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The best kitchen rugs are stylish, nonslip and keep spills and dirt from ruining the floor. Here are the best options, tested and reviewed by our Product Testing Team. Sink Protector
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When it comes time to whip up a weekday meal, a pretty kitchen rug brings a little dose of joy to an otherwise boring recipe prep sesh. Kitchen rugs don’t normally offer the same anti-fatigue benefits as one of the best kitchen mats, but they’re usually a bit more visually appealing. The best kitchen rugs don’t just look nice, though—they protect the floor from errant crumbs and spills, and some even prevent accidental slips.
Finding a good kitchen rug may seem like a subjective search. However, there are a few key traits that all kitchen rugs should have. According to design professional, Susan Serra, “A kitchen rug needs to fulfill several criteria to deserve its place. It must enhance the style, colors and theme of the kitchen design,” she says. “Ideally, look for a kitchen rug that can be washed. It will be able to withstand all those kitchen spills and foot traffic.”
No matter what kind of kitchen rug you choose, there are dozens of styles and brands to wade through. To make your choice easy, our Product Testing Team sourced eight of the best-reviewed kitchen rugs. They then spent multiple days testing how they perform under normal kitchen conditions. Only four products met our rigorous standards.
The best kitchen rugs below are the cream of the crop, offering easy care, distinct visual appeal and the best bang for your buck.
At the top of our list of the best kitchen rugs is the Ruggable Gradasi Teal Quartz Rug. From the get-go, this stylish pick impressed our team. Ruggable rugs are entirely machine-washable, and can even be tossed into the dryer on low heat. Every rug arrives with its own rug pad that securely clings to the underside of the rug via a fastener that covers the top, along with hook-and-loop tape in the corners. Both the rug and rug pad arrived with nary a wrinkle or crease, securely rolled up and bound with plastic.
The rug pad is the star of the show. It offers a clingy rubber webbed backing that firmly grips hard floors, preventing slips. Liquids can’t soak through the material, so it’s an additional layer of protection against big spills. When secured to the rug pad, our testing team found it super easy to vacuum up any errant crumbs on the rug topper without the material bunching up. Even better, a quick spin in the washing machine on the cold, gentle cycle pulled up all stains and dirt without discoloring or misshaping the rug. Unlike the rug topper, the rug pad isn’t machine-washable, but we found it easy to spot clean after regular use.
“Using the mat was a pleasant experience,” says Sarah. “I enjoyed standing on the mat during tasks like washing and drying dishes at the sink, prepping at my kitchen island and cooking on the stovetop. I found it enhanced my overall comfort, particularly because my kitchen floor is ceramic tile, which tends to be cold and hard. Usually, I notice a little strain on my hips after being on my feet for several hours. However, after making sure I stood on the mat, I noticed I did not have that tinge of achiness in my feet, legs, back or joints. I had a few stains— olive oil and tomato sauce— both of which came out just fine in the wash.”
Overall, the team found this rug a good value for those seeking style and a softer, felt-like material versus the usual PVC material of a cloud mat. Not your taste? No worries—Ruggable offers both their outdoor rugs and kitchen rugs in a variety of beautiful patterns and colors. They also frequently collaborate with other artists to bring new and seriously stylish finds every season. Read our full Ruggable review for the whole scoop.
Some folks prefer natural fibers like jute and seagrass as an entryway rug, but others enjoy the idea of bringing that eco-friendly look to their kitchen. While it’s not the typical material for a kitchen rug, jute is a good option for those seeking a sustainable pick. The nuLOOM Jute Rug was our favorite of the three different jute rugs we tested. It doesn’t arrive with excessive shedding, it looks just like the photo and it comes in a wide strata of 23 shapes and sizes between five different shade offerings. Whew!
Upon arrival to the Product Testing Lab, we noticed that the rug corners wouldn’t lay flat. However, simply rolling the mat in the opposite direction provided an easy fix thanks to the heavy-duty material. We appreciate that the tightly woven seagrass jute offers a neutral look and feels durable under our feet. The back is slip-resistant, with a felt covering and rubber dots for additional grip. Despite this, we’d recommend springing for a rug pad underneath to keep it in place. The rug doesn’t move around when walking over it, but it also doesn’t stay put while pivoting or offer additional comfort for sore feet.
Spill-wise, we found that liquids eventually seep into the rug slightly, but don’t fully absorb—that’s a good thing. Any large spills wipe off to a degree, though expect a very small amount of water to seep through to the back of the mat. That said, the natural fibers stain easily and may not be best for messy cooks. In addition, it’s difficult to vacuum due to the deep grooves between the weave, though the vacuum itself didn’t cause any tears or shedding as it did with the other jute rugs we tested. This is one you may prefer to shake out on the patio.
Overall, despite the drawbacks you really can’t escape when choosing a natural fiber, this is one sustainable choice we’d feel comfortable recommending to those who prefer a softer, organic vibe.
Comfort and easy care instructions are nice. But one of the top traits folks look for in the best kitchen rugs is visual appeal—and Annie Selke’s Washable Rugs are some of the most stylish on the market. Choosing a style may take some time, but that’s not a bad thing—the 2×3 rug comes in more than 500 different patterns and colors. If the 2×3 doesn’t suit your space, choose from the eight standard sizes or opt for custom dimensions instead.
Our test subject arrived securely packaged and easily laid completely flat once unrolled. We were immediately impressed with how nice the rug looked and felt—it is definitely top-tier in terms of product quality. We chose a grey color that differs ever so slightly from the photo online, leaning a bit warmer than we expected. However, there are swatches available for purchase if you’re concerned about a little variation.
