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Should Matting Be Replaced More Often in Winter?
Matting should be checked, cleaned and swapped more often in winter, and replaced as soon as it is worn, flattened or damaged. Winter puts more water, grit and footfall through entrance mats, so they wear and saturate faster. There is no set replacement date that suits every site, so decide by condition, not the calendar, and follow the manufacturer’s guidance.
The short why
A mat has a limited capacity. Once it is saturated, or its surface is flattened or full of grit, it stops drying feet, and the water goes onto your floor. In winter, that point comes sooner and more often.
Why does winter wear mats out faster?
Winter adds pressure from several directions at once:
- More water: rain and melted snow arrive on every pair of shoes, and mats reach their limit sooner
- More grit and mud: debris clogs the surface, so the mat stops scraping and absorbing
- More footfall at wet times: busy periods coincide with the wettest conditions
- More frequent cleaning: lifting, washing and drying add wear over time
A mat that coped well in summer can be close to the end of its useful life by the first cold month.
What is the difference between swapping, cleaning and replacing?
They are different jobs, and each has its own trigger:
- Cleaning: lifting the mat, clearing grit and washing or drying it, as the manufacturer advises
- Swapping: putting a dry mat down while a saturated one dries, if you have spares
- Replacing: retiring a mat that is flattened, frayed, curling, damaged or no longer absorbing
A saturated mat is not a worn-out mat, but it is not working either. Many sites need to swap during a wet spell without needing to replace anything.
Why isn’t “the mat is down” the same as “it’s controlled”?
This is the belief worth challenging. A mat on the floor and a sign beside it can feel like we have done our bit. But a worn or saturated mat controls nothing, and a sign only warns people that a hazard exists. It does not remove it.
Control means the mat is still doing its job today. A mat that looks fine from the doorway can be doing very little. A safe floor needs control, not just a sign, and not just a mat that happens to be there.
How do you tell when a mat needs replacing?
Use condition, not age. Warning signs include:
- The floor is wet beyond the mat even though the mat is large enough
- The surface is flattened, shiny or worn through
- The mat stays wet and does not dry, or smells damp
- Edges are curling, fraying or lifting, or a corner will not lie flat
- The mat moves underfoot, or the backing is damaged
- Grit stays embedded however often it is cleaned
A curling edge or a mat that moves is also a trip hazard, so damaged mats should come out of use promptly.
How does CHIMES help you decide?
The CHIMES framework shows what is driving each entrance’s matting needs:
- Contamination: how much water and grit arrives
- Heel: wet soles carry water further beyond the mat
- Individual: who is using the entrance, and what they are carrying
- Maintenance: how often mats are lifted, cleaned, dried and checked, and by whom
- Environment: whether the entrance is covered, and how long the walk is to the desk
- Surface: the floor beyond the mat, and its measured slip resistance when wet
Maintenance is where most sites fall down. At a busy venue, matting can fall between front of house, housekeeping and the cleaning contractor, so nobody owns it.
What about the floor beyond the mat?
A fresh mat does not tell you how much grip the floor has. Slip resistance is assessed using pendulum testing, the method preferred by the HSE and relied on in UK slip litigation. It produces a Pendulum Test Value (PTV), and a PTV of 36 or above is generally regarded as low slip potential. Below that, risk rises as the number falls. Test the zone beyond the mat, wet as well as dry.
Slip Safety Services has found that organisations who measure first and then act on what they find see a 57%+ average reduction in slip incidents, because the effort goes where the real risk sits. Where the floor tests poorly, a new mat will not fix it.
What to do about it
Agree who owns matting at each site, and set a simple routine for winter: check each entrance on wet days, swap saturated mats, clean on schedule and replace anything worn or damaged. Keep a few spare mats, if you can, so swapping is easy.
Then walk the route on a busy, wet day and note where the floor is still wet. If it is wet beyond a clean, dry mat, you need a larger or better mat, or the floor beyond it needs attention. Record what you find and when you checked. This is general information, not legal advice, so check what applies to your site with your health and safety adviser.
Next step
If you are not sure how your entrances would cope with the first wet week, the Slip Prevention Scorecard takes under four minutes per building and gives you a clear starting point, with a score for each of the six CHIMES factors. For the fuller method behind measuring, improving and proving floor grip, Slipology by Christian Harris covers the process in depth.
Related questions
- How much entrance matting do you actually need in winter?
- Winter entrance matting: what actually works?
- Do anti-slip mats work?
- What’s the biggest mistake facilities teams make preparing for winter?