Each fall and winter, we over here at Myles O’Donnell, a Portland Janitorial Services Company, visit businesses whose front doors are adorned with yellow “Caution Wet Floor” signs by the front door. You know the rain is coming. Our city, Portland, has staked it’s reputation to our wet climate and this year, with the wildfires in the Gorge, you might even be praying for the liquid sunshine to bless our forests and wilderness areas.
It’s worth a bet though that you aren’t praying for your customers and business visitors to track in muddy wet footprints. You know they’re coming… and ready you might be with your mop and yellow “Caution Wet Floor” signs; but they don’t do much to enhance your brand, and provide a feeling of welcoming to your business.
What if though, there was a floor-mat that could really help reduce the tracking? There is. Waffle-style mats which have fibers placed in a square pattern with gaps around each square are exactly what you are looking for. At Myles O’Donnell, a leading Portland janitorial services company, we recommend waffle-style mats to our customers and here is why.
A Waffle Mat
Waffle Mats are designed to remove around or above 75% of the dirt tracked in to your facility by visitors, staff, and customers. Rather than leave this dirt on the surface of the mat, the mat is designed to let the dirt fall into the cracks which separate each and every square. The same is true with water too. The water is drawn into the cracks between the squares, which leaves the “top surface” area of the mat drier and more able to cope with more wet footprints. In fact, some waffle mats can hold up to one and a half gallons of liquid per sq. yard without leaking onto the floor.
Waffle Mats have a non slip rubber backing, and the fiber is a tough polypropylene making these mats long lasting for the highest traffic areas of your business. If aesthetics or branding is important to your business, these mats can have a logo inlaid, and come in a wide variety of colors.
I don’t know what you think, but over here at Myles O’Donnell we’ve been big fans of the waffle mat for years. While good waffle mats are an investment, they last for years. We think it’s an easy decision when faces with the potential liability of a slippery winter floor.