Whether you are a home cook who spends quality time prepping and cooking and cleaning, or you are a professional chef in a certain restaurant, you need a Novaform anti-fatigue kitchen mat. This is a godsend mat that will keep your body comfortable and away from suffering the pain and aches associated with long hours of standing.
However, just as you can imagine, these mats can get really dirty sometimes. The surface is constantly marred with food spills, dishwater, and general dirt from the surrounding area. The thought of cleaning it baffles it, right? Relax!
These mats are made from mostly rubber, encased gel, and rubber which makes them easy to clean and also can be cleaned using a washing machine. You will just have to resort to an effective and old-fashioned method of cleaning. You’ll need:
- Broom
- Dustpan
- Bathtub or bucket
- Dish soap
- Warm water
- Pitcher or garden hose
- Stiff-bristle plastic scrub brush
Here Are The Instructions
Start With a Quick But Thorough Sweep
Before adding water to the mat, sweep the mat clean. Get the broom and the dustpan and sweep away all the crumbs, dust, and dirt. You can also shake the mat above the trash can or outside. You do this to remove any solid debris before cleaning.
Make a Soapy Bath
After the mat is clean, your next task is making a soapy bath! You will do this in the bucket or the tub. Add your warm water in it. After that, add a few squirts of dish soap to the water. Mix the two to combine. Actually, if the weather is favorable and you are not worried about some splashing, you can take your cleaning outside.
Scrub The Mat Thoroughly
Here is where the plastic scrub brