With the high amounts of rain in Washington, every business owner in the state deals with muddy floors. So how can you keep your floor beautiful and sparkling when customers constantly track in mud?
In this blog, we go over some prevention tips as well as guidelines to clean mud off of different types of flooring.
Prevention
It’s easier to prevent muddy floors than it is to clean muddy floors. While there’s no way to fully keep mud out, there are a number of ways you can make cleaning less intensive. First, start outside your building. Keep the sidewalks leading up to your front door clean and clear so customers have less mud to step in on their way.
You probably already know you need a mat inside where people can brush off their shoes before tracking debris inside. You should also have a mat outside and a mat between doors if your business has a walkway between your exterior doors and interior doors. The more mats, the better.
Don’t skimp by choosing cheaper mats, either. You need thick commercial-grade mats, and you need several sets to switch out when one set gets too dirty. Clean the mats on a daily basis and hang up wet mats overnight to dry.
General Flooring
If and when you do get mud on your floor, there are some basic cleaning tips to help you keep your floor as beautiful as the day it was installed. These tips will work for most flooring types, though we’ll go through some more specific tips for carpet, rubber, and hardwood floors after this section.
During the muddy months, increase the frequency of your floor cleaning. Usually, you should clean on a daily basis. However, when the weather takes a turn for the worse, either bump cleaning sessions up to two or three times a day or pay attention to the state of your floors and clean whenever necessary. When mats are pulled up for cleaning, always be sure to clean underneath them as well.
For floors that aren’t carpeted, don’t just rely on mopping. While mopping is an important step to keeping your floors clean, the dirt and debris can just get pushed around rather than actually cleaned. Sweeping first can help you pick up the majority of the debris, especially dried mud and dirt.
To simplify your cleaning schedule, choose from one of many different types of janitorial products that act as an all-in-one cleaning machine, doing the sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, and even polishing all in one go.
Carpet Flooring
If the flooring in your business is carpeted, mud can end up being more of a headache than with other types of flooring. When you purchase mats to catch tracked-in mud and place them over your carpet, ensure the mats have rubber backing. This will help prevent any overly concentrated or wet mud from seeping through the mat and into the carpet.
Next, vacuum daily. Vacuuming not only picks up particles and debris, but it also helps dry any damp spots.
If mud does seep into your carpet, first let the mud dry completely. If the patch of mud on your carpet is particularly large, blot the mud before it dries to keep it from damaging the carpet matting. Once the mud is dry, shatter it using the handle of a knife and vacuum it up. Blot the area with a detergent solution, and then rinse the area with water.
Rubber Flooring
Most rubber flooring is found in gymnasiums. However, some other businesses have found rubber works best for their needs.
To clean rubber flooring, you will need to sweep and then vacuum any loose debris. You can choose to hand mop after sweeping and vacuuming or use an automatic sweeper. Never use cleaners that have paint thinners or strippers, mineral spirits, or a petroleum base. Instead, use a cleaner with a neutral acidity level. If the dirt level is particularly high, you may need to use a buffer or auto scrubber as well.
Hardwood Flooring
In Washington, sand is used in place of salt to prevent icing on the roads, so you don’t need to worry about salt scratching your beautiful hardwood. However, you still want to use a soft-bristle broom to sweep dirt particles away. When you have wet mud on your hardwood, wipe it up with a hardwood-safe cleaner and a hand towel.
Always be sure to follow the guidelines for your type of flooring and put up safety signs where the floor is wet. At Ben’s Cleaner Sales, we’re happy to help you find cleaning products that are best suited to your company’s needs.
One brand Ben’s Cleaner Sales carries is the IPC Eagle Professional Cleaning line, including:
- Walk-behind & ride-on scrubbers
- Vacuum sweepers
- Professional & industrial vacuums
- Pure water cleaning systems
- Floor burnishers
- Extractors
- Microfiber mopping systems & more
Get Right Sized
The IPC Eagle automatic scrubbers are specifically designed to meet the productivity needs of every day cleaning as opposed to just the standards of the equipment industry. With a wide variety of automatic scrubbers available, we carry the ‘right size’ scrubber for any job. Their innovative products have high productivity levels, automatically adjust to any surface and even clean their own filters. Give Ben’s Cleaner Sales a call today and let us help you get the right equipment for your specific floor cleaning needs.