How to buy mats, cloths and covers without getting burned.
Everything below is what actually decides whether a container of mats sells or sits. It is written for buyers placing their first orders out of China, and it is specific to the four factories we work with.
Pick by where it is used, not by what it looks like
The same-looking mat behaves very differently depending on backing and pile. Match the room first.
| Where it goes | What to ask for | Typical price band |
|---|---|---|
| In front of a shower or basin | Diatomite or TPR-backed absorbent mat, 400–600 g/m² pile | 40.000–120.000₫ |
| Entrance, outdoor side | PVC coil or rubber-backed scraper mat, low pile, UV-stable | 55.000–170.000₫ |
| Entrance, indoor side | Short cut-pile with a non-slip dotted back | 45.000–90.000₫ |
| Alongside a bed | Long runner, 50×160 cm or 60×180 cm, soft high pile | 60.000–190.000₫ |
| In front of a sink or hob | Cushioned kitchen runner, wipeable face, oil-resistant back | 55.000–160.000₫ |
| On a draining board or table | Microfibre drainer mat or quilted placemat | 12.000–60.000₫ |
| Cleaning and car care | Microfibre cloth, 250–450 g/m², edge-banded or laser-cut | 3.500–25.000₫ |
Weight, backing, and how the edge is finished
Weight (g/m²)
The single most useful number, and the one cheap suppliers quietly cut. A bath mat under 300 g/m² feels thin and stops absorbing after a few washes; 400–600 g/m² is the commercial range. For microfibre cloths, 250 g/m² is entry level and 350–450 g/m² is the quality most European buyers accept. Always get the weight in writing and check it on the sample with a kitchen scale — a 40×60 cm mat at 500 g/m² should weigh about 120 g.
Backing
TPR is the current standard for wet areas: rubbery, grippy, quiet, and it survives washing. PVC dot backing is cheaper and fine for dry rooms but goes hard and cracks in cold shipping. Latex is cheapest and yellows. Ask which one, and ask whether it is machine-washable at 30 °C — that answer separates a real product from a sample-room mock-up.
Edge finish
Overlocked, bound, or laser-cut. Overlocking is strongest and hides a multitude of sins. Bound edges look premium and fail first at the corners. Laser-cut edges only work on knitted microfibre. Look at the corners of the sample, not the middle.
Four tests you can run on a sample in ten minutes
Absorbency
Pour 50 ml of water on the mat. A proper absorbent mat takes it in within about five seconds and leaves no puddle when you tilt it. If water beads and runs off, the pile has been over-finished with softener — it will feel nice and perform badly.
Slip
Wet the backing, put the mat on a smooth tile and push it with your foot. TPR should stay put. If it slides wet, it is a liability, not a bargain.
Shedding
Rub the pile hard with a dark cloth twenty times. A little loose fibre on the first pass is normal; a visible mat of fibre is not, and it will generate complaints after the first wash.
Colour
Rub the wet pile against white cotton, and leave one sample on a windowsill for two weeks. Both crocking and light fading are common on cheap reactive-dyed pieces, and both are invisible at the sample stage unless you look for them.
What the minimum really is, and when it moves
Minimums on this site are the factory’s real ones, not a negotiating position. They fall into three groups.
| Group | Minimum | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Mats, rugs, seat pads and table textiles | 100 pieces | Printed and cut to order from stock base cloth, so a hundred pieces is a real run rather than a sample order. |
| Microfibre cloths and towels | 1.000 pieces | Knitted, dyed and cut in production lots. Below a lot the factory is losing money on setup. |
| Sofa and upholstery fabric | 150 m or 100 kg | Stock colours cut to order from the running range; a dyed-to-order colour needs a full dye lot, which is larger. |
Custom print, custom size or your own label moves any of these up — usually to 300–500 pieces per design for mats, and a full lot for microfibre. Tiered pricing on every product page shows what the price does as the quantity rises; past the top tier it is worth asking, because that is where the factory starts sharpening the pencil.
What fits in a container, and what to fix before you book
Compression
Mats ship compressed or rolled. Compressed cuts freight cost substantially but leaves creases that need a day or two to relax — fine for a warehouse, bad for a shop that puts stock straight on the shelf. Say which you want; it changes the carton count and the price of the freight, not the price of the goods.
Cartons
Confirm carton dimensions, gross weight and pieces per carton before booking, not after. Most disputes we see are carton-count disputes. A 20′ holds roughly 28 m³ of cartons; a 40′HQ about 67 m³.
Labelling
Polybag per piece with your barcode, a printed insert card, or a woven label sewn into the seam — all three are normal and all three need artwork about a week before production ends. Late artwork is the most common cause of a missed sailing.
Documents
Packing list, commercial invoice, and a certificate of origin if you are claiming a preferential rate into Vietnam or the EU. Ask for these at the point of order, not at the port.
Send us the brief
Tell us the item, the size, the quantity and the market. We come back with the factory, the price at your volume and the lead time — and swatches, free.
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