This winter in Wisconsin we have seen a lot of snow and as a result rock salt and calcium chloride have been destroying the florrs and carpets of businesses all over our state. Both rock salt (sodium chloride) and calcium chloride can damage your floors. Rock salt can leave a white residue that over time can dull the finish of your floors and cause the color to fade in your carpets. Calcium chloride when tracked into the office will coat your floors with an oily residue that damages wax and urethane finishes. It will also make your hard surface floors slippery which can put employees at risk for slip and fall injuries. Calcium Chloride will also degrade your carpets by wearing out carpet fibers and attracting dirt. Taking all of this into consideration I highly recommend rock salt as the better option for the long term maintenance costs you may incur with calcium chloride. Here are three tips to help maintain your floors of your business over the long winter months in Wisconsin.
1) People tend to think using more "salt" will be more effective. But its quite the contrary, using too much ice melt will actually make it less effective and will result in more rock salt and sodium chloride being tracked into your business or facility.
You will want to apply an even coating after all shoveling and plowing has been completed. Putting too much ice melt down before snow will not melt the snow resulting in people tracking in both snow and ice melt.
2) Sweep it up with a push broom. Once all the snow has melted it is important to remove the rock salt from outside your business. If you let it sit more rock salt and will be tracked into your building or space. After the snow has melted pieces the remaining rock salt will not dissolve. When stuck on people’s shoes the pieces can scratch and embed themselves in hardwood floors as well as tear carpet fibers. If this is done too often the damage is sometimes not repairable with standard cleaning and maintenance, so it is important to keep up on it.
3) Regular washings especially after a snowfall. You should have your floors washed to remove any and all rock salt. It's especially important to have your floors washed in the high traffic areas to protect both your floors and your employees. This can sometimes be a tedious task depending on what kind of hard surface material, finish, and amount of snowfalls, but I assure you it is well worth it in the long run.
1) People tend to think using more "salt" will be more effective. But its quite the contrary, using too much ice melt will actually make it less effective and will result in more rock salt and sodium chloride being tracked into your business or facility.
You will want to apply an even coating after all shoveling and plowing has been completed. Putting too much ice melt down before snow will not melt the snow resulting in people tracking in both snow and ice melt.
2) Sweep it up with a push broom. Once all the snow has melted it is important to remove the rock salt from outside your business. If you let it sit more rock salt and will be tracked into your building or space. After the snow has melted pieces the remaining rock salt will not dissolve. When stuck on people’s shoes the pieces can scratch and embed themselves in hardwood floors as well as tear carpet fibers. If this is done too often the damage is sometimes not repairable with standard cleaning and maintenance, so it is important to keep up on it.
3) Regular washings especially after a snowfall. You should have your floors washed to remove any and all rock salt. It's especially important to have your floors washed in the high traffic areas to protect both your floors and your employees. This can sometimes be a tedious task depending on what kind of hard surface material, finish, and amount of snowfalls, but I assure you it is well worth it in the long run.