By Jim Flieler, Vice President of Sales North America

Up here in Canada, the winter means cold, wet weather that gets tracked inside. If you have carpeting in your facility then you know that this time of year gets messy. Over the years we’ve refined a system to help prepare facility carpeting to withstand even the harshest Canadian winters. Follow these X tips to get your carpeting ready for the worst.

Give your matting a refresh

Winter may officially begin on December 22 every year, but by the end of November you should be ordering your preventive matting. Preventive matting is going to be key to your winter carpet care program and here’s why. 80 percent of all the soil that ends up on your carpeting comes from the outside. In the winter, that includes salt. You will want to have at least 15 feet of matting at all entrances and exits throughout your facility. If your matting looks thin or worn, you’ll need to replace it before winter really sets in. The best most proactive floor care regimen will include daily washing of all matting. 

Invest in a haze remover

Ice melt is a nasty substance that will get tracked into your facility and leave streaks on your carpeting. It is also a slip-and-fall hazard. I recommend adding a neutral haze remover to your carpet care regimen during the winter months. Add it to your existing floor care equipment to get rid of the streaks left by salt and ice melt and to keep your carpets and preventive matting looking fresh and clean all winter long.

Vacuum daily

In other seasons you can possibly get away with vacuuming weekly but during the winter you really should be prepared to vacuum carpeted areas daily. It is recommended that you use a vacuum with a HEPA filter that traps particles to help protect your building’s air quality. This is especially important this winter as infection prevention continues to be a top priority. Make sure you add daily vacuuming of all carpeted areas to your winter standard operating procedures and look for ways to make vacuuming more ergonomic for your cleaning workers, like finding the right extensions and considering backpack vacuums when possible.

Increase all your carpet cleaning frequencies

Hot water extraction is a powerful way to deep clean carpets and remove impurities like bacteria, viruses, soil, dirt, ice melt and more. During the winter months this can be performed weekly in high-traffic carpeted areas. When paired with daily vacuuming weekly hot water extraction will keep even the most well-worn carpets looking clean and fresh.

Train your employees

Winter carpet care means doing more, more often. Now is the perfect time to re-train your employees on best carpet care practices. Our brand new state-of-the-art Jim Flieler Training Facility is available for in-person or virtual training sessions. This 10,000 square foot training center is available for free to our distributors, their customers and others in the industry who value education. Our recording studio, conference room, real-life scenario demo rooms, state-of-the-art equipment and training experts are all available free of charge to help you tailor your training program to the specific needs of your workers. Contact marketing@charlotteproducts.com to schedule a tour, customize your on-site or virtual training session or to learn more about the options available to you.