# Bathtub Question: rubber mat, or flower-shaped stickers? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 4, 2006, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-question-rubber-mat-or-flower-shaped-stickers/379054 "2006-11-04T02:15:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-question-rubber-mat-or-flower-shaped-stickers/379054/1 "2006-11-04T02:15:32Z")
1. What keeps your feet from slipping when you’re taking a shower? a) rubber mat with suction cups all over the bottom b) textured flower-shaped stickers adhered to the tub surface 1. Do you rent or own? If renting, how was the tub set up when you moved in? I use the rubber mat, although I’m considering going over to the dark side. The tub in my apartment did not have the stickers, although I’m kind of wishing it did. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-question-rubber-mat-or-flower-shaped-stickers/379054/2 "2006-11-04T02:21:13Z")
I have never, except when using oil based salt or sugar scrubs, had a problem with slipping in the shower (so I sit down on the edge of the tub when using them and don’t stand up until it’s rinsed clean. Only one apartment I’ve been a renter in had those flower stickers, and after about six months they started peeling up, revealing the most disgusting layer of moldy mildewy gunk I’ve ever seen. Biohazard, that shower was! At least the rubber mat you can clean under, right? I rent - 4th apartment since home, and there was nothing, flowers, nothing, nothing, nothing on each tub floor in order. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-question-rubber-mat-or-flower-shaped-stickers/379054/3 "2006-11-04T02:30:24Z")
I think the flower shaped stickers are insipid. Maybe if you could get stickers in the shape of…oh I don’t know the shape of a penis or something cool like that, that would be ok. But all I know is the closest I ever came to cracking my head open in the shower was when the bath mat slipped. Not a big fan. I usually go with porcelin. Unprotected barebacked bathtub to foot action, baby. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-question-rubber-mat-or-flower-shaped-stickers/379054/4 "2006-11-04T02:47:00Z")
I’ve only ever lived in one place that had any kind of anti-slip thing, and it was a mat. But the house I grew up in, my three other places I lived in in college, my first two out of college apartments, and my current house (still renting, though) have nothing of the sort. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-question-rubber-mat-or-flower-shaped-stickers/379054/5 "2006-11-04T02:58:28Z")
[QUOTE=betenoir] I think the flower shaped stickers are insipid. Maybe if you could get stickers in the shape of…oh I don’t know the shape of a penis or something cool like that, that would be ok. [/QUOTE] When I was a kid, I loved going to visit my oldest cousin’s apartment (this was about 1974 and he was around 23 and ultra-groovy) because his tub stickers were shaped like [foot prints](http://www.wpclipart.com/blanks/shapes/left_foot_print_benji_pa_02.png) and they started bigger in the back of the tub and then got smaller as they got to the front, as if they were going down the drain. Our curent rental tub doesn’t have anything, it’s the molded shell kind and there are some pebbled textured strips built into the thing, which I hate because it’s hard to clean them. ---
**Author:** ![MissGypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@MissGypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissGypsy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-question-rubber-mat-or-flower-shaped-stickers/379054/6 "2006-11-04T03:34:30Z")
I found little straight stickers for mine, so I applied them in a V-shaped pattern. They work ok, but not perfectly. I don’t care for the mat, as it gets too grungy. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-question-rubber-mat-or-flower-shaped-stickers/379054/7 "2006-11-04T03:43:45Z")
For those of you who have mats, take them up after you’re done showering and rinse them off before hanging them up to dry over the shower rod. They don’t get moldy or gunky if you do that. ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-question-rubber-mat-or-flower-shaped-stickers/379054/8 "2006-11-04T03:51:58Z")
Bondo autobody putty makes a nice non-skid surface on a shower or in a tub. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-question-rubber-mat-or-flower-shaped-stickers/379054/9 "2006-11-04T04:01:07Z")
I use a bath mat that’s sorta soft and cushy, almost like foam. It has holes in it and can be tossed in the washer. It’s not slippery like some of the rubbery bath mats. Do the stickers even work, to keep someone from slipping? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-question-rubber-mat-or-flower-shaped-stickers/379054/10 "2006-11-04T04:12:21Z")
Our tub has a textured bottom that is somewhat slip-resistant, unless you use a lot of hair conditioner, which will make anything slippery as hell. The texture makes a rubber mat worse than useless, as the suctions cups can’t grip it, and the whole mat takes off from under you like a magic carpet. ---
**Author:** ![Apricot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@Apricot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apricot)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-question-rubber-mat-or-flower-shaped-stickers/379054/11 "2006-11-04T04:27:20Z")
I used to have sandy lil’ frog shaped stickers. Then I moved on to a squishy mat. I don’t have anything now, the cast iron tub isn’t slippery. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-question-rubber-mat-or-flower-shaped-stickers/379054/12 "2006-11-04T05:47:20Z")
Og, I hate those stickers. I would never even consider a bathtub mat. I’m too lazy to take it up and hang it every time I shower. The tub has a textured bottom anyway which is hard enough to clean. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-question-rubber-mat-or-flower-shaped-stickers/379054/13 "2006-11-04T06:14:50Z")
I hate the damn bath mat. For some reason it’s never stuck down properly when I get in the shower, and I never think to check. I’ve come very close to knocking myself out on a few occasions, thanks to that mat. I don’t like the flowers either. I’ve never had slipping problems in the shower, really, so I have no need for that sort of thing. Probably thanks to the rough skin on my heels. Better not get a pedicure - it could kill me! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-question-rubber-mat-or-flower-shaped-stickers/379054/14 "2006-11-04T06:31:50Z")
Neither. When I feel them underfoot, I wish I were dead. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-question-rubber-mat-or-flower-shaped-stickers/379054/15 "2006-11-04T07:51:30Z")
[QUOTE=betenoir] But all I know is the closest I ever came to cracking my head open in the shower was when the bath mat slipped. Not a big fan. I usually go with porcelin. Unprotected barebacked bathtub to foot action, baby. [/QUOTE] I too, have had the ironic experience of a rubber bathtub mat slipping on the bottom of the tub, taking me for a ride. As such, my tubs are as naked as the users. After a couple days, enough soap scum accumulates to give just the right amount of traction. No mats also means less stuff to clean. Those rubber mats get FOUL underneath! ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-question-rubber-mat-or-flower-shaped-stickers/379054/16 "2006-11-04T08:00:26Z")
We have, at the moment, a rubber mat with suction cups on the bottom. It’s never tried to trip us like other people’s evil mats and we’ve had it for several years. I should note, however, that the suction cups on the bottom of it are very strong; sometimes it’s hard to pull the damn thing up to clean it. We had the sticky flower decals before, but scraped them off. And a good thing, too, as everyone currently living in this house thinks that they’re vile. I am clumsy and so is my mother. On one memorable occasion, she fell out of the bathtub and hit her head on the toilet (stupid tiny bathroom). That was in our last house, however. The biggest hazard in this house is the absurdly high side of the tub. You have to swing your leg way over getting in, and for the first couple of weeks, we banged ourselves on it regularly. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_a\_Platypus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Not\_a\_Platypus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_a_Platypus)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-question-rubber-mat-or-flower-shaped-stickers/379054/17 "2006-11-04T15:31:14Z")
I don’t use anything, but I’ve never had a problem with slipping. Just to reiterate what a couple others have said: Please clean under your mats (hell, clean your tubs, period), especially if you rent. I’m a maintenance tech. at a pretty large apartment property, and you would not believe some of the nastiness I see in bathrooms. It always amazes me how people can get clean (or think they are) in a grungy, moldy tub. The bath mats are especially bad at collecting grunge. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs\_Johnson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Mrs\_Johnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs_Johnson)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-question-rubber-mat-or-flower-shaped-stickers/379054/18 "2006-11-05T02:59:48Z")
I don’t care for the sticker type. If you get conditioner on the bottom of the tub, you slip, hit a sticker, then grip - which throws you off balance anyway. I’d opt for bare bathtub but mine was resurfaced in the past and is peeling now - so I use and icky bathmat. It’s gross. I hate it. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-question-rubber-mat-or-flower-shaped-stickers/379054/19 "2006-11-05T03:31:11Z")
Neither stickers, nor mat, and we own where we’re at. We stand in the shower, upright by our own power. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-question-rubber-mat-or-flower-shaped-stickers/379054/20 "2006-11-05T14:10:39Z")
We used to use a rubber mat. Man did that thing get gross. Then we renovated the bathroom. We put in a cast iron tub with a slightly textured bottom. I still haven’t figured out how to get it clean. But I’d rather have that problem than having layers of moldy slime underfoot when I shower. Ick. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-question-rubber-mat-or-flower-shaped-stickers/379054.md?page=2)