The Nature of Those Scary Dark Traffic Lines

Last week we cleaned the carpet at an education center which had commercial carpet installed as if it were residential. In other words it was stretched into place, wall-to-wall onto tack strip, so it was free floating over padding. The result was what they wanted, a softer surface to walk on which is very durable.

What they did not realize was that by adding that pad it added years to this asset’s useful life!

1. That pad adds enough space so that you get good airflow. The “normal” maintenance efforts (vacuuming, steam cleaning) are effective and as a result, much better than with a regular commercial installation (glue-down on concrete).
2. Furthermore, the traffic lanes that develop in time will be very slow to develop and may be nonexistent! That pad absorbs much of the force exerted by your feet as you walk across the carpet.

Bottom line… that extra expense in adding padding is a huge benefit. A real cost savings in the long-run.

Obviously many commercial settings do not have a choice in carpet. The property is probably leased. Or maybe carpeting was never given much thought. The square footage of carpet needed was so costly, adding padding to that figure was never seriously considered. Whatever the reason…what should you do with glue-down commercial carpet?
The take-away from the story above is that  traffic lanes will appear on commercial glue-down installations quickly. The reason for this is that there is no padding to absorb the pounding of foot traffic.

First, you must understand the nature of traffic lanes and why they appear so dark. Two reasons: dirt and apparent dirt. Remember that everything you see is reflected light, and that includes traffic lanes. You can clean away the dirt pretty easily, but the wear can never be cleaned. That wear is what creates apparent dirt (scratched and crushed carpet fibers reduce light reflection) and the resulting dark traffic lane can never be “cleaned” away by anyone.

Therefore cleaning and maintenance efforts need to address traffic lanes and extend the good appearance of this asset. Here are three tips:

1. Frequent vacuuming will remove loose surface particulates. Although your glue-down installation compromises good airflow, extracting those loose surface particles can be accomplished and should be done daily. Otherwise, you’re essentially applying sandpaper to your carpet as people walk across it. They grind the dirt in and without padding that apparent dirt is generated veryquickly. 
2. Use Chair mats. The chairs’ wheels will crush and wear a circular pattern into the carpet.
3. Use Carpeted runners or mats. At every outside entrance or transitions from work areas to office area. Also areas where employees may frequently stand, i.e. printer, copier, coffee, etc.

Accept the fact that the typical glue-down installation of commercial carpet creates greater wear and tear on the carpet. Employ the three tips presented above and extend the useful life of this asset.