The best draught excluder for your front door won't cost you a penny

Our test to find the best draught excluder for a front door revealed that a simple and free DIY solution outperformed the rest.  

We compared four popular shop-bought draught excluders for doors, available at stores such as Screwfix and Wickes, with two homemade versions we'd seen recommended online: a simple towel and old tights filled with newspaper.

In our laboratory we designed a setup using a hairdryer (to simulate a stiff breeze) and feathers to measure how much wind each draught excluder was letting through.

Watch our video above to see which came out best or read on for the full results. 

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Best draught excluders for front doors from our tests

Towels

Pros

• Best on test – didn't even let a strong breeze through
• Free – if you have a towel you don't mind using
• Flexible – can fit gaps of all shapes and sizes

Cons

• Not the prettiest solution
• Will need placing back over the gap each time the front door is opened

Our verdict Cheap and top of our tests

Draught-proofing windows and doors could save up to £50 a year, according to the Energy Saving Trust.

Of course, the cheaper it is to get the materials to draught-proof your house, the better. So we were amazed that placing a towel over the gap worked just as well as, if not better, than the best draught excluders we tested that you can buy from the shops.

If you have an old towel, this solution is quick and free. Plus, it blocked out even the strongest draughts in our test.

We realise it isn't the prettiest or neatest solution, so if you want something a little more elegant plugging that gap under your front door, take a look at our next few recommendations below.

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Brush door excluders

Typical price £3 to £20

We tested the Stormguard heavy duty brush door excluder with aluminium trim. You can buy this at Screwfix or at the retailers listed below

Alternatively, you can have a look at these similar models, selected for being a similar style and price, from popular UK retailers.

They also come in different-coloured trims, which may match your decor better than aluminium.

Pros

• Dramatically reduces the breeze that gets through
• Attaches to the door – so doesn't need replacing each time the door is opened

Cons

• May require some cutting to fit your door size
• Can cost more to cover a large gap

Our verdict Best store-bought option

This excluder lets a tiny amount of air through. This also makes it a good solution for internal doors, as it doesn't completely stop air circulation, which could lead to moisture build-up.

You'll need to get one with brushes long enough to cover the gap – typically, the longer you need the more this draught excluder will cost.

This type attaches to the door by various methods (self-adhesive tape, screws and so on), which means you don't need to worry about replacing it back over the gap each time you open the door like you would with a towel or fabric draught excluder.

It's more discreet and neater than using a towel. However, be prepared to do some DIY to cut the brush strips and holder to size. A good pair of scissors and junior hacksaw should do the trick. 

Rubber door excluders

Typical price £10 to £20

We tested the Stormguard Heavy Duty Garage Seal. You can buy this at Screwfix or at the retailers listed below

Alternatively, you can have a look at these similar models, selected for being a similar style and price, from popular UK retailers.

They come with different depths of rubber, the shorter ones are better suited for internal doors. There are also different-coloured trims, which may match your decor better than aluminium.

Pros

• No air gets through if it covers the gap well
• Attaches to the door – don't need to place it back over the gap when you open the door

Cons

• May require some cutting to fit your door
• May be trickier to cover irregularly shaped gaps

Our verdict Good for large gaps

It cut out strong breezes easily in our test. However, rubber draught excluders are less flexible than a towel or brushes, so you'll likely find them trickier to fit over an irregularly shaped gap. That's why we recommend a brush door excluder above this as a shop-bought option.

As with brush seals, you'll need to measure the gap to make sure you get an excluder long enough to cover it. 

They're typically longer than brush excluders because they're sized for larger garage doors. This means you may have to cut the size down if you want one for an average front door. We recommend a junior hacksaw for the holder, and a good pair of scissors should get through the rubber.

Fabric door excluder

Typical price £5 to £25

We tested the Evans Lichfield Woodland Hedgehog Draught Excluder. You can buy this at the retailers listed below

Alternatively, you can have a look at these other Evans Lichfield draught excluders.

The only difference is the design, so they should perform similarly to our tested model, but may suit your home better than a line of hedgehogs.

Pros

• Reduces the breeze that gets through – though it's not the best
• You might find these more aesthetically pleasing than a brush seal or a towel on the floor
• Doesn't require installation

Cons

• Will need placing back over the gap each time the front door is opened
• Not as effective as other draught excluders we tested

Our verdict Many styles, OK draught exclusion 

If looks matter, then a fabric draught excluder may be more appealing to you than the draught excluders we found did a better job. There's a much larger choice of colours and shapes to match your decor, and they're usually bulky enough to cover any gap.

Fabric door excluders didn't perform as well in our tests, though. They let some light and strong breezes through, though they did reduce them decently compared to no draught excluder at all.

Similar to when using a towel, you'll need someone at home to move this type of draught excluder back over the gap when the door's been opened and closed, or get one that can be attached to the door.

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Fabric door excluder with polyester-sand blend filling

Typical price £14 to £24

We tested the Autumn Grove Jarin Draught Excluder, which is filled with polyester and natural sand. You can buy this at Wayfair  for £14 (currently out of stock).

Alternatively, you can have a look at these similar models, selected from popular UK retailers.

The filling of weighted draught excluders can vary. So the similar models highlighted below aren't all sand-filled, but they are weighted, which is the main benefit we found with this style of excluder.

Pros

• Stays in place better than just a fabric draught excluder
• Reduces the breeze that gets through
• You might find these more aesthetically pleasing than a brush seal or a towel on the floor

Cons

• Will need moving back over the gap each time the front door is opened
• Not as effective as other draught excluders

Our verdict Sturdy, with some draught exclusion

Scored just as well for reducing draughts as fabric excluders that don't have sand in them.

The extra weight from the sand means it's less likely to be knocked out of place accidentally, although it's heavier to budge out of the way when you actually want to open the door.

As with all fabric excluders, there's a wide choice of patterns and colours available.

Tights with newspaper filling

Pros

• Free – if you have a old pair of tights and an out-of-date newspaper

Cons

• Worst method at reducing draughts we tested
• Not the prettiest solution

Our verdict Don't do it yourself

We tried this out after seeing it lauded online as being a good DIY draught excluder. But after putting it to the test, we couldn't disagree more.

It performed worse than all the other types we tried, only being slightly better than having no draught excluder at all.

It's free – if you have a pair of tights and a newspaper lying around – but given that a towel, another free method, worked much better, it really isn't worth your time making this draught excluder.

How we tested draught excluders

• To find out which draught excluders would let your warm air leak outside or a cool breeze sneak through, we set up a rig in our laboratory that left us a 2cm gap above the floor.
• On one side we placed each draught excluder. 
• We then used a hair dryer to blow a consistently strong breeze at the gap. We moved the dryer closer and further away to replicate light and strong winds. 
• To measure just how much air was getting through each excluder, we hung feathers to clearly show which were letting even a slightest wind through.
• All draught excluders reduced the breeze somewhat, but some were much better than others.

We're not able to show every retailer and cheaper prices may be available.