Sisal works, but it moults. Anyone who has kept a sisal post beside a pale carpet knows the ring of loose fibre that builds up around the base of it. This one is wrapped in woven linen instead. It takes a claw properly, it holds together under repeated use, and it does not shed a halo of fluff across the floor every time the cat has a go at it.

The frame is wood, wrapped and finished in one of six colours, and it is built to stand upright indoors rather than to be climbed. That focus is deliberate. A cat scratching properly pulls downwards with its full body weight, and a post that flexes or skates across laminate gets abandoned inside a week. Six colourways also means you can choose one that disappears into the room, which is usually what decides whether a scratcher lives in the lounge or gets exiled to the spare room.

• Wooden frame with a woven linen scratching surface
• Vertical freestanding design, for indoor use
• Six colours: dark grey, beige, grey, yellow, pink and orange
• Lower-shedding alternative to sisal
• Supplied as one scratcher per box

Check the height suits your cat. The manufacturer publishes only "different styles, different sizes" and no measurements at all, so we will measure a unit for you rather than quote a figure. It matters more than it sounds: a cat needs to stretch to full length against a post, an adult can reach 60cm or more, and a short scratcher gets ignored no matter how good the surface is. Linen also wears faster than sisal under a heavy scratcher.

Who it's for: Kittens and smaller adult cats, tidy households sick of sisal fibre on the carpet, and anyone adding a second post to a room where sisal would look out of place.