I was at the gym standing on the soft rubber flooring and I found myself thinking of horses after speaking to a customer recently. He’s a horse breeder and was pretty into it. His first questions after learning I’m from Los Angeles was “You ever been riding before?” I explained
that I grew up in close proximity before moving to L.A. from Mexico. Also, my girlfriend has been bugging me to take her horseback riding as she’s never been.

It’s a very glorious feeling indeed, there are certain details that elude those who might romanticize horse-back riding. Not only are they monstrously expensive to maintain and upkeep, but they can also be very dangerous. Remember Superman? The movies? A horse took him out. A HORSE!

As one of the earliest domesticated animals (6,000 years and counting), horses have been one of the unfortunate dwellers of the pre-civilized world that now largely does our bidding. For better or worse, these creatures are a mainstay of our human society. As our cultures collectively evolve slowly towards a (hopefully) more prudent and ecologically sound direction, many things that were once common knowledge are being turned upside their heads. For example, up until fairly recently, horses were considered relatively unintelligent animals. However, research shows that they do, in fact, exhibit great capacities for problem solving and cognitive learning outside of the herd mentality. Sadly though, they still can’t talk. Nah!

In any case, it was brought to my attention that our horse stall mats are polymerized rubber as opposed to vulcanized. The main difference with other rolled rubber flooring mats is that vulcanized rubber has a tendency to contain sulfur which can be harmful to the health of the horse if they are standing on this material, sleeping on it, or being transported on it. Sulfur generally has a bad odor, however, horses actually have a really bad sense of smell. Also, they can’t talk. Sigh… Since our horse stall mats are made from a different process altogether. Our rubber is polymerized rubber is made from an environmentally safe polyurethane bonding agent which is good for the horse, good for the planet, good as dog floor mats and good for the human race (hopefully.)

I have recently adopted sort of speak a hellishly adorable little puppy.  Now this little wiper-snapper is quite the handful.  Despite being the size of a small cat, he can certainly hold his own.  This little “amigo”, who’s name…is Amigo, is like a miniature neutron bomb with the ever last of the Energizer Bunny.  Apparently that is fairly common with his bread, a half Chiwawa, half Pug; which by the way is painfully adorable. This makes it very difficult to leave the little guy alone while I go to work each day.  So with a little digging, and bit of luck I found a local Doggy Day Care Center for the mi’ Amigo. 

 The place is like a doggy gym meets dog-park. The area is covered wall to wall with Rolled Rubber Flooring, and might I say very well maintained.  Now naturally being a new daddy, I did my research on the doggy day care before relinquishing my little pup to them.  They clean their Rubber Flooring each day with an Animal Safe Disinfectant and Neutral pH Cleaner.  They feed all the dogs well and there is plenty to do…if you’re a dog, that is.  There is lots of room to run and jump, and pant, and do those silly little things that dogs do. 

I am very pleased with my little find of this place for the fur-ball in my life.  The only down-side I have found is that I really hoped that all this play and stimulation while I was at work would wear the ‘ol Amigo out, and that he would be a calm, docile, thing once I got him home.  However, the best laid plans of mice and men, and dogs; this did not prove to be so.  In fact, I think that he got even more energy from playing with all the other dogs.  Regardless, he’s my little man and I’m glad that this swishy face demolition machine is happy as can be.

Did you know that tires are one of the worst and largest source of waste? They have one of the largest production volumes and is one of the most durable materials, making it almost impossible to get rid of. The plus side is that those problems also make them one of the most re-used materials. Recycled Rubber has a non-slip surface which is easy to clean and maintain and it’s very resilient and huge range of uses.

