By Bill Luallen
When I’m out in the field or teaching an IICRC course, I often ask a simple question: “What is your most effective and efficient piece of cleaning equipment?” They usually point to a high-end rider scrubber or a truck-mount extractor.
My answer? The building’s walk-off system.
If you think of your building as a living organism, the walk-off system is the immune system. It’s the gatekeeper. Its job is to catch the “viruses”—the sand, silica, oils, and moisture—before they ever reach the important part of the building: the flooring.
The Evolution of the Entryway
While we often focus on the maintenance of these systems, we must first address their design. Luke Bosek, VP of Matter Surfaces, emphasizes that the foundation of a clean building starts much earlier than most realize:
“The entryway is one of the most overlooked yet critical spaces in a building. While a comprehensive entrance system should be considered early in the design process, it is often under-built or misaligned with the level of foot traffic the space ultimately receives. When this happens, retrofitting becomes the next line of defense.”
Fortunately, the industry has moved beyond the “one-size-fits-all” mentality. As Bosek notes, building teams are no longer limited to temporary, lightweight mats. Today’s systems offer virtually unlimited flexibility in size, configuration, and customization.
The Anatomy of a Proper System
A truly effective system isn’t just a single mat thrown inside the door. To properly protect a facility, you need a Three-Zone Approach:
- Zone 1 (Exterior): Scraper mat to remove heavy soil and debris.
- Zone 2 (Vestibule): Scrub mat to trap fine particles and begin moisture absorption.
- Zone 3 (Interior): Wipe mat to dry the soles of shoes as much as possible.
The industry standard suggests 15 to 18 feet of matting to remove 85% to 95% of soil. If you only have a 3-foot mat, you’re essentially asking for the most expensive finish in your building—your carpet, resilient, or hard surface flooring—to do work they are not designed to do.
Expert Insight: The Critical Role of Walk-Off Material
Andy Bayler, a maintenance and care specialist at Tarkett, reinforces the necessity of these systems, noting that they are the primary barrier against facility contamination:
“Walk-off material plays a critical role in maintaining the cleanliness and appearance of a commercial building. The majority of soil and moisture entering a facility is tracked in on footwear, and on wheels of carts and equipment. Without an effective entrance flooring system, contaminants quickly spread throughout the building.
Properly maintained walk-off material serves as the building’s first and best opportunity to stop soil and moisture at the entrance before they can migrate throughout the facility. Regular vacuuming and periodic restorative cleaning are essential to maintain the effectiveness and appearance of the system over time. Systems that can provide seamless or welded seam integration to adjoining surfaces will prevent moisture and contamination from migrating into the subfloor where bigger problems can be caused. Materials that are designed to remove and trap dirt and moisture at the entrance help reduce maintenance demands, extend flooring life, and support a cleaner, safer environment throughout the building.”
The “Saturated Sponge” Effect
The biggest mistake I see isn’t just the lack of a walk-off system; it’s the lack of maintenance on it.
Think of a walk-off mat like a sponge. A sponge can only hold so much water before it starts pushing it back out. When a mat becomes saturated with dry soil (sand and grit), it ceases to be a filter and becomes a soil distributor.
In my classes, I explain that everything in life seeks equilibrium: hot moves to cold, wet moves to dry, and areas with lots of soil move to areas with little soil. Once that walk-off matting is full, the soil will migrate into the building and across surfaces not designed to handle the hardness of sand and silica.
The Adverse Effects of Neglect
When we ignore the maintenance of these systems, we trigger a domino effect of facility failures:
- Accelerated “Ugly-Out”: When grit escapes the mat, it scratches carpet fibers and creates traffic lanes. On resilient flooring, sand (a 6-7 on the MOHs scale) easily scratches factory urethane coatings (a 3 on the scale).
- Safety Risks (Slip/Fall): A saturated mat doesn’t absorb moisture. On a rainy day, that moisture tracks onto the hard surface immediately following the mat, creating a “slip-and-slide” zone.
- Poor Indoor Air Quality (IAQ): Fine particulates that aren’t vacuumed out of the mating become airborne every time someone walks over them.
- Increased Costs: You’ll find yourself using more aggressive chemistry and more frequent restorative cleanings on your primary flooring just to keep up with the soil load.
Bottom Line: The Measurable Impact
Maintenance and proper design aren’t just about appearance; they are about asset preservation. As Luke Bosek points out, the benefits of a high-performance entryway are now quantifiable:
“The impact of a well-designed entry system is now measurable. Effective solutions reduce cleaning time, maintenance costs, extend the life of the interior flooring, and help mitigate one of the most common sources of workplace injuries: slips, trips, and falls.”
If you want to save money, don’t look at your cleaning budget—look at your entryway. Deep vacuum your mats daily (slow passes with a high-quality vacuum). Schedule regular low-moisture or extraction cleanings to remove the oils and deep-seated grit.
It doesn’t just start at the front door; don’t forget the exterior care of your sidewalks and parking lots. If you take care of your walk-off system, I promise you the rest of your building will be a whole lot easier to manage.
