Chair mats always come handy to protect the most expensive and amazingly beautiful floors we have in offices or homes. The perfect carpets that match the best of our interiors hence sometimes even adding to the interiors. Chair mats can help you protect the wear and tears to your carpets or the slid marks on your hard floors. Some of the chair mats even can reduce the sounds hence, they can act as a good sound absorbent. It is perfect to have chair mats for your places because it comes with great benefits.

However, chair mats after a while might smell or get dirty due to the constant usage. If you keep the chair mats in offices, due to regular stepping of shoes on them might bring dirt. Also, the dust from the atmosphere may just get settled on it if they are being used for longer durations. We come up with the method to help you out keep your chair mats last long just like new one. The chair mats might turn yellow due to the usage of them for a long time without a wash.

Cleaning chair mats is a very easy task and could be performed by yourself or by anyone you could hire. All you need to know is how to do it perfectly. Here, we are, to help you out with the same. We have compiled the process into steps for you to easily follow them.

Steps to clean chair mats

STEP 1:

Get some mild soap from the store, it could be the one you use for regularly washing your clothes or you can also have the once specially dedicated to clean the mats. Mix the mild soap with warm water. It is advisable to use warm water rather than cold water because cold water might just not be able to act on the stuck dirt very well. Avoid using hot water, this may lead to damage of your chair mat. The reason is that they are made of the polycarbonate materials, cannot bear very high temperatures. This is also one of the reasons it is advisable not to keep your chair mats at places where there is direct sunlight.

STEP 2:

Use a damp cloth to apply the soap solution on both sides of the mats. You can also use a small brush to do the cleaning but make sure that the brush is not very hard or doesn’t have poky ends. It might cause damage to your chair mats otherwise. Use a soft brush to clean the lower portion of the chair mat, especially if you have one with spikes at the lower portion to keep your mat in place. It is very necessary to remove the dirt that gets between the spikes of the mat. They lead to a foul smell later on.

STEP 3:

Once you are done removing all the dirt and applying soap, rinse off the soap along with dirt carefully. You should be careful about the pressure you use to throw water for rinsing, the water pressure should be low else the holding capacity of the mats may decrease. It is advisable to use warm water for doing this too.

STEP 4:

It is very necessary to dry the chair mat properly. If the chair mats don’t dry completely then they might stink or change color over the time. Also, one must take care that these chair mats shouldn’t be dried in sunlight. You should not hang the chair mats. Place the washed wet chair mats over a dry cloth. You should avoid putting the wet mats in drier. Once all the soaked water is off, you should keep the chair mats at least one day before you use them again.

STEP 5:

Before placing the chair mats back to their place you need to ensure the following to keep your place tidy and healthy:

• Clean the legs of the chair properly. You can use a dry and damp cloth with a little warm water and soap for the same. Remember that you should also clean all the dirt stuck in the chair wheels before placing the mats beneath them. You can use various brushes for doing this.
• Make sure that the carpet or the floor is clean enough. Once you place the chair mat, it will be days that the portion below them would be cleaned. So, make sure that you get it cleaned before placing the mat.
• Ensure that the mats have dried completely.

STEP 6:

Hurray!! The process is complete. You can now use the chair mats as before. Place the chair mats on their positions back. Make sure that the dust from their upper surface is at least removed regularly. This helps to reduce the duration needed between two consecutive washes.

Additional Help:

Just to help you out, you should ensure that the places where these chair mats are placed should not have very high temperatures. Neither they should have very low temperatures. Avoid using the mats in sunlight. Doing this leads to the inappropriate behavior of the mats. It as well reduces the life of the mats.

Do Rolling Chairs Damage Carpet?

Yes, rolling chairs do damage carpet. Sharp-edged rolling chair’s caster wheel can cause damage to your beautiful carpet. When you roll the chair on the carpet, the sharp edges of some caster wheels cut the pile on the carpet, this reduces the softness and life of the carpet.

How To Protect Carpet From Damage By Rolling Chairs?

Flooring adds a substantial value to your houses and offices, and rolling chair wheels damage these floors. To avoid these damages, you can use either rolling chairs with carpet friendly caster wheels or chair mats for carpet.

1. Using Caster Wheels

The casters of many chairs are made up of low-quality materials that damage your expensive flooring. Some companies designed specific caster wheels to save the carpets. The floor friendly caster wheels are covered with rubber-like, polyurethane material which keeps the floors safe from the sharp edges. These casters come in two styles: roller-blade and traditional style.

In rollerblade style, the caster wheels do not have any sharp edges and hence do not damage the carpet. These caster wheels roll very smoothly in minimum effort. These soft roller-blade tiers have high tear resistance and high tensile properties which makes them extremely durable. These casters have swivel head i.e. they allow rotation of 360 degrees. The swivel action depends on bearings, shapes of the wheels, and lubrication. Rollerblade-style casters have a single narrow circular surfaced wheel which is way easier to swivel then a traditional two-wheel caster. In rollerblade style, Office Oasis Caster Wheels are the best caster wheels.

Whereas in traditional style, the caster has two wheels which are covered by polyurethane material which never harms hardwood floors, laminate, carpets, any tile, or slate. The rubber-like polyurethane covers the sharp edges of the wheel to prevent damage to the floors. It creates proper friction for rolling and prevents scratches on floors. These casters are also swivel-head type caster wheels, however, these are not as smooth as the rollerblade caster wheels because of the wider shape of two combined wheels. In traditional casters, Zitriom Office Chair Casters are best.

2. Using Chair Mats

Some people use chair mats (polycarbonate mats) to protect Their floors from wear and tear of the rolling chairs. Chair mats are clear, rigid mats that provide a smooth rolling surface for chairs on carpets and hardwood floors.

Hard floors like hardwood floors, tile floors, concrete floors, etc can be protected by similar types of chair mat, but, if you are using carpets on your floor, then you need to use different types of the chair mat. You should use chair mats with spikes your carpets. Carpets have piles and so it is not possible to use a textured surface to resist skidding. Spikes, on the other side, can help to keep the chair mat in its place because they are deep enough in the pile to hold the chair mat. The thickness of the mat also depends upon the size of the pile. If you have a pile carpeting on your floor with large piles then you will need a thick mat and if you have a carpet with small piles then you will need a thinner chair mat. You can choose your chair mat from best chair mats.

Conclusion

You can use either of the solutions to keep your floor safe from wear and tear of rolling chair. If you are using office chair mats, then you do not need to use carpet friendly caster wheels; and if you are using carpet friendly caster wheels then there is no need of chair mats.