Why is the soil around a chair mat so hard to remove? Why is the carpet under a chair mat lighter in color?

Above are before/after photos of a recent cleaning job removing soil around an office desk and chair mat by Deep Impact Professional Carpet Cleaners in New Jersey.

Chair mats are usually a clear thick plastic sheet with cleats on the underside to prevent delamination and excessive wear on carpet where a desk chair is used. Chair mats will extend the life of carpet by spreading out the pressure from the chair casters; in fact, many carpet manufacturers void their warranty when a chair with casters is used without a chair mat.

Carpet around the outside edge of a chair mat is often heavily soiled where the chair casters have rolled off the mat onto the carpet.

Additionally, the carpet under the mat often looks much lighter and cleaner than outside the area because:

1. It has never been soiled.
2. Soil filtration has occurred on the rest of the carpet, but the chair mat has prevented it under the chair mat.
3. Sunlight plus volatile plasticizers in the mat may have lightly bleached the carpet under the chairmat.

To break these soil fiber bonds and rinse the soil away, you must:

1. Apply Citrus APS™ Spotter to stained fibers.
2. Agitate the treated areas gently but thoroughly.
3. Thoroughly hot water extraction with PCA™ Formula 5.
4. Crevice Tools are sometimes best used with the spotter and extractor to remove this difficult soil.
5. If a visible discoloration remains that resists treatment, apply Urine Stain Remover or Stain Magic^® 2-Part Stain Remover in a trigger or pump sprayer.
6. Apply ARA Anti-Resoiling / Anti-Wicking Agent, Bane-Guard™ or Teflon^® Advanced to retard future accumulation of soil.

Related Soil Filtration Information:

• Soil Filtration Lines