caring for your home before the cleaners come

Protecting Company Floors During The Winter

During winter weather, your business' floors are likely to become dirtier than usual due to foot traffic tracking in signs of the precipitation outdoors. Besides particles of snow and ice, salt and sand used to treat outdoor walkways will end up on your company's flooring, making it appear less than favorable. It is very important to take time for treating your floors during inclement weather to help keep them from deteriorating from these harsh abrasives. Here are some steps you can add to your routine cleaning regimen in an attempt to have pristine floors year round.

Add More Vacuuming Time

Vacuuming carpeted sections often will help keep them from becoming destroyed from small rocks or sand particles that people track in on the bottoms of shoes. Failing to vacuum these particles can cause carpeting to become ripped as the materials are pushed further into the fibers from additional people walking upon them. The jagged edges will cause areas of carpeting to become prematurely frayed. The particles can also be tracked to other flooring in your establishment, possibly causing scratching and scuffing. Let your commercial cleaning service know you would like to ramp up their vacuuming efforts during winter weather to help keep floors in great condition.

Remove Salt Effectively

When salt is tracked into a business, it becomes encrusted into carpeting or onto hard flooring when the moisture within the mineral melts. This often leaves behind a white residue that makes floors appear grungy. Use a steam cleaner on carpeting to remove salt residue from the fibers. Mopping floors will help remove it from their surfaces as well. Consider adding a protective wax or acrylic top coat to hard floors to help reduce chances of the scratching and staining salt can cause.

Gently Request Clean Habits

Add a sign in your company's main entrance requesting that customers and associates wipe their feet. The sign can be placed upon a stand by the doorway so it is viewed before people move too far into the building with material on their feet. Add a large mat right inside the doorway, making it easy for people to quickly give their feet a few scrapes before continuing into the establishment any further. 

Adding temporary rugs leading from the entryway can help reduce the amount of ice, snow, sand and salt being tracked through as well. As people walk toward their destination, it will become trapped into the rug rather than scraped across your flooring. Make sure to wash the temporary rugs every few days to help remove these harsh abrasives from the area completely.