Foxx 100 × 500 cm

Where this shelf belongs, before anything else

All seven listings in this family name balcony, terrace, garden, conservatory, campsite, roof terrace, pool and lounge areas.

None of them describes laying an artificial lawn. That is a construction — compacted sub-base, sand levelling layer, weed membrane, jointing tape, pinned edges, brushed-in sand infill — and it costs more than the turf.

This shelf sells outdoor carpet. Rolled out, cut with a knife, laid down.

The cheapest square metre here

100 × 500 cm is 5 m², at about 7.00 € per square metre.

Across this shelf the range is about 7.00 € to 15.78 € per square metre — a factor of 2.25.

And this is also the listing that publishes the least about what the material is, which is worth stating as a pair rather than separately.

What is published, and it is unusual

“REACH-compliant for more safety — REACH is the EU chemicals regulation for controlling problematic substances. Our product meets these requirements and has been tested for relevant harmful substances.”

That is the only reference to an external standard anywhere on this shelf.

Every other claim in this family is the seller’s own: premium, realistic, durable, environmentally friendly, non-toxic. One other listing states that its product is free of lead and cadmium, which is a manufacturer’s declaration about two specific substances.

REACH is a regulation, and citing it — and then explaining what it is rather than assuming the acronym means something to the reader — is the better form of the claim.

It matters more on this product category than on most. Artificial grass is a plastic surface that children sit on, that gets hot in the sun, and that is in contact with bare skin. Plasticisers, pigments and flame retardants are the relevant question, and this is the only listing here that engages with it.

The drainage, tied to mould

Three of the five feature lines are about water, and they connect properly:

“Dries quickly — the drainage lets rainwater flow away without problems and it then dries again.”

“Mould-resistant — thanks to the integrated drainage water is quickly carried away. No standing water forms, so the artificial grass stays permanently dry, hygienic and free of mould.”

That is a mechanism rather than a feature list, and it is the right mechanism.

A tufted artificial grass has a latex or rubber secondary backing, which is waterproof by nature. Without perforations it is a tray: water runs down through the pile, meets the backing, spreads sideways and sits.

Six of the seven listings on this shelf name a drainage arrangement. One does not, and it is the one sold as Premium Class.

And the part this listing still does not say

Drainage stops water sitting. It does not stop the other thing.

Artificial grass grows moss and algae. On a north-facing balcony, under a tree, in a shaded corner, the pile collects leaf litter and airborne dust, holds moisture in it, and green film develops around the fibre bases and on the backing.

That is exactly the surface the three hard-surface biocides on this site’s moss killer shelf are made for — the products for stone, wood, roofs and terraces, which must never go on a real lawn. Artificial grass is a hard surface with a textured top.

The maintenance nobody advertises: sweep or blow the leaves off, repeatedly in autumn, before they break down into the pile. A mat that has been left under a lime tree for two autumns has soil in it, and then it grows weeds.

“Several widths can be laid side by side”

Stated in the first feature line, and it is the practical note for a 1 m roll.

Artificial grass gives itself away at seams. Two cut edges never match exactly in pile direction, and the join catches light differently from either side of it.

A 1 metre width means a seam every metre. Covering a 3 × 4 m terrace is four lengths and three seams, running the full 4 m.

Two mitigations, neither of which this listing mentions:

Lay all pieces with the pile leaning the same way. Artificial grass has a direction, like carpet, and it looks completely different viewed with and against it. Alternating pieces makes the seams obvious.

Butt the edges, do not overlap. An overlap is a visible ridge that catches feet.

The widest product on this shelf is 400 cm, which covers most balconies with no seam at all.

What goes unpublished

No pile height. The main specification of artificial grass, and the range on this shelf runs 5 mm to 35 mm — a factor of seven. It decides whether the mat reads as a bowling green or as a garden lawn, and whether furniture flattens it permanently.

No fibre material. PE, PP and polyester are all present on this shelf and they feel entirely different: PE soft, PP stiff and springy, polyester used in needle-felt grass carpets.

No weight per square metre. One product here publishes 850 g/m², and weight is the real quality measure — fibre and backing mass per unit area is what separates a mat that recovers from one that lies down.

No fire classification. The same one product publishes Efl.

So: the best chemical declaration on the shelf, and the least description of the material it applies to.

Availability

From 35 € to 43 €, that being the spread across the German and French Amazon stores on the day of the survey.

Nothing came back from the American, British, Italian and Spanish Amazon stores at all; the buy button there runs a search rather than opening an empty page.

Taken from Keepa on the day this page was last revised; stock and prices move without notice.