How to Prevent Salt Stains on Carpets
Winter weather means snow, ice, slush and salt – all of which can end up on your facility’s floors! While the right ice melt is critical to preventing slip and fall injuries, unfortunately it frequently gets tracked into buildings and can quickly stain carpets and floors. We’ve all seen the white, chalky residue caused by ice melter in the winter. Let’s tackle two of the most common winter floor care challenges – daily maintenance and how to remove salt stains from carpets.
Daily Winter Floor Care Cleaning
The key to successful winter floor cleaning is increased frequency to prevent stains in the first place! Here’s what you can do:
- Vacuum and mop more frequently. High-traffic entryways should be mopped every two hours to prevent slipping hazards. Sweeping and vacuuming should be done at least once a day to prevent small stones and ice melt particles from scratching floors.
- Clean your cleaning tools. As you use them more often, cleaning tools will need to be cleaned more often, too! Be sure cleaners regularly are trained to regularly change mop water and use dry microfibre or heavy-duty wet mops that’ll pick up excess moisture.
How to Remove Salt Stains from Floors and Carpet
Ice melts are alkaline, meaning that they have a pH balance higher than seven. In order to remove salt stains caused by ice melt, special cleaning chemistries are required to neutralize them. Follow the steps below to remove salt stains on any surface:
- Vacuum the area to remove any ice melt particles.
- Apply Dustbane’s Film Away* to salt residue using the dilution rates below.
- Heavy film on equipment: Dilute at 1:40 and spray liberally over equipment surfaces, then rinse immediately with clean water.
- Daily damp mopping: Dilute at 1:80 and apply liberally with a mop, then rinse immediately with clean water while making sure to wring mop out frequently.
- Carpet stains: Dilute at 1:120 in carpet extraction equipment and be sure not to use a hot solution or mix the product with any other chemical.
If salt stains are a major concern in your facility, it may be time to reevaluate your floor matting program. The right outdoor and entrance matting will catch excess dirt, debris, salt and liquid to minimize damage to floors.
Not sure where to start with your floor cleaning program? Start with the right cleaning products! Dustbane’s Film Away* brings floors and carpets back to life! This neutral detergent works on both floors and carpets to remove residue left behind from floor strippers, ice melter and hard water buildup – extending the life of your flooring.
Looking for a customized cleaning solution for your facility? Talk to our team to get started!
*If you require a more accessible version of this PDF, please contact us and we will be happy to provide it.