It’s a thin, tightly-woven rug that has a smooth surface and a sticky backing that prevents liquids from soaking through. The backing is stable on hardwood and not a slip risk, but it does move slightly before catching itself if you pivot around on it. We love that there’s no rug pad required for this one. Even better, we found it fairly resistant to stains after blotting and tossing it in the washing machine. That’s right—this one is also machine-washable!
While our cordless vacuum had trouble removing crumbs without sucking up the material, if you go with the nap it’s a bit easier. Sure, the price is a bit steep compared to other options. That said, we found that it’s a good value when compared to the quality. We predict this pick lasting longer after regular use than most of the others we tested.
Sometimes, there’s just not a lot of room in the budget. But that’s just fine—there are still options out there that offer good quality at a lower price point, like the Lahome Boho Tribal Area Rug. Ringing up at less than a quarter of the price as our best overall winner, this humble kitchen rug comes in multiple sizes and shapes, along with 11 pattern and color choices. Like the other non-natural fiber options on our list, this one is also machine-washable—no spot treatments required—making it easy to maintain.
Walking over the rug doesn’t make it slip or slide thanks to the small, rubber-like dots on the back that offer traction. We don’t feel that this one is a slipping hazard or requires a rug pad, though we’d be wary to tango on it. That said, it also repelled liquids fairly well at first, with none of the water we spilled seeping through to the back. Liquids do slowly absorb after sitting on the mat for a few seconds, but a quick spin in the washer pulled out any stains that settled into the material.
One place where this rug struggled was in its finishing touches. The way it was packaged left several fold creases that took more than four days to settle. The corners—where the material was cut and tied off—were a bit frayed, and it was difficult to vacuum due to the lightweight nature of the material. Despite that, it’s durable and we don’t foresee any issues with unraveling, even given the slight fringe on the edging. For a budget pick, we’d happily put up with these slight imperfections.
When it comes to finding a good kitchen rug, there are a lot of subjective aspects to consider. It’s best to opt for a brand that offers many patterns, colors and sizes, especially for those who prefer a more put-together cooking space.
While kitchen rugs won’t offer the same comfort as an anti-fatigue mat, they do offer myriad benefits over having no floor covering at all, and some materials do take some stress off of joints. Popular kitchen mat materials include cotton, jute, polyester and wool. While some prefer natural materials, many folks consider synthetics easier to care for and less expensive.
Size is also a consideration. “Some kitchen rugs can extend the entire length along a wall of cabinetry which can be a strong visual design element as well as lots of comfort for walking back and forth. Shorter sizes may work well in front of the sink and dishwasher section,” notes Susan.
However, there are also a few concerns to keep top-of-mind for any rug you pick, no matter the material or color. Overall, it’s imperative that every option is resistant to water and stains, holds up to its own recommended care instructions and offers a slip-resistant lining that prevents accidental falls.
Our Product Testing Team is comprised of enthusiastic, experienced shoppers. Some of us have backgrounds in professional kitchens, but the majority of us are humble home cooks that are passionate about finding kitchen items that offer the best bang for our buck.
Our testing team has three years of experience researching and evaluating everything from the best coffee subscriptions to the best flower delivery services. We take our testing seriously, and would never recommend a product we don’t love—regardless of popularity or the brand name.
For this article, we also spoke with Susan Serra, CKD, CAPS and President at Susan Serra Associates, Inc., where she provides kitchen and dining design services. She’s also the founder of Scandinavian Made, a store for both new and vintage handwoven Swedish rugs. Susan is an award-winning kitchen design professional who has been designing kitchens since 1986.
In order to find the best kitchen rugs, we tested eight different kitchen rugs from eight different brands, focusing on bestsellers with strong reviews. We tested every rug in the running for the following features:
While some of these data points are easily found on the product listings, we wanted to get a full picture of each pick’s performance prior to making any recommendations. We brought each of the eight rugs into our Product Testing Lab to run a full profile in order to truly find the best options. For those that claimed to have anti-fatigue properties, we partnered with the Taste of Home Test Kitchen to do an additional test that analyzed the team’s comfort after several days of standing.
Tests include a number of hands-on experiments with the following tests holding the most weight: Checking for creases upon arrival (and how easily they flatten); how well each rug absorbs 1/4 cup of water splashed onto it and whether the moisture bleeds through the bottom; a pass/fail test checking for slippage; how well each pick holds up to its own recommended care instructions after we rub in some yogurt, oil and dirt.
In the end, four of our prospects didn’t make the cut. The four that did earned high marks across the board and impressed our team enough to make this official list of the best kitchen rugs available.
Using a kitchen rug is a solid solution to spills and slips in the kitchen, but there are a few things to consider. Not every rug offers the traits required for a good kitchen rug. “Rugs that are too thick and soft will be more difficult (and slower) to walk on than a thinner rug that has a pad underneath it,” says Susan. “Rug materials that are easy to clean are the best option to use in the kitchen.”
Putting a rug in front of the kitchen sink adds a barrier between potential spills and kitchen tiles, which prevents water from affecting the kitchen floor. For those who have to hand-wash dishes, it can also add an additional layer of comfort while standing for long periods. However, not all kitchen rugs offer that benefit. “It’s a good idea to test out more than one pad density to find the type that works best for your comfort needs,” says Susan.
“Rugs come in an endless variety of fabrics,” explains Susan. She says that mats might be considered the easiest to clean as they can be cleaned right after spills occur. But for those who want an authentic material and style to complement the kitchen design, rugs are a better choice. “Vintage rugs can be a great solution for the kitchen as they are already broken in and have a stylish patina as a one-of-a-kind decorative piece.”
Those looking for the charm of a vintage rug with the added benefit of cushioning may be able to replicate the look with a woven rug from somewhere like Ruggable, which offers hundreds of different styles and patterns.
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