How To Clean Cat Litter Mat
After spending 18 hours researching 17 different litter mats, and testing eight of them with 15 cats, we think the Easyology Premium Cat Litter Mat is the best for most cats and their people. It traps litter scatter that would otherwise spread on your bare floor, is easy to vacuum, and is more comfortable for your cat to walk on than most other mats. Most litter mats are okay, some are good, and none of them will stop every grain of litter from reaching your floors.
Our pick
The Easyology Premium Cat Litter Mat traps fine-grained litter scatter well, vacuums up easily, and is more comfortable for cat paws than most others. Its skid-resistant underside also means cats are less likely to send the mat (and any messes on it) flying if they jump onto it. The mat's PVC construction is virtually indestructible by sharp little claws—but the tight coils make for a harder time cleaning gunky messes than most other litter mats tested, so skip it if your cat has a tendency to make a mess outside of the box.
Also great
If you're concerned less with litter scatter and more with sticky messes (like vomit or diarrhea), opt for the PetFusion ToughGrip Waterproof Cat Litter Mat. The mat is made of silicone so it's easy to wipe clean, and it has raised lines along the mat that help reduce litter scatter a bit—but with nothing to trap litter, it's noticeably worse at that than other mats (though still better than nothing). It's also around twice the price of the Easyology.
Also great
The pricier iPrimio Cat Litter Trapper is the best mat at hiding litter scatter. The dual-layer design traps both coarse and fine litter better than the Easyology, hiding it in the bottom layer, and it opens like a book for cleaning. Just avoid iPrimio if your cat tends to have an upset stomach or pees outside the box: gunk tends to hide in the honeycomb-shaped holes, and the manufacturer warns the fabric piping can lock-in sour odors. It also skids across the floor more easily than the Easyology.
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Why you should trust us
I'm a lifelong pet parent and I have several years of experience volunteering at animal shelters. For this guide, I spoke with Mary Molloy, an accredited pet behaviorist with the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, about what kinds of litter mat cats prefer. I contacted Dr. Ann Hohenhaus at veterinary hospital Animal Medical Center to learn about safety considerations when cleaning litter mats. And I sought the professional opinions of both staff and felines at Meow Parlour, a cat cafe in New York City.
Who this is for
A cat litter mat is for anyone who has a cat litter box—which is everyone who has a cat. These textured mats are like a doormat: Even the best-behaved cat will track granules of litter out of their litter box on their paws, and a good litter mat catches most of them before they spread over the rest of your house. But no litter mat is a perfect catch-all, so don't be disappointed if you use one and you still see a bit of litter scatter.
Some cats will also just make a mess out of doing their business: missing the litter box entirely, coughing up hairballs, or just sprinting out of the litter box, sending litter flying. A litter mat serves as an easily cleaned surface to help catch these disasters rather than them happening on your floor. You can also invest in dust-free cat litter or buy a higher-sided litter box to reduce the effects, but nothing will entirely eliminate litter scatter.
A good cat litter mat helps contain messes and is definitely better than having your litter box on the bare floor, but we found only small differences in how much litter they trapped. So think about what other characteristics—cleanability, comfort, aesthetics— matter most to you before purchasing a mat.
How to clean a cat litter mat
Cleaning a gunky litter mat is probably the last thing any cat owner wants to do after giving their litter box a good scrubbing, but you have to do it to prevent your pet's spreading bacteria as it walks on the mat and then hops on your pillow. Before removing crusty crud, you should run a handheld vacuum over the dirty litter mat to remove loose litter scatter. Some Wirecutter staffers keep a handheld vacuum stored near their litter box so it's within easy reach. We like the Black+Decker 20V Max Lithium Pivot BDH2000PL because it has strong suction that efficiently picks up cat litter scatter, and its pivoting nozzle easily reaches into tight crevices behind litter boxes and between litter mat indentations. Alternatively, take the litter mat outdoors and give it a good shake into a garbage bag to prevent fecal matter from contaminating waterways.
We've found that it's easiest to run each dirty mat under a hose or a bathtub faucet to remove gunky messes. The ASPCA recommends cleaning a litter box and litter mat every week with warm water and unscented soap. (Cleaning with unscented soap ensures your cat won't develop an aversion to the scent.) If your cat hovers over the litter box edge while they do their business and makes a mess, use a good enzymatic cleaner that neutralizes pet odors to clean it up. Wirecutter staffers are big fans of the Nature's Miracle lineup of urine destroyers and advanced stain removers. And never use an ammonia-based cleaner on pet accidents: Urine contains ammonia, and cleaning with ammonia may encourage your cat to pee there again.
