Getting Great Anti-Fatigue Mats for your Kitchen to Help Your Tired-Out Feet

They first made anti-fatigue mats for the factory floor. Workers on a factory floor often need to stand in one place for hours and hours, working on whatever they're making. When you stand for that long on hard flooring, it can really take a toll on your bones and joints. And so, they came up with something called anti-fatigue mats - floor coverings that workers could stand on that made standing less stressful.

Manufacturers of those anti-fatigue mats though must have spent some time thinking of all the places they could find a market for their products. And it must have occurred to them that people who work in the kitchen often do spend hours on end standing there cooking, stirring, washing and so on. Couldn't they use these products to help their tired-out legs?

And so, they do make these for them too - a rubber mat that you can place in your kitchen to stand on while you are at the still or something. The idea is that if you're standing there for a long time, the cushioningof the surface you stand on can easily help you cut down on the discomfort you feel. At least, that's the theory.

Do you think you should buy an anti-fatigue mat for your kitchen? Do these products really do what they say they do?

Certainly, to stand on a nice rubber surface does feel nicer. An anti-fatigue mat though is so much more than just a soft surface. They do sell carpets and interlocking rubber mats or tiles. These do a reasonable job if what you're looking at is very light kitchen duty.

For real heavy-duty kitchen use, what you need is a real antifatigue mat. Such a mat is at least half an inch thick, and they make it with special material of the correct density to absorb foot pressure. When you buy such a product, look for something that isn't patterned. That could be pretty difficult to clean in a place like a kitchen where there are are lots of spills often.

Usually, they don't make these mats to blend in with the decor of your kitchen. They basically make these for industrial purposes. You're basically going to just get plain and drab-looking stuff. But do remember - you are getting this to perform well relieving foot stress for you. So if you could overlook how it looks, that could work out well.

The thing is,  when they just sell you soft mats for the kitchen, those are actually soft. Those won't do. For long hours standing, soft surface of really remove stress. What you're looking for is dense and somewhat hard rubber. It's not about feeling comfy. It's about helping your feet be healthy.