I am surprised to see so many negative reviews. This product is great and worth the money, but you need to understand what you’re buying. First off, these will not silence your washer. If your washer is loud now, it will still be loud with these mats! What they prevent is the vibration caused by various cleaning cycles - these mats stop that vibration from transferring into the floor and structure of your home. If you’re in a condo with wood framing, your neighbor below you will appreciate that you’ve installed these - you’ll no longer be shaking their ceiling. Second, yes, they smell! This is commercial grade rubber. The flexibility and mass of rubber is what is necessary to stop vibration from traveling through the structure of your home, but this is not an urgent purchase - give yourself some time before putting them in place and you can minimize or eliminate the smell. My process, which I’ve had success with for these mats and larger mats is the following: unbox, unwrap, and place the mats outside. Lay them on something so air flows above and below the mat. Leave them outside for at least one week. During this week, clean the mats at least twice, front and back, with a neutral pH cleaner (I use simple green). After that bring the mats inside and install. The rubber smell will still be around for a but, but very faint - nothing as dramatic as I’m reading in these reviews.After a couples weeks being installed, I’m happy with the product. They’re saving my new tile floor from scratches and simultaneously muting the vibration of my washer (LG top loader) and dryer.