What You Never Knew About Entrance Mats
For many property owners and managers, the floor mat in front of the entrance is, at best, an afterthought. If you fall into this camp, you are missing an excellent opportunity. Floor mats come in a variety of materials to suit your needs and they can do a number of things to help your building look and run better.
What Mats Do
Most people think of entrance mats as tools to keep their floors clean, and they are right. An entrance mat does an excellent job of keeping dirt and moisture from the outside out of your building. Mats typically have a surface that is abrasive enough to clean the bottoms of people’s shoes and absorbent enough to trap water. This keeps dirt, salt and moisture out of your building.
The most immediate benefit of this is cleaner floors, but good mats actually go further. Not all of the dirt and moisture that people bring in ends up on your floors. A great deal of it makes it into the air where it gets dispersed throughout your building. A mat at the entrance will actually reduce your cleaning bills throughout your building and keep dirt out of your HVAC system, reducing your heating and cooling costs.
Keeping dirt of your floors has another benefit, too. A dirty floor is one that is covered with abrasive dirt particles. The only way to clean it is to use cleaning chemicals, some of which are also abrasive. These two things combine to reduce the life of your floors. Floors that are protected by entrance mats will last longer.
A good entrance mat does more than just take good care of your floor, though. It also helps to build an image for your building and for the businesses located therein. Whether you are looking to project a practical industrial image, a conservative corporate look, or to create a luxurious image with a carpeted custom logo mat, entrance mats can all help.
Types of Mats
Mats come in a range of different materials. Choosing one is simply a matter of matching your building’s specific needs to the available choices. Here are some of the many options available:
Carpet Mats
Traditional carpet mats are very attractive while still doing an excellent job of cleaning shoes and absorbing moisture. This category ranges from utilitarian mats made of olefin fibers to elaborate mats with special woven-in patterns to enhance their shoe cleaning ability.
Waterhog Mats
Waterhog mats are a special type of elevated mat made with strong polypropylene fibers. They are designed to be extremely attractive but to also have excellent water absorption capacity and to trap both dirt and moisture below their surface.
Rubber Mats
Rubber mats not only clean shoes, but also can withstand a great deal of weight. They are also easy for wheelchairs to transit, making them a great tool for ADA-compliance.
Vinyl Link Mats
These mats scrape shoes and allow dirt and moisture to fall through. They can also handle heavy weights passing over them.
Entrance mats can also be made of recycled material to help your building boost its green credentials. They can also have special anti-microbial properties to help keep the people in your building healthier. Given all that they can do, consider looking into a new mat that meets your building’s exact needs.