Tires are often recycled for use on basketball courts, new shoe products, and to make a recycled rubber playground surface. We at MatsMatsMats.com have quite a few other uses. One of the recycled rubber products that we carry is our rolled rubber flooring. It comes in 4’ or 5’ widths all the way up to 100’ in length. This version of our rubber is the most versatile because it also comes in 4 different thickness’ and 8 different colors. Most of the people I talk to that, are interested in rolled rubber flooring, use it for gyms, garages or dog runs. In a garage or gym it really helps muffle sounds and protect the floor while hiding dirt and can give your space a clean look. It is also excellent for surfacing (or as underlayment) for areas that require resilience, sound absorption, spike resistance and/or traction.

The people that use it for dog runs or kennels, like that the rubber is not very porous so it won’t absorb water or urine. It’s durable enough to withstand dog nails but has just enough give to protect the dogs joints when they lay down or run.

Our Tuff-n-Easy interlocking tiles are another great recycled rubber product. They come in 28.5”x28.5” square which easily (and seamlessly) interlock, allowing you to create smaller or odd shaped areas. These tiles are also popular in garages and dog runs because, if one were to be damaged, it can easily be removed and replaced. I personally want to use these interlocking rubber floor tiles in my flower beds. My dogs love laying in the dirt and in always ends up in my house. All I would have to do is drill a few holes for water drainage. That would solve my mud problem!

There are several dog flooring options, but lately everyone in the dog day care business and dog agility world seem to be turning to the rolled rubber flooring as their preferred choice of flooring.  It has been something of a revolution in the business. The material is easy to roll out and install.  When used with the sealant it is impenetrable to water.  It provides cushioning for the dogs paws and I have not had a single complaint about scratches.  In short, rolled rubber makes wonderful doggy daycare flooring.

The material is used in gyms and other facilities like ski resorts because of its durability.  Made of 100% recycled rubber where over 85% comes from tires it is very environmentally friendly. The process to produce the material is lengthy to say the least, but still quite affordable.  

So, if you are in the market for doggy daycare flooring, agility flooring, rubber gym flooring or any other place that might benefit from this eco-friendly, durable, versitale product you’re welcome for the news flash.

Greeting mat enthusiasts! It’s been a long and eventful week here at MatsMatsMats.com and I’m a little excited at some of the traffic we’ve been getting.  My customer from Percussion Design is hard at work on a prototype practice drum (see previous post relating to this) and we’re really curious to see how our product stacks up. 

On a semi-related note, a customer and fellow twiddly-fiddler (this is an industry term for musician) from Kilauea happened upon our rolled rubber to lay over his concrete floor in a jam/rehearsal space.  I can’t stress enough how great this is for this application!  Concrete is not only uncomfortable to stand on for hours at a time, but it also helps low end frequencies travel and high frequencies bounce inside the room.  This results in a boomy, louder-than wanted sound which leads to faster induced ear fatigue.  Aside form this, one of the great overlooked benefits of our rolled rubber flooring is that rubber is way easier on the legs of drum kits, amplifiers, and any priced instruments that might be accidentally dropped by clumsy band mates.  To take it a step further, I’m reminded that if rubber isn’t your first aesthetic choice, this is a great product to use as sub-floor which will help to greatly deaden the volume of the rehearsal space. This ought to keep very loving, caring girlfriends/wives happy when they’re trying to not listen to your next number one hit.

While talking with some “old-timers” not too long ago, I noticed some of them still hold to some long-held beliefs that just because they did things a certain way, “back in the old days” their way was better.  I also noticed a few of them of scoffed at some of our modern technologies and advances, such as rolled rubber flooring or anti-fatigue mats.  But I tell you what: just have any such skeptic stand on some durable, stress-relieving anti-fatigue mats for very long, and they’ll be singing the praises themselves!

I wear some high-dollar, specially designed shoes that help with nerve pain associated with a back injury, and I can tell you,  “feeling was believing” in my case. I dare say the same will hold true for anyone you might know who might ordinarily jeer at something they [ignorantly] perceive to be silly or nonsensical.  The truth is today’s mindset of preserving our bodies with protective gear, such as spinal supportive shoes or anti-fatigue mats, is not only smart….but also wise.