Entrance & Floor Mat Cleaning Best Practices
While many measure cleanliness by different rules, there are certain measures that are consistent with good housekeeping that most will find acceptable.
First, let us all agree that it is better to contain the maximum amount of moisture and soil at the doorways, instead of allowing the contaminants to be tracked into any facility. This alone will pay for any extra time needed to clean a more effective matting system.
Many end users do not maintain their mats with enough consistency. The longer one allows soil to build up in a floor mat, the longer it takes to clean it.
Suggested Cleaning Practices
- Clean with enough frequency to prevent soil and water build up, according to the amount of foot traffic and weather conditions outside.
- Make sure that the equipment being used is in good working order, bag replaced, belts, and brushes are working.
- Make certain that the equipment is being used properly, creating the most effective results. Many cleaners try to vacuum at light speed, reducing the effectiveness and creating longer cleaning times, as the job has to be done over again.
- Consider soil types before cleaning. Is the soil wet or dry, sticky or loose impediments, stains or heavy soil?
- For wet soils, a self-contained extractor with a brush and vac system is recommended. Several passes may be necessary at a slow speed to attain the best results.
- For dry soils, a good two motor vacuum with the brush adjusted all the way down will give you the most agitation of the soil and best results. A backpack vacuum offers higher CFM's than some upright vacuums, but more passes over the mat are needed to compensate for the lack of agitation.
- For dry crusty salt stains, it is recommended that the mat be soaked in hot water with a neutral soap solution for half an hour and extracted as per wet soils above.
- If your mat is stained, you may use various carpet spotting solutions to loosen the soil stuck to the fibers. mats are solution dyed, so you need not worry about the color fastness.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: