Knock on the door, ring the bell, ring it well, wipe your feet and walk in.  It’s a rhyme I was recently reminded of, that my great grandfather shared with us as we grew up. I am sure if you are from the Sheffield area, it’s a rhyme you might have heard of too. It then got me thinking about entrance matting and how it relates to the rhyme.

Wiping feet before walking into the workplace is something that we should all be doing, especially as the wet and leafy autumnal weather takes hold. We all wipe our feet when we enter our homes, so why not apply the same clean and safety logic to our workplaces? Approximately 75% of interior soiling enters buildings via foot traffic. Good entrance matting can significantly reduce this by catching the dirt and moisture before employees and visitors enter your premises.

The major benefits of entrance matting is to drastically reduce the need to clean building floors, maintain the surface flooring, as well as preventing costly slip and trip hazards. It is recommended that approximately 5 linear metres of entrance matting should be used to catch the dirt and moisture. That will allow each foot to make contact at least four times allowing the footwear to deposit its residue on the matting. This use can be broken down in to three stages:
Stage 1 
Heavy duty debris is removed as 40% of the dirt and moisture is removed during the first 1.5m, this ideally is achieved outside the doorway before entrance to the main building.
Stage 2 
Fine debris and moisture is simultaneously brushed and wiped off shoes, as the individual walks over the entrance matting and it can be expected that around 20% is removed over this period.
Stage 3
Additional wiping mats complete the 5 metres with the drying off process taking place.

Helpful guide to getting the very best from your matting products

Interior mats

• Vacuum daily.
• Extraction clean periodically.
• Machine washable mats can be laundered where applicable, but the above methods can also be used.
  
  

Exterior mats 

• Vacuum daily. 
• Vacuum sweep or hose down weekly underneath. This is so important otherwise the mats will breakdown if grit and debris are left underneath for long periods of time.
• Periodically pressure wash or steam clean is strongly recommended for all outdoor mats.
  
  

Maintenance is important with all floor matting. The effectiveness and appearance of the mats can be maintained by regular cleaning. This also prevents the abrasive effect of dirt lodged in the fibres and in turn prolongs the lifespan of the individual mats. Keeping your matting clean will ensure that the walked in dirt is minimised and will make for a cleaner and better performing product. This will also ensure that the first impression of your premises is an aesthetic one as well.

We have provided customers with the best matting solutions since 1970. Recently we were very happy to visit a customer in Ely, Cambridgeshire to guide them through the best selection of floor matting to be used in various areas of their vegetable processing plant and adjacent farm buildings. They needed to have the appropriate wipe off matting outside of their buildings to capture all the heavy foot debris and also to have internal mats to ensure that staff feet were kept clean, especially near to the locker area where staff change into their protective clothing. There was also an area near the staircase that was flagged up as a point of concern, as staff need to ascend the staircase in order to gain entrance through the carpeted offices. We were pleased to assist and to supply tough and long lasting matting to ensure that dirt and moisture are captured at the door and not walked over the locker area and all the company’s upstairs offices. 

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