business premises · entrance decor · entrance mats · mat maintenance · polypropylene mats · Aug 30, 2019

How to Clean Polypropylene Mats

A lot of factors determine the kind of entrance mat you will buy for your business premise. The weather in your city, the amount of foot traffic the premise sees, the importance of an upscale appearance at your business entrance, the type of business premise, they're all just some of those factors. The right entrance mat will fulfil all requirements and will be a good fit. When you find the right entrance mat, you need to take good care of it, so it continues serving you well for years to come.

In the last post, we covered cleaning and maintaining nylon and nylon blend mats. In this post, we’re going to take you through the process of cleaning and maintaining polypropylene entrance mats. Let’s start by knowing bit more about polypropylene as a material to understand how it works in your entrance mat

Material

Derived from a thermoplastic polymer, polypropylene fiber matting is very popular, as the fibers have an effective scraping action owing to their course texture. This makes polypropylene an especially good material for scraping dry dust and grime off shoe soles. Entrance matting made from polypropylene fibers is tough, resilient, and durable. This material even shows good resistant to chemicals. These mats are great for medium to high traffic areas as they show reasonably good crush resistance. Polypropylene is also weatherproof and can withstand mildew, rot, moisture, and changing weather conditions with ease. Another advantage of polypropylene is that the colors do not fade. The color is added during the fiber creation process and is sealed into the material. This means polypropylene matting can come in a wide range of colours and looks new for a lot longer. The matting is ideal for indoor or outdoor use and can be used when longer length matting is required to capture dirt in reception areas. Cost-wise it is less expensive than nylon and this makes it a preferred choice for matting for retail, offices, hotels, and leisure industries.

Cleaning and Care

Vacuum

Polypropylene mats need to be vacuumed every day if possible, especially if they are at entrances that see heavy traffic. Daily vacuuming will pull dirt and dust out and prevent them from soiling the mat. Daily vacuuming also makes it easier to keep the mat clean.

Spills and Stains

In general, it is a good idea to mop up any spills on any entrance mat immediately to prevent damage and staining. Polypropylene matting is no different.

Use a white cotton or paper towel to pat and mop the liquid. Never rub as this will deepen the stain. If it is a heavier liquid spill, use a white or light-coloured sponge.
You can use a few drops of liquid detergent in water to get rid of stronger stains.
Repeat the process a couple of times to get mat properly clean, so patience would be a virtue!

Oil stains should be treated with more urgency as polypropylene tends to absorb oil, which could result in the stain setting fast. Oil stains may require a dry cleaning liquid to tackle them. Blot gently till stain is gone and then vacuum.

Note: To be safe, test all cleaners on a less visible section of the mat to check if it reacts with the material.

For dirt, mud, and other solid stains:

Scrape away as much of the solid as possible with a dull-edged tool.
Then blot with a clean white cloth and water till cloth comes off clean.
Vacuum after this to extract any dirt remaining in the mat and to dry it off.

Washing

Polypropylene mats are really low maintenance but even they need to be washed clean every now and then, especially since they sit at your business premise entrance and create first impressions!

To wash, take the mat outside and lay it on a sloping surface preferably.
Wet with a hose and drip liquid detergent on the wet mat.
Using a soft brush, scrub the mat gently.
Rinse with water until water runs clear.

Drying

To dry the mat, lean it against a wall or lay it on a sloping surface, as this will drain off water more effectively. You can peg the mat on a clothesline, hang it on a railing, or put it on a drying rack. Drying should be done outdoors but not in direct sunlight, as this will damage the mat and compromise its longevity. Ensure both sides have dried before bringing the mat in to use again.

Annual Professional Cleaning

A yearly professional wash will help increase mat life and keep it looking new and elegant longer.

Some of our polypropylene mats that would benefit from this maintenance routine:

Viper 8900 Entrance Mats

Parquet Rib Entrance Mats

If you have a polypropylene mat at your business premise or plan to buy one, do bookmark this post!

If you have any queries get in touch with us on sales@matsupplier.com or call on 866-362-2053.