Here in the mountains we’ve had what I fondly refer to as The Rot over the past few days: rain, rain, and more rain. If you’re a dog owner, you know that means mud, mud, and more mud. Aggravating, yes, but also a perfect time for Mingus and Dottie to try out the Soggy Doggy Super Shammy and Doormat. Did the shammy and mat hold up to The Rot? Check out our review (and grab a special discount code) below!
The Soggy Doggy Super Shammy, a super-absorbent, quick-drying towel-ish thing, was selected as a Dog Fancy Editors’ Choice Winner in 2012 and is billed as “exceptionally durable yet velvety soft.” Vastly more absorbent than a regular cotton towel, the Super Shammy is made of woven microfiber chenille. Here’s the magic: its millions of textured, woven strands increase the Shammy’s surface area, meaning it can absorb more water — as in, seven times its weight in water. At the same time, it’s really, really soft, like rub-it-on-your-cheek and wish-you-had-some-socks-made-from-it soft.
So, how does it hold up against soaked, muddy paws, you ask? I answer: fairly excellently. As advertised, the Super Shammy is really absorbent and soaks up water quickly. What really impressed me, though, was the number it did on dirt. The little chenille “noodles” do a much better job than your average towel at getting up into the nooks and crannies of the paw and loosening (and absorbing) that infuriating mud. Meanwhile, the whole de-mudding process was made much easier as Mingus and Dottie weren’t constantly struggling against my efforts. Since the Super Shammy is so soft, paw-wiping apparently was a much more comfortable process for the dogs. The Shammy also works well to wipe up errant paw prints from the floor after cleaning off the paws, and its absorbent fibers hold onto the removed dirt so it doesn’t fall out and onto the floor, as happens with an ordinary towel.
Due to its ultra-absorbency, the Super Shammy is quite useful in “Extreme Wetness Situations”, such as at bathtime or after swimming. Not wanting to slouch in our review process, we put the Super Shammy to the ultimate test: a post-bath Dottie. Dottie’s skin/coat has this strange quality that makes it really — and I mean really — soak up water. After a bath, you can literally grab her skin and wring it out like a sponge. (She LOVES that, B-T-dubs. She also loves baths. Can’t you tell?)
Anyway, to cut to the chase, the Super Shammy performed quite well. Dottie’s post-bath dry-off, which usually takes about 3 towels, was accomplished with just the Super Shammy alone. That means 3 fewer towels I have to wash. Thumbs up.
(Oh, and yes! The Super Shammy can be machine washed and dried.)
Made from the same material as the Super Shammy (and, actually, the first manifestation of Soggy Doggy’s microfiber-chenille “technology”), the Soggy Doggy Doormat is just what it sounds like — it’s a doormat — but (you guessed it!) ultra-absorbent. Available in a variety of colors and sizes, the Soggy Doggy Doormat (see top photo) is like a big, soft force field against muddy doggy paws. It’s really thick, which was actually a bit of a problem for me — my door wouldn’t open over it. I was able to place it just beyond the door, though, between our mudroom and kitchen, and it easily removed the water and light dirt from Mingus and Dottie’s quick trips in and out. They’d come in with damp, dirty paws, walk over the Doormat, and boom — no trail of pawprints into the rest of the house. While the design and bulkiness of the Doormat doesn’t really suit my tastes for everyday use, it’s great to have on hand to throw down when the weather turns bad.
So, there you have it: The Soggy Doggy Doormat and Super Shammy, as promised, make quick, easy work of cleaning up wet, muddy dogs.
Want to try one yourself? Visit Soggy Doggy and enter the discount code DOGMILK15 for 15% off your order from now through March 31st, 2013!
[Disclosure: Mingus and Dottie were sent a Doormat and Super Shammy by Soggy Doggy to try. All views and opinions are our own.]