How we picked
We looked at cat litter mats of all shapes, sizes, and litter-trapping designs across manufacturer sites, as well as Amazon, Bed Bath & Beyond, Chewy, Jet.com, and Walmart. We noted their price, materials, and design, and narrowed down to 17 based on long-term positive user reviews. From those, we selected ones that are square- or rectangle-shaped and come in large-enough sizes to accommodate most litter boxes.
How we tested
First, I took each mat and reviewed their litter trapping capabilities, cleanability, comfort, traction, and durability. The finalists were tested by two Wirecutter staffer's cats, as well as 13 resident cats at the Meow Parlour cat cafe in New York City.
- Trapping litter: I spilled a tablespoon of our pick for cat litter on each litter mat and rubbed it in, making note of how well each mat trapped both large and small particles.
- Easy to clean: I ran a vacuum cleaner over the scatter and counted how many passes it took to clean up. Then, I smeared artificial poo (aka half-baked chocolate chunk brownie batter) on them and tried spot-cleaning the goo with paper towels and water, and rinsed off any residual mess.
- Comfort: I ran my hands and bare feet over each mat to determine which ones were more comfortable to walk on than others. While humans and cats have very different feet, you can still get a feeling for those that are major outliers: "If you press your hand against it and it feels pretty uncomfortable, then your cat's not going to like it either," said Mary Molloy, a certified professional pet trainer and owner at Nirvana Tails in New York City.
- Skid resistance: To make sure the mats wouldn't easily slide about, I kicked them across a hardwood floor.
- Durability: I looked at the quality of each mat's construction, seam integrity, and accessories to determine how likely they'd stand up to abuse. Then I ran simulated cat claws (aka plastic meat shredders) across the surfaces to see which litter mats retained their shape the best.
Our pick: Easyology Premium Cat Litter Mat
Our pick
The Easyology Premium Cat Litter Mat traps small litter granules well due to its coiled design, and vacuums up more cleanly than most other mats. It's also comfortable to the touch, stays in place on slippery floors, and will hold up to your cat's abuse.
Like most of the cat litter mats tested, Easyology does a good job at trapping small cat litter granules. If all you have to worry about is your cat tracking litter out of the box, this mat will stop most of it from making its way to your floors. It's designed with tightly-woven coils that hold litter but are easy to vacuum clean. In our tests, it took only two passes with the vacuum cleaner to clean up the mess. The only mat that was easier to vacuum was the PetFusion ToughGrip, which only took one pass.
Pet parents can also feel confident knowing their cats will actually enjoy walking on this mat. Easyology was also one of the softest mats tested, surpassed only by the foam SmartGrip. It was marginally less likely to skid across a hardwood floor than other litter mats we tested. (Petlinks Purr-fect Paws and ToughGrip were close seconds.) Its PVC construction means your cat can scratch and wipe its paws all day long without damaging or pilling the mat's surface.
The Easyology mat comes in seven colors and two sizes—35 by 23 inches and 47 by 36 inches—to accommodate the style and space needs of most people.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
Like most litter mats we tested, Easyology did well at locking small granules in the mat, but its coil-like texture was too intricate to capture larger granules. So keep the dustpan nearby to sweep up any larger pieces of cat litter.
Easyology also isn't ideal if your cat has stomach issues or frequently misses the litter box. Its tightly-woven strings make it difficult to spot-clean (like the Pet Magasin, which has a similar textured design). So run this under a water hose or your bathtub spout to remove caked-on debris, and if you frequently have to clean up pet messes, consider the PetFusion instead.
Also great for deep cleaning: PetFusion ToughGrip Waterproof Cat Litter Mat
Also great
If your cat often makes sticky messes just outside the litter box, go with the PetFusion ToughGrip Waterproof Cat Litter Mat. It's made of silicone, so vomit, hairballs, diarrhea, or other unpleasantness can easily be wiped off, and the mat is easily cleaned with hot soapy water. The wide-groove design simplifies tossing litter back into the litter box or trash can but doesn't trap litter as well as our main pick. It's around twice the price of the Easyology, so if you don't often need to deep-clean, go with the cheaper option.
