Office mats

[White Collar]

Ok, so those floor protectors that people place in offices and roll the chair around on.
Anyways, I'm guessing that it's filtration soiling that happens around them, right? Is there any product That would get that clean? I tried everything yesterday and it would not come up!

 

[Larry B]

You sure your messing with a filtration problem and not just damaged fibers from chairs rolling on and off the plastic mat?

 

[White Collar]

No I'm not sure. I think those mats have beendown for a long time. These peopleare just moving into the house.
I have had problems with these mats that I dint believe is damage. Just very dark around the edges and I can never seem to get them clean. Hate those darn mats.

 

[Derek]

probably is damage like Larry said.

a 200# person rolling around on 5 wheels that cover less than a square inch each = alot of pressure on the carpet...it just grinds the soil into the fibers making it difficult to clean. permanent damage soon occurs that cant be cleaned away. it is amazing how many companies don't invest in chair mats. they can't think far enough forward to see the benefit.

 

[jcooper]

Next time you give a commercial estimate. Make sure you let them know - they should be moving the chair mat a few inches(even an inch), every few months. This way it's more blended and easier for us to fix.


Filtration soiling is what happens under a door or along walls. When doing walk through tell client if the see a dark line under doorway to keep door open more often. The carpet filters out the dust and debris. Not really going to happen in a commercial setting.

 

[ACE]

It may not clean up 100%.

I would spray down some high butyl degreaser and give the area a good scrub.

 

[sweendogg]

Some of you guys need to re read the friggin post.

That being said, its not damage to the carpet if they are keeping the chairs on the mats.. If they don't then you have mulitple problems. But I see it all the time when chairs never leave the mat. It is soiling and to an extend could be linked with filtration soiling in my opinion. You kinda have a double edged effect going on.

First of all of the oily soils around the carpet get tracked on to the mat just like hard surface but there is no where for that soiling to go but right back on the carpet. You also have all of the shoe dirt being loosened up on the mats. Add to that the very very fine plastic debris from the bottom of the casters and you have three sources of soiling that get tracked right off onto carpet at the edges.

The other side of that is the fact that all carpet fades to an extent. things that change the rate of fade will include light sources.. (even florecent lighting), the rate of off gassing and air flow around the carpet and foot traffic. The mats provide protection against direct light exposure, they trap air flow and moisture, and they prevent foot traffic.

Combine these scenarios with the build up of soil which over time can oxidize slowly and discolor carpets, and you have a unsightly lines and sometimes will come up if its just soiling or sometimes because the rate of fade is different will never catch up.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

The transition area from mat to carpet, from 1/4" to 1/2" wide, also never gets completely vacuumed to the degree other high traffic areas can be.

Yes they get "done", but like the slight depression around the edges of tackstripped rooms, the vacuuming isn't as effective because of the drop off.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

If its the plastic carpet the fibers might be scratched and damage so they dont refract the light the same way and will always look dingy. There should be no airflow under those mats so it not filtration just soil build up.

Either way pre-qualification of the job is step number uno.

 

[encapman]

Most of the time we're able to remove the transition line by scrubbing the mess out of it with the Cimex and Releasit. Normally the transition disappears, or is at least brought to an acceptable appearance level. Just make a few extra passes along the transition line and it generally looks pretty decent.

But what I really hate about those mats is moving them in the first place. There's never a good place in the office to stash them. They usually have a corner of the mat stuck under their computer, a desk, or a file cabinet. If the mats are old, they tend to crack or break apart when you try to move them. And the pointy things underneath them can slice up your hands and arms if you're not careful. Plus you can't put 'em back down until the carpet is dry. So we got to the point where we'd tell the customer that they're responsible for moving them (we don't want to be liable for moving desks and computers, etc), or we can just clean around them. Nine times out of ten they just tell us to clean around them. Works for me!

 

[Lee Stockwell]

I've bought a few by playing hero. Do what Rick said.

If you DO move them they can slide behind a file cabinet in many cases.