Have you ever thought about the number of people who pass through your building entrance every day? How about how many times a day someone walked in or out of your building or facility?
Entrances must be one of the busiest and most frequented places in a building. Still, they are most neglected, as companies and organizations tend to underestimate the importance of entrances.
First Impressions Are Crucial
The first thing people see when going to a store or a company is the entrance. As with meeting new people, it is important to leave the right impression.
This does not only apply only to potential clients or customers, but to employees as well. The building entrance is the very first thing they see when going to work. The building can either inspire them or leave a gloomy feel.
But not only that. As one of the busiest spots in a facility, they affect the level of hygiene of the entire place. If proper mats are used at the entrance, and in turn reduce cleaning expenses.
Interested in a wide range of our mat solutions? Contact us at Alsco.
Common Entrance Mistakes And How To Avoid Them
If you are looking to improve the level of hygiene in your building and reduce cleaning costs, the most obvious place to start with is the entrance.
Here are some of the more common mistakes made in connection with maintaining building entrances. Use the list to avoid these mistakes and ensure cleaner and more presentable workplace:
1. Not Keeping The Outside Area Clean
People’s shoes are actually the source of more than 90% of dirt that ends up in carpets. No wonder then why keeping the exteriors clean is crucial to maintaining the interior cleanliness.
Many establishments do not keep their immediate outside area clean enough. This includes the pavement, the parking area, and other exterior places where people usually pick up dirt and dust, which eventually ends up inside, increasing the costs of cleaning and maintenance.
2. Not Providing Adequate Entrance Mats
Think of entrance mats as the very first line of defense against dirt and dust. If they are inadequate or of poor quality, you will, in all likelihood, lose the first battle in keeping your establishment clean and your cleaning costs low.
Due to high foot traffic, you need to make sure that your entrances are equipped with mats that will protect the floor and control the dust. With a minimum length of 20 feet, an adequate entrance mat should be highly-absorbent and specifically designed to capture dirt and moisture, preventing them from entering an establishment.
3. Not Vacuuming Daily
Even if you take every precaution to prevent dirt and dust entering your establishment, some will always pass through. This is why regular vacuuming of the establishment, especially its entrance and entrance mats, is a must in keeping the area clean.
However, this necessity is usually overlooked, and many establishments fail to vacuum, not just their entrances but their whole interior on a daily basis. This, in turn, leads to building up of dirt and dust, making it more difficult and expensive to clean.
Keep your eyes on those areas that get a great deal of traffic and make sure that your entrance is vacuumed every day.
4. Not Using Pile Lifter Vacuum Cleaners
You might succeed in ensuring daily vacuuming of your establishment, but if heavy-duty vacuum cleaners, such as pile lifters, are not used, entrance mats will not be properly maintained.
The best solution to removing dry dirt trapped in a mat or a carpet is to use pile lifter vacuums. They are regularly used in high-traffic areas to reach the base of the carpet fibers and remove embedded soil and dry grainy matter. Although the purchase of a pile lifter may seem like an expensive investment, it is a necessity for heavy-traffic establishments that will prove to be cost-effective in the long run.
5. Not Focusing On Heavy-Traffic Areas
Instead of cleaning all the floors in a building every day, it is more effective to focus on those areas that get more traffic. In a building with multiple floors, daily cleaning can prove to be extremely time-consuming, which in turn can leave less or no time needed for daily maintenance of entrances.
While wall to wall cleaning should be performed occasionally, it is more useful to focus on entrances for daily vacuuming as they get a great deal of traffic and can filter out most of dirt and dust.
6. Not Vacuuming Lift Floors
Cleaning lift doors is important for preventing dirt and dust spreading to upper floors. This is why they should be cleaned at least once every week.
Another great idea would be to have the lift floors carpeted so they can trap dust and dirt. Dry cleaning these carpets would mean that it would have a quick turnaround.
7. Not Replacing Entrance Mats Regularly
High foot traffic results in heavy use of entrance mats. Companies tend to over-extend the use of entrance mats. That means mats are regularly used even when they no longer serve their purpose due to their worn-out condition.
Over-extending the life of an entrance mat is never the right decision in the long run because it can lead to increased cleaning costs. This is why you should see to it that your entrance mats are regularly replaced so they can be most effective.
8. Not Maintaining The Cleaning Equipment Properly
Inadequately maintained equipment significantly reduces efficiency. This means that more time and effort are needed to clean a particular area. This is why proper maintenance and cleaning of the equipment should be a priority at all times.
Now that are you familiar with some of the more common mistakes made in maintaining and cleaning entrances, you should start working on how to avoid them in your own workplace.
Learn how you can try out Alsco’s floor mats for free to ensure a cleaner and safer workplace. Enquire now!
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons by Herry Lawford
