About FloatingMats.com - How It All Began

It all began back in 2011 as we were enjoying another beautiful day on Grand Lake o’ the Cherokees, our home lake in Northeast Oklahoma.

I saw another group out on the lake with something that looked like, well, a floating water mat.

So we boated over and found out a little about it - it was a water mat by a company that is no longer in business and it retailed for almost $2,500.

We could tell that it was cheaply made with rough foam, and there was only a single grommet with a little bungee cord to keep the thing in place - which it did not do very well.

The wheels started immediately turning, and we knew a few things: it was a cool product,  it was way to expensive, and we could make it better.

So I set out to do just that.

For the rest of that summer, all I could do is think about how to make this ‘thing’ better.

As fate would have it, we went to an event where on the floor were these huge rolls of foam - just like the foam I’d seen that summer.

So I started asking around about where someone could get some of that foam and, long story short, I ordered enough foam to put together the very first two prototypes of what would become FloatingMats, right out of my garage.

Now there is another part to this puzzle, and that’s the grommet. To make something better, there had to be a better way to keep the mats connected and in place.

And metal, which was - and still is - used in most water mats, is no good. It can cause injury and it certainly doesn’t play well with the gel coat of your boat, so I set out to find a better way.

I spent all fall and winter visiting hardware stores and hand-making what would become our first grommets.

The original grommet featured a piece of plastic irrigation pipe, a rubber drain tub, and an electrical cap that were pieced together, but all together they made a fantastic grommet.

And that’s how it started.

That next summer we would be out on the lake, rafting out, and people would start boating over and asking questions - what is that called? Where can we get one?

We even had a couple of people ask if we could make them one, and that is when we knew we had a business.

So that’s how and why, back in the summer of 2012, the FloatingMats.com domain was purchased and an LLC was formed, and away we went!

Once the website went live, we had our very first order come in, from Alabama. In fact, that customer has since bought their second mat from us.

Over the course of the next year, I worked with a 3D designer and manufacturer to refine the grommet into what we have today.

And really, along with the USA sourced, highest quality foam that is used on every mat, it is our grommets that differentiate FloatingMats from everybody else in the market.

Our grommets give you the most flexibility to tie up, anchor down, create islands - whatever you want to do.

And with our high-quality foam, we are able to make bigger, thicker, and softer mats - perfect for your day on the water.

So that’s it - that’s how it started.

And our commitment to you remains, to this day, to provide you with the highest quality, most durable, and most versatile floating water mat on the market.

So, what are you waiting for, SHOP for yours now!