I bought a lot of other mats first because in my experience, a lot of things that are trendy or hyped up by other parents usually disappoint. Not these mats though! They are incredibly soft, they do not get indentations from heavy items (like our Pikler gym) and best of all, my 70lb dog walks over them all the time and they haven't scratched at all! (All my previous mats ended up shredded by the dog's nails.) I have to repeat how soft they are, walking on them is a dream. They also clean so easily and are lightweight when I want to put them aside to clean my floors. They are perfect!