Print Article for : Floor Mats For Kitchen

Your Online Guide » Home Decor » Home Management

[F413]Floor Mats For Kitchen

by Terry Gates, Ter

Entrance mats can make a first and lasting impression on customers. Custom mats can be enhanced with your business logo, name or greeting. Beveled edges allow a gradual, safe transition from the floor to the mat, minimizing tripping. Doormats can assure that much of the soil on shoes and boots stays outside your facility. Your floors will be cleaner, drier and safer, reducing risk and maintenance. Look for mats with slip-resistant surfaces that will clean shoes and hold the dirt for easy removal. Exterior mats can be equipped with scrubbers, scrapers or stiff brushes to remove sand, mud or grass from shoes. For safety, purchase mats that do not slip or curl around the edges.

Disposable sticky mats lift dirt and debris from shoes and wheels without transferring the adhesive. These low profile mats feature an adhesive backing that adheres to the floor for safety. Made in multiple layers, the top sheet can be peeled off to reveal a clean one below.

Specialized mats can benefit the health of your workers in a couple ways. First, mats can reduce the noise level in factories. Where noise reaches harmful levels, rubber mats can be used to absorb sound, saving workers from permanent hearing loss, headaches, and added stress. The cushioning effect of anti-fatigue mats can make work more comfortable for those who must stand for extended times. The cushioning reduces back, leg and foot stress, reducing fatigue and increasing productivity.

In electronic and computer assembly areas, anti-static mats can be used to eliminate electrical shocks. Static-dissipative rubber mats repel sparks. For working around high-voltage electronics, mats should insulate against charges up to 30,000 volts and resist flames. Mats that repel sparks and hot metal shards provide safe footing for welders.

Mats used in oily, wet and slippery work areas should drain liquids and elevate workers to dry areas. Select mats include aggressive grip particles impregnated into fibers to provide slip resistance. Elevated safety bars on top surfaces can add traction in slick areas. Drainage holes that do not trap debris and allow for liquids to flow through provide safe, comfortable footing in wet areas.

Bubble mats that feature polyethylene-nylon air bubbles combine the comfort of standing on air with oil, coolant, solvent and water absorbency. They are ideal for wet and dry conditions. With plenty of cushiony support, bubble mats can also be used to lie on while working under equipment or for kneeling.

Environmentalists can look for rubber mats made from recycled tires. There are several brands available.

Before purchasing mats for your business, consider the type of work being done and conditions of the environment. There are many choices available to suit your special needs.

There are two ways to obtain floor mats for your place of business. You can rent them from a janitorial supply and service business or you can purchase them outright. Ostensibly the most cost-efficient method is to purchase your mats. However, there can be extenuating circumstances that lead you to consider renting your mats.

If you rent your mats, a good service will provide a clean fresh mat upon pickup of the old. This may be once or twice a week. The rental will seem inexpensive-typically a few dollars per mat per week. If your business contracts all its janitorial services, this could be the most efficient means of providing clean floor mats for all your entrances and aisle ways.

However, if you own a business such as a restaurant, hotel or office building where you hire your own staff to perform janitorial services, you should consider the purchase of your floor mats. Realize that any time you ‘rent' a product, even a floor mat, you must pay a sufficient price to the renting company to purchase and care for the mat-plus make a profit. This only makes sense. If you hire employees with cleaning responsibilities, it is more cost-effective to purchase your floor mats and add them to the clean up list of duties for your janitorial staff.

As an example, suppose you own five restaurants. Each restaurant needs two entrance mats, two catch all floor mats adjacent to self-service drink stations or salad bars, and two commercial kitchen floor mats. Let's say these are each 3'x5' mats which rent for around $5 per week. Over the course of a year you will pay $7,800 for the five restaurants in mat rental services. The entrance floor mats and catch all floor mats run approximately $45 each if purchased outright. The commercial kitchen floor mats run about $65 each. To purchase the same mats costs you $1,550. The cleaning of the mats can be performed by your janitorial staff as part of their daily work duties. Extensive cleaning due to inclement weather conditions can be performed weekly during off-hours. Let's say this adds ten minutes a day to your employee's time-that's 40 hours a year. Assuming a $10/hour pay rate, you will pay an extra $400 to add mat cleaning to your daily janitorial service duties. The total cost your first year of ownership is about $2000. But the savings explode after this…

Realize that if you purchase nitrile rubber-backed mats, the mats will typically last 5-7 years in high traffic situations. Assuming $400 recurring janitorial time each year, over the course of five years your total cost of ownership is $3600. The cost to rent these mats over five years is $39,000! Ownership of your floor mats saves you over $35,000 during the five year period. That represents a savings of over 90%! These numbers are typical. Most businesses fail to make these types of calculations when considering their custodial services. I mean, they are just floor mats!

There are businesses with good reasons to rent floor mats. If you already outsource all your custodial services, you may want to rent the mats from the service as well. However, even in these cases, you should consider whether to purchase your mats and add them to the cleaning duties of your service contract. If your employees already handle the cleanup responsibilities in your business, you should definitely consider the purchase of floor mats over renting the same products from a rental service.

Article Source : Pg. 119

About Author

Both Terry Gates & Cliff Bell are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Terry Gates has sinced written about articles on various topics from Home, Home Management and Vitamin B Complex. Terry Gates is a freelance writer on and rubber products.. Terry Gates's top article generates over 6600 views. to your Favourites.

Cliff Bell has sinced written about articles on various topics from Home Management. . Cliff Bell's top article generates over 880 views. to your Favourites.