Entrance matting will help with the safety, protect floors, and reduce interior maintenance. There are different types of entrance mats and combining them leads to ideal results.
Why use an entrance mat?
Safety
Matting helps eliminate wetness from rain, ice and snow from coming in and creating slips and falls. No one needs a liability problem and having a mat to prevent injuries is a great piece of mind.
Indoor Flooring Protection
Preventing wetness and dirt will keep valuable floors in perfect condition. Tracked in dirt and moisture can cause scratches, scuff marks and staining. In western states, sand can pose a cleaning problem.
Reduces Interior Maintenance
Most of cleaning maintenance is due to the tracking of dirt and debris from the outside. 70% to 80% of dust, dirt and grime in a building comes from the outside. One square yard of carpet can accumulate one pound of dirt in a week, and can be twice that in snowy, icy weather. As few as a 150 people entering a facility can track one pound of dirt in a five day work week!
So what types of entrance mats do you need?
For best results, we’ve found there are 2 types of entrance mats that should be used. First a ridged hard rubber type mat that removes large debris. The debris falls in between the ridges stopping it from getting further into the facility. This type of mat should be placed outside. You will find that many people will automatically wipe their feet. This type of mat is commonly called a scraper mat.
Then the second mat is a carpet style mat that goes inside. It wipes and dries shoes, and helps with the reduction of slip and fall hazards. Many of these mats come with a vinyl or rubber backing that keep the mat from moving all over the place. They come in a variety of colors to match your building decor, too. This type of mat is referred to a wiper mat.
Also, make sure you use enough. You might think 3 or 4 steps worth of matting might be suffice to clean shoes as people enter, right? However, studies have shown that about 10 to 15 feet of matting will remove 99 percent of soil from shoes.
Don’t forget a clean, dry, safe floor does create a good first impression.