Don't panic...

...I have towels.

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We have been using one of these inexpensive bathroom mats

Ours happened to be the light green color
(fourth from top)

in front of our bathtub/shower for quite some time. It has rather scratchy "fingers" on top and a rubberized backing. The rubberized backing is supposed to keep the water pooling on the non-absorbent nylon fingers from seeping through the mat and onto the floor tiles. Leaving it on the floor only causes mildew to breed in the grout so after each shower, it needed to be taken up and hung on the shower door rail. While this encouraged additional water evaporation, the mat never really dried properly between uses.

What can I tell you? It was given to us and we used it.

A mat of this type can only take so many vacations in the washer/dryer before it decides that it needs a vacation of the more permanent type.

"Fine. Be that way. Fall apart. Go ahead and let your rubberized backing crumble off onto the bathroom floor. I don't need you anyway. And I never liked your particular shade of snot green, either. So there."

Oh, dear, I guess the mental editor was off on a tea break there for a moment...

Ahem.

We had received bath towels from the in-laws for a couple of Christmases past. When Neatnik was very young, Number Guy and I invested in some very nice spa-style bath sheets. I really like these because they are very thick and highly absorbent; they dry between showers and; they do not make me feel like I am trying to dry off using a hand towel. The gift towels were relegated to the top shelf of the linen closet, brought out primarily when the gift giver(s) visited.

When I noticed the post-laundry, bat mat crumblies the other day, I didn't have time to run out to the Bed, Bath, and Linens Are Our Thing Store, so I came up with a quick and thrifty solution. Behold the bath towel bath mat created by sewing together a pair of Christmas gift towels. Thick, absorbent, and dries between uses.

No rubberized backing
and it does not skid at all.

Best thing about this hack? This new one actually fits the space. The old bath mat really wasn't big enough for the space we wanted to cover.

This worked out so well that I whipped out a second pair of towels and sewed them together, too. Always nice to have a backup for laundry day and it really didn't take long to do.

Instructions