Out of all the different types of matting available, one of the most commonly-overlooked is the extruded vinyl mat. The “extruded vinyl mat” category is a very broad one, ranging from specialty anti-fatigue mats, to industrial purpose mats, to entrance matting – but in the end, it’s all extruded vinyl!
Types of Extruded Vinyl Mats
Extruded vinyl mats come in a variety of different styles, constructions, and intended purposes.
The most commonly-seen type of extruded vinyl mat is the “spaghetti” style mat commonly used at entrances, like our Duromat. Spaghetti mats make excellent entrance mats where there is insufficient space indoors for a conventional mat (like our Grizzly FX) large enough to handle the incoming traffic and/or the amount of water being brought into the building. Spaghetti mats can be deployed outdoors and used without vinyl ramp edging – this allows the spaghetti mat to continuously scrape water off incoming foot traffic without ever filling up with water and becoming ineffective. And because the mat is already outdoors, the scraped-off water can wash out of the mat and away from the entrance.
For heavier-duty entrances, a heavier-duty extruded vinyl mat is required – like our Cobra matting. Cobra is our heaviest-duty entrance matting product, designed to withstand extra-heavy-duty traffic loads. Unlike Duromat, Cobra is designed to work both in recessed wells or as a freestanding entrance mat (when ordered with our vinyl ramp edging), but Cobra is made without an attached backing. No backing means that Cobra allows scraped-off dirt and water to flow right through the mat to the surface below, allowing for incredibly simple cleaning – just hosing off the mat and the outdoor surface below is all that’s needed for regular maintenance.
Vinyl mats are also used for specialty anti-fatigue purposes as well. Our Duromat Comfort Plus matting offers the flexibility of custom sizes and shapes that traditional anti-fatigue mats simply aren’t available in.
Advantages of Extruded Vinyl Entrance Mats
Extruded vinyl entrance mats do confer some significant advantages over traditional textile matting options. The primary one is their ability to handle a very high volume of traffic per square foot of matting when compared to a textile entrance mat. Because vinyl is completely waterproof, all the water scraped off by the mat simply flows right out immediately; a vinyl mat never needs a “recovery period” to dry out and be restored to full service capacity.
Being completely impervious to water also means that extruded vinyl mats can be used outdoors at completely uncovered entrances, making them a great choice for businesses with limited entrance space.
Extruded vinyl mats are also eligible for our custom inlaid logo program too! Going with a spaghetti mat doesn’t sacrifice your ability to put some style into your entrance.
Contact us today for help in choosing the right extruded vinyl mat for your application!