Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Product Review - Blackhole Litter Mat


So I was reading something cat related and I saw an ad for Blackhole Litter Mat. I thought this was a great idea for a product so I wrote to the company to see if they might be interested in my doing a product review of it on my blog. I initially contacted them on Facebook and ended up emailing Daehee Lee who is from the company and is very very nice. He asked me how many cats I have and ended up sending me three mats for me to try out.

No idea why it says BlackHall not Blackhole..
He sent me two of the large size and one of the smaller size. I have to say I was incredibly impressed with how they were packaged. Each one was wrapped up in the blue velvet like bag with a gold ribbon. The Crew LOVED the bags and shed all over them for fun and amusement and slept on them constantly.

So, on to the product. So the product is a dual-structured mat that has holes on one side for the litter to fall through. The second mat is solid to catch it and make it easy for you to clean up the litter.


One thing I really liked about it right from the start is that it didn't hurt to walk on. The nubs on the top layer are soft and rounded.

Now originally I used a scruffy door mat to help keep the litter from being spread around the kitten room. It was designed to scrape dirt off shoes and wasn't all that comfortable. Oddly I would occasionally see a kitten sleep on it so it couldn't be that uncomfortable for them, but I didn't enjoy walking on it. Another thing I liked is that it didn't seem to move around on the floor as much as the door mat did. It seemed to just sit where I put it - which to me seems very important. If it slides around it isn't going to be where you need it to catch the litter.

So I put it down in the kitten room and waited.. I also wondered what would happen when a kitten would vomit or pee or poop on it, because you know inevitably one of those things is going to happen. I was not to be disappointed.

After a couple of weeks I got this..

and yes, someone vomited on it
litter caught in the holes
Now for my favorite part of this product.. remember how it is a dual-structured mat? Well the litter that went into the hole falls down on to the second mat and it simply slides out right where I want it, in this case it was in the dustpan.. BRILLIANT!



Unlike the old way I had to get the litter out of the mat I previously had.. which is to shake it out all over the floor and then having to sweep it up..


which is not easy with kittens who think the broom is the BEST TOY EVER!! second only to a pile of dust and debris - which is way way way too irresistible to kittens..

and that vomit stain?


I poured a little water on it and it quickly came off the mat, and while it didn't easily 'wipe off' due to the texture, it did fall to the lower mat which I simply wiped off with a towel. It took a little while for it to dry, but it cleaned far easier than my previous mat - which I am fairly certain still had some food particles in it from a week after it showed up in the kitten room despite it being cleaned multiple times and being taken outside and power washed.

Someone asked on Blackhole's Facebook page wondered if this product smelled. It does not. The three I received had nearly no odor at all.

I also used one of the mats as a door mat at my garage door when the rug we had needed to be thrown away. It caught the snow and slush nicely. It held the water in it until it dried up naturally. It could also be used under a water bowl if need be. I do not know how much water it holds, but the small amounts I put in it was held inside very nicely.

I love this thing.. my only downside is the price. My original mat cost me $15 where as this one costs $45 (the smaller one is $35) over at Amazon although they say they are working on lowering the cost and I bet once the product becomes popular the price will come down. The other negative I have is in the smaller size is the location and size of the opening. If you look at the tag on the product it looks like the whole thing opens up, but it does not. There is just an opening at the bottom that is not as wide as the product so getting litter to come off the side would take a bit more prodding, but seriously that isn't that much of an issue.

So if you use a litter mat and you are frustrated with how difficult they can be to clean or that to get the litter out of them causes it to scatter all over the place, I would recommend you check these things out..

In case it wasn't clear, I did get these products for free, but the review is 100% my own.


19 comments:

  1. Wow, that sounds awesome! Of course, my litter box is right next to a tile ledge, which is where Binga likes to fling litter - right where a mat can't be placed! She is such a piece of work, MOL!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Will need to check this out! The boot mat I currently use is frustrating (and if I am going to start fostering, this will be a great help! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  3. ok - we have to agree about the price, but those sound pretty interesting. and mom is currently on the hunt for something to put our water dishes on too.....

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have been using SwissTrax http://www.swisstrax.com/ribtrax-garage-tile.php
    The litter box is in the basement - I bought 8 tiles (not cheap) but it catches all litter below - has rounded top to grid, snaps together - the shop vac will pull up everything under the grid. If it gets peed or pooped on - easy to clean. I saw the idea in a blog about 4 years ago - they have held up well - they are meant for rugged wear.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oooh, those look good too! I definitely need something for my litter room. Oops, I mean laundry room ;)

      Delete
  5. Wow, it looks like that actually works, unlike some of the ones I've tried, which don't really work that well.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Very interesting review. I sweep a LOT! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. sounds a great product Connie,xx Rachel

    ReplyDelete
  8. I like when cleaning is easier :-) Sounds like great product!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sounds VERY interesting. Our mom gets tired of sweeping up the debris every evening (even though it's in the basement). Once she gets the floor repainted so there are no icky black chipped areas showing, she may just look into one of these!

    ReplyDelete
  10. That looks like a good product! Anything to make cleaning easier. :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. That looks pawesome! The ones we've tried in the past have been so uncomfortable to walk on that we have jumped over them instead of walking on them, and just scattered litter even worse. So this looks really promising. The worst thing about our litter is how much it tracks on the tile, so anything to help contain it sounds really useful.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I really need something like this. Litter is the bane of my existence (which, as banes go, is not the worst thing that could happen but it's an annoyance never-the-less). The price is a bit prohibitive though. Perhaps the Teeny Tiny Tabbies can start saving their pennies to buy this for me :-)

    ReplyDelete
  13. The mom is always looking for a good litter mat for us. These sound great...though they are a little pricey. She's gonna check them out. Thanks for the review.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I do like how you can put a dust pan under the mat to collect the litter. I think no mat is fool proof but this looks pretty close to it! Great review!

    ReplyDelete
  15. This is definitely better than the one I use. Plus, I know I can trust your reviews. It is on my wish list!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Nice-looking mat! Great review. I bet my kittehs would like it, but I am not prepared to spring for 3 of them. Wouldn't it be nice if BlackHall had a booth at BlogPaws (and did a giveaway - hint hint). I also liked your review of the lint roller.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Mine come tomorrow. Hope they work. Hate stepping on scattered litter

    ReplyDelete
  18. I saw this and ordered the BlackHole mat from Amazon. I'm very pleased with it and even made a little video review http://youtu.be/yWpTR0-mt-o

    This is probably one of the best things I've ever bought for the cats!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...