The ToughGrip is a silicone mat with a raised outer lip and raised inner ridges along its surface. The wavy ridges are three quarters of an inch apart, and since the mat is smooth, unlike our other picks, the litter falls free easily when you tip it out. And while the ribbed design is meant to help contain litter scatter on the mat, it's not as effective at that as the coils of our main pick, especially if your cat frequently steps in its mess and tracks dirty litter everywhere (the gunky scatter won't cling to this mat like it does to the Easyology).
No matter the mess, the ToughGrip is the easiest to clean. (Our human friends at Meow Parlour cat café favor this mat over others for that reason.) The faux poo came up swiftly with a wet paper towel, while caked-on messes were removed with a quick run under the kitchen faucet. It was the easiest of all litter mats tested to vacuum, requiring just one roll over to capture the litter scatter. (The Easyology needed two passes, and all other mats either had holes too deep for the vacuum's suction to reach or they got caught in the vacuum cleaner's suction, like a bathroom rug.)
The smooth silicone of the ToughGrip makes it one of the softest mats we tested, though the raised inner ridges are less comfortable. The mat also stays in place better than most litter mats tested, on par with the Easyology, and it'll long outlast the other PetFusion mat we tested, the PVC foam SmartGrip, which could easily be shredded by curious claws.
The PetFusion ToughGrip comes in one color and two sizes (27 by 22 inches and 36 by 26 inches).
Also great for hiding litter: iPrimio Cat Litter Trapper
The competition
The PetFusion SmartGrip Cat Litter Mat is made from PVC and features a tiny, quilted design, making it the most-attractive looking option we tested. However, that soft mat can be effortlessly destroyed by a cat's claws (especially among those who use their litter mat to clean their paws). It also performed in the bottom half of our test group at trapping large and small litter particles, and it was difficult to vacuum up any and all litter scatter because the vacuum's own suction kept it from sliding across the mat.
The Pet Magasin Cat Litter Mats (which come in a two-pack) feature the same design as Easyology. But the marginally tighter coils made it harder to spot-clean, and it was the only single-layer litter mat we tested where we couldn't vacuum up the trapped litter.
Thicker litter trappers with holes
The WooPet! Cat Litter Mat is another pricey option with a honeycomb, dual-layer design. It trapped litter better than the Blackhole, but not as well as the iPrimio. It has tiny bumps on the honeycomb top layer, and one of our testers noted that their cat was reluctant to walk across it. It's secured shut on the two longest sides with Velcro, which can get smelly and less able to fasten over time as the mat is exposed to cat urine, litter dust, pet fur, and the like.
The Blackhole Cat Litter Mat is a more expensive layered mat in the style of of the iPrimio, but it has slightly smaller holes and is not as good at trapping larger granules. Instead, those granules pile on the top layer, which defeats the purpose of having a litter trap. Also, it only opens at the two shortest ends, forming a tube, rather than opening like a book, so it's not as easy to open and clean as the iPrimio.
The Petlinks Purr-fect Paws Cat Litter Mat is a single-layer mat that uses circular recesses to trap litter, similar to a honeycomb mat's design. It was one of three mats that performed the best at trapping litter (the others were iPrimio and WooPet!), but it was also one of the hardest to thoroughly spot-clean. The recesses made it harder to clean dried urine and sticky messes, and like the honeycomb mats tested, we couldn't vacuum up any litter trapped in the holes.
Sources
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Dr. Ann Hohenhaus, Staff Doctor, Animal Medical Center, New York, New York, phone interview , October 12, 2017
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Mary Molloy, Certified Professional Dog Trainer - Knowledge Assessed, Nirvana Tails LLC and Animal Behavior Counselor, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, New York, New York, phone interview , November 6, 2017
About your guide
Kaitlyn Wells is a staff writer covering all things pets and style. She has never met a pet she didn't like, although she can't say the same thing about shoes. Her first picture book, A Family Looks Like Love, follows a pup who learns that love, rather than how you look, is what makes a family.
How To Clean Cat Litter Mat
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-cat-litter-mat/#:~:text=We've%20found%20that%20it's,an%20aversion%20to%20the%20scent.)
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