Wouldn’t you like to know a way to keep things cleaner in your dining area that didn’t involve any additional effort on your part or more labor from your employees? I think most foodservice manager would be thrilled to have that information! Today is your lucky day. As it turns out, studies have shown that up to 80% of the interior soil brought into restaurants and other facilities comes from foot traffic. Every customer that comes in your restaurant or student that walks into a cafeteria with dirty shoes is leaving a little something behind for you to clean up later. But how can you reduce the amount of dirt that gets tracked inside? Unlike a home, you can’t really leave a sign up that says – please remove your shoes at the entrance. That would be pretty inconvenient for the customers and may cause issues with your health inspection. But there is a solution. The use of entrance floor matting can reduce the amount of dirt that is carried inside your dining area so that the majority of dirt that would come in from foot traffic trapped or removed before patrons come through the entrance.
It’s important to know that a three foot piece of entryway matting isn’t going to do the job for you. This is where the 15 Foot Rule comes in. With 15 feet of entryway matting, even a tall person with a long stride will take roughly six steps to cross, so each foot will make contact with the matt three times. Each time contact is made more dirt and moisture from their foot ware will be removed from their shoes or boots and will not end up in your facility.
Having less dirt, moisture and debris making it’s way in side your dining area can reduce your floor maintenance expenses as wall as the labor to clean the floors and base boards. Floor matting also extends the life of floors, particularly high traffic areas by absorbing much of the initial wear and tear and protecting your flooring from showing traffic patterns. Additionally, entrance matts can reduce the risk of slips and falls by absorbing any water and eliminating slippery conditions. The Notrax Water Master Matting is a great option in high traffic and wet areas. As you get closer to an entryway, you can change the type of matting used because with each step taken, more dirt is removed from your patrons shoes. You may also want to place a floor matt inside your entryway as a greater precaution. The Atlantic Olefin™ matting is a good choice to reduce slip hazards and floor care maintenance. Whatever you choose, make sure that it is water absorbent, vinyl backed to reduce movement and that you install at least 15 feet before the entryway.
