Commercial Floor Mats, Custom Door Mats, Entrance Mats, Heavy Duty Mats, Indoor Mats, Matting

4 Common Matting Questions Answered

Because we’re matting experts, we get asked the same questions pretty frequently from clients who are looking to make their commercial buildings better.  Here’s answers to four of the most common matting questions that we get asked.

  1. How does matting keep buildings clean?
    A good entrance matting system can keep about 80% of outdoor dirt from being walked into a facility, but a really effective one can stop up to 98% of dirt! Matting is actually such an important part of building design that, when installed in the right quantities and types, can contribute to a building’s LEED (Leadership in Environmental Design) score!
  2. Will any mat work?
    No!  Matting for commercial buildings should be installed as a complete system for most effectiveness.  A proper matting system is made up of three disparate elements:

    1. A dedicated scraper mat, placed at the building’s exterior.
    2. A wiper/scraper mat, placed in the vestibule or just inside the entrance where no vestibule is available.
    3. A wiper/dryer mat, placed inboard of the wiper/scraper to finish cleaning and drying.
  3. Can’t I just use rental mats?
    Rental mats make great sense…for the rental company! Rental mats have to be small, light, and thin enough to be laundered – all qualities that are terrible for matting!  Small, light, and thin mats start to flop, shift, twist, and curl themselves into tripping hazards as soon as they hit the floor. And not only that, but they only come in standard sizes – where mats you purchase can be customized to fit your building’s exact needs.
  4. What’s involved for maintenance?
    The key to maintaining your matting is regularity.  The exact frequency with which you maintain them varies according to the level of foot traffic your matting sees, but as a general guideline you can follow these steps:

    1. Spot-clean immediately.  The sooner you attend to stains, the more likely you’ll be able to get them out completely.
    2. Vacuum daily.  Use a vacuum cleaner with a power-head with rotary brushes, as these are the best at lifting the mat’s pile and pulling out trapped dirt.
    3. Extract quarterly.  Hot water extraction is great for keeping your textile mats in good working order, and remember: shampoo once, rinse twice!  Ensure that no excess shampoo is left behind after cleaning because any remaining soap residue left behind will attract new dirt that much faster than before.