B000S8O9ME/sr=1-4/qid=1238782152/ref=sr_1_4/175-1384429-6097828?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=0&index=target&rh=k%3Ashower%20handle&page=1) that you could store in the linen closet when she’s not visiting, so she’s got something to grab onto (or risk pulling the towel bar out of the back of the door, like my husband did). My bath mat is a plain boring blue Rubbermaid one from Target, but it works really well. Tried the pebbly one, that slipped all over the place.
Inventiveparent.com has some funky decals – tatoo-style flaming hearts, pink flamingos, retro-mermaids, and others. They say theyakre easy to remove. I have 4 kids, and in my experience, the decals are way more reliable than the mats. Good luck!
Regarding mat care – if you have one, you can leave it in all the time, or you can take it out after each use. So it would be fine to get an ugly one, and only leave it in the tub when your mother-in-law is visiting. Afterwards, take it out, hang it up to make sure it dries completely, and then throw it in a closet until the next visit.
Beware the Target mats!! I bought one after taking a bad fall in the shower (resulted in a crack to the head and a black eye – yikes!). The Target mats don’t stick … they call those things on the bottom suction cups, but they’re not.
After my Target foray, I went and got the reliable Rubbermaid mat: http://www.rubbermaidforless.com/washroom-saftigrip-bath-shower-mats-category-12_176_179.html and have been using it ever since (going on 9 years, I think). I just pop it in the washer when it starts to look questionable … and pull it up when I clean the tub. Easy. And, you can roll it up and put it away when it’s not needed.
I tried the stick on things, but I found that it was hard to clean around them without making the want to peel up, or leaving a ring of scum around them so as to avoid getting close enough to them to make them want to peel.
A word of caution…if your tub is glazed – as in repainted – do not use a mat that has any type of suction cup. The combo of the water and the suction will eventually cause the glaze to come up and you will end up having to spend around $500 to re-glaze your tub.
Unfortunately we found this out the hard way. Oh the joys of home ownership!
This one: http://tinyurl.com/d7f6og is as fugly as it gets, but it works, it’s removable, and could be doused in vinegar as a mold-and-mildew retardant & tucked away after her visit.
My own mama had this kind & I never slipped in the tub (and I am a klutz to the nth degree, an uberklutz – I hurt myself with FROSTING once!) so that speaks to its grippy-bath-thingy-ness.
Being an occupational therapist, I see a lot of older people after a bad fall broke their hip and I have to say DON’T get those stick-on… They give you a bad sense of security and people tend to fall more than without them… I suggest getting a regular one (albeit ugly one) and removing it after your mother-in-law goes back home.
Good luck !
Poor Sars! She will never recommend a bath mat again!! :)
About two years ago I slipped in the tub and hit my head on the corner of the sink (Manhattan bathroom = tiny). Nothing serious, just a very sore goose egg at the base of my head, kind of behind my left ear (and the requisite single person “What if that happens again and I’m knocked out and no one finds me for days?” panic), but I bought some no-stick strips from Bed Bath & Beyond. After I stopped getting in and out of the tub as gingerly as would an 85-year-old arthritic woman, I’ve found them fine. At least, I haven’t fallen since.
Just a note on the People Won’t Comment on Stuff in Your Tub stuff – we keep our litter box in the tub (pine-based litter, not clay). When we moved it, we wondered if anyone would notice. Finally, someone did. She made a snotty comment about it, too, but this is the woman who feels it’s appropriate to note that I “must not be on Weight Watchers anymore” when she notices I’ve gained weight.
In sum, anyone who notices the goings-on of your tub is an asshole. And three cheers for keeping MILs in non-broken shape!
I agree with Val and Mel…buy a serious non-slip, butt-ugly matt, and take the damned thing out of the tub after her visit is over. If you’re not having issues with slipping around in the tub, then you don’t have to commit to a permanent solution or worry about how it looks.
I actually have the one Sars recommended and it works perfectly fine for me.
I’m with everyone who voted for ugly + safe and then remove when she’s gone.
My parents had a Rubbermaid bath mat all the time I was growing up. It’s completely awesome, safety-wise; it has a million little suction cups, and after the first or second shower* that thing ain’t sliding anywhere. They had a fiberglass tub, but I’ve got porcelain and mine worked just fine for the four years or so that I used it. As long as you keep it clean (my mom threw it in the washing machine with a old towel, Tide, and bleach every month or so) it will last FOREVER. They’re around ten bucks at Target/Walmart/Etc.: http://tinyurl.com/d7k45w
(It’s a good idea to put it in the shower the day before she comes so you and your husband can tromp it down and get a good seal on it with your showers before MIL hits the mat.)
Margaret in CO, I would really like to hear that story of how you hurt yourself on frosting. :)
I know this is about bath mats, but can I suggest something else all tubs and showers should have?
Grab bars. Get ’em, no matter how old you are. One that we installed for my elderly father saved my butt a few weeks ago.
Jael and K bring up a good point and reminded me of the horrid accident a friend had a few years back. She slipped in the shower, fell *hard* and ended up with a compound fracture of her left forearm. She lived by herself and had the worst possible luck getting help. After dragging herself to the phone, she tried everyone she could think of to no avail. She finally called 911, and shortly after hanging up she realized she was still totally naked. The paramedics came in to find her wriggling around on her bed, trying in vain to pull on sweatpants. To their credit, they were very polite. They were also very impressed that she had been able to call for help while dragging around a totally floppy arm.
Not to scare anyone, because this was a totally freak accident, but I had a friend in high school whose father died on a business trip when he slipped getting out of the tub and hit the toilet, crushing his windpipe. I remember that the family first thought it was suicide because they were told he died of strangulation, and didn’t learn until after the autopsy that the real cause of death had been slip and fall.
So, yeah, safety mats = good.
I just wanted to comment that I’ve never understood how come so many people DON’T use some kind of mat/sticky thing in the bathtub or shower! It feels totally strange to me when I find myself showering at a friends house and I’m standing on the totally slippery bathtub surface!
I agree with all who said to find a decent mat and put it out for the MIL’s use but I simply don’t GET the ‘put it away afterwards’ thing. Use it yourselves people! Safety first!
I have nothing to offer other than I’m going off the idea of ever taking a bath again…I didn’t realise how dangerous it could be! Eek!
I also recommend the Rubbermaid mat – as other posters have said, it can be washed in the washing machine, so there’s not to much work in that regard. Also, as a person of some girth, I find using it gives me a sense of security, as it will not budge from the tub when you step on it, provided that the tub was mostly dry when you put it in.
Also, a word to the wise, if you have an old-school porcelain bathtub and you don’t remove the mat (the kind with suction-cups) after showering, it can leave some BEASTLY suction-cup shaped marks that are a pain to scrub off. I speak from experience. Comet is my friend.
Driver B, it was that pre-made frosting stuff in a plastic tub & it fell off the highest cupboard shelf onto my thumb. Left a knot the size & color of a concord grape. So stupid!
The pretty clear pebbled ones can also feel uncomfortably pebbly, sadly.
On a tub-cleaning tangent, don’t use an old enameled tub to bleach things (for example, soaking your bathmat) – it turns the enamel orangey brown and is usually permanent. I bought one of those under-bed plastic totes instead for soaking stained stuff and I love it – less wasted water than the tub and more space than the sink, and I can pick it up and set it on a counter or the sink to work at spots, AND if something has to soak for a while (not in bleach, just in soap/water) I can put the lid on and keep cats, moths, other items, etc. from getting in it while also not blocking a sink.