Winter is harsh on almost everything: it’s cold outside, snow is blowing and there’s ice forming on sidewalks and parking lots. Many businesses will salt the sidewalk areas outside their buildings so that their clients can easily access the store or office, but that salt almost always makes its way inside and stains carpets you’ve put on the floor. Salt stains never look nice, so instead of having to clean your commercial carpets every day during the winter here’s how you can help prevent salt stains and keep them looking clean.
Clean Entryways
Well this might seem like an obvious one, but there’s some logic to it. If you can keep the entryways to your store clean and free of debris before the cold weather gets here then you will minimize the need for salting the walkways. If you don’t need to put down any kind of salt then it won’t come inside the store. As soon as the weather starts getting a little colder, make sweeping and removal of dirt from the outside of your business a daily activity. You’ll be surprised by the amount of salt needed when the snow and ice come.
Dedicated Shoe Area
You know how you sometimes see a shoe rack in an office, asking you to remove your outside shoes? This isn’t just for kids, anymore. Many offices have implemented asking employees to leave their boots at the door and not walking through the whole office with them on. This will minimize the amount of salt that comes into the office, and any that does is mostly confined to one area close to the entrance.
Vacuum Regularly
Salt and dirt can physically damage the fibers of a carpet because they are pushed down into the carpet with the weight of people walking on the carpet. If you vacuum regularly – like every day – you can remove the particles before the cause permanent damage to the carpet. When carpet is damaged, it can cause it to look permanently stained since the colour is less vibrant and the wear and tear is more obvious. Daily vacuuming, or even a couple times a week, will help keep your carpet looking its best.
Buy More Carpet
This might sound a little ridiculous, but it does have some merit behind it. If you purchase small foot mats for employees or guests to wipe their feet on, then the amount of salt transferred to the carpet in your store or office is minimized. Make sure you place signs asking people to wipe their feet, and make sure you shake the mats off outside regularly so that their isn’t a build up of salt and debris with traffic coming and going.
Hire a Professional
This doesn’t have to be done all the time, but once or twice a year hiring a professional carpet cleaner can really help. Some companies offer some protection options, almost like a sealant they would put over top of the carpet to help protect form stains. A professional will be able to get the carpets their cleanest, especially if they are able to offer some protection against salt stains after they clean it.
Up next – How often should you clean upholstery and furniture?