El Niño comes around every two to seven years promising wetter weather and muddier messes. So if you prepare for the muddy aftermath of rainstorms with El Niño in mind, you’ll be more than ready to keep the mud out of the house during the rainy season. We’ve found some tips to help you keep the mud out of your house.
1. Designate just one or two entrances for muddy feet and paws
The first step in keeping mud out of your house during wet weather is to limit the number of places where it can be tracked inside.
The most-used door leading to your backyard is probably your best bet, but you may be able to train your pets and family members to use a side door if it is a better option.
It is best to choose an entrance that leads into a room that does not have carpet or any furniture that a dog or child might jump on before you can get them out of their wet clothes and wipe the mud off of their feet.
A garage, laundry room, mudroom, or kitchen usually works best and is far more likely to have a floor that is easy to clean.
2. Use your mudroom, or create one
If you already have a mudroom in your home, you are way ahead of the game.
The whole purpose of this room is to provide a space between the oh-so-dirty outside world and the indoor living spaces in your home.
This single feature will likely do more to keep dirt and mud out of your home than any other mud-reducing solution.
If you do not currently have one, it is time to make one.
Any spot without carpet at an exterior entrance will do, but it is usually most convenient if it is located in a garage or laundry room that has a handy door to your backyard or side yard.
It is also quite convenient to locate it near your laundry room or the laundry area in your garage so that everyone can drop off their wet or dirty clothing without carrying it through the house.
A covered front porch is also a great spot for an open-air mudroom where people can remove wet or muddy shoes and clothing before entering the house.
3. Use a mat-and-rug system at every entrance
If your goal is to keep the mud out of the house, every entrance needs a mat on the outside and a rug on the inside.
Of course, not just any mat will do; it needs to be a bristly or rubber mat that will trap or scrape off the mud as your pets, family members and guests walk on it.
A large mat that is difficult to avoid is best, but you can also use multiple mats if you are not able to find one large enough to suit this purpose.
Something more like a runner leading up to your door is generally most effective.
Just inside each of your doors, you should have a washable rug.
While it might be tempting to purchase nicer rugs that are more attractive, it is most likely not worth the expense.
These rugs are going to be doing a lot of work and spending a lot of time being tumbled around in your washer and dryer, so the smarter choice is to go for something sturdy and functional that you will not mind ruining.
Old throw rugs that have seen better days work well for this, as do old bathroom rugs.
4. Teach your dogs and children to stay on the rugs
Once you have your mat-and-rug system in place, the next step is to teach your children and dogs to stop on the rug and stay there until you have had time to remove muddy shoes or wipe muddy paws.
5. Keep muddy shoes off of your floors
A boot tray is a simple, inexpensive solution for muddy boots and shoes and can be placed on a porch or in your mudroom by the door.
It is a good idea to make your house a no-shoe zone regardless of the weather.
If you want to go a step farther, you can keep a basket of slippers just inside the door for use by your family members and guests once they have taken their shoes off outside.
It is also a good idea to have shoes that you keep by the door that is only used for working in the yard or garden or that are only used for playing outside.
One more idea that goes with this tip is to invest in a pair of dog booties to put on your dogs when they go outside to use the restroom during or after inclement weather.
6. Keep towels by the door
Keep a basket of clean towels in your mudroom or by your designated entrance.
This will ensure that a towel is always handy when you need to dry off a wet child or wipe muddy paws.
If it is muddy paws you are dealing with, you will also want to make it a habit to keep your dogs outside or in the mudroom or garage until they do their inevitable shake to get some of that water and mud off of their coats.
Once they shake off the excess, it will be easier to use the towels just inside the door to dry their coat or wipe their paws.
7. Invest in drying options for clothes and shoes
If wet shoes are an issue in your house, invest in a boot dryer that can be conveniently placed in your mudroom, laundry room, or entry.
These inexpensive gadgets help shoes and boot dry much faster and will help remind your family members that those wet shoes should not be brought into the house.
A drying rack is also a good idea to have on hand. This will keep wet, muddy clothes away from your other laundry and will help keep your laundry hamper from smelling like mildew from wet contents.
8. Cover your porches and patios
Covering your porches and patios is a good idea, in general, since it enhances these outdoor living spaces and makes them more functional.
For practical purposes during the rainy season, a covered porch or patio is the perfect place to take off muddy shoes and wet clothes before entering the house.
When it is raining, it is much harder to convince someone to stand in the downpour while they take off their shoes, but if they have protection from the elements while they are still outside, they will have no excuse for not taking the time to remove muddy shoes and clothes before coming inside.
9. Install gutters near doorways
Gutters are a simple solution that makes your entryways more inviting and helps keep your family members and guests a bit dryer.
Even if it is only raining lightly, the water coming off of your roof at the edge of your porch or over your door may be significant.
This can force your guests to walk through a waterfall to get to your door, and it can create puddles and muddy areas near the entrances to your home.
By installing gutters, you can divert this downpour and guide it to a more suitable location, such as down a rain chain into a garden bed or into a rain barrel for later use.
10. Install good ground covers
Good ground covers make your outdoor entertaining areas more functional, more inviting, and easier to use for more of the year.
They are a particularly important part of your overall landscape design if you are trying to keep the mud out of your home.
Most of the mud that is tracked from your yard into your house is either going to originate in bare patches of dirt or in a natural grass lawn.
Therefore, if you limit these two surfaces, you will limit the amount of mud your children or pets can find to play in or walk through in your yard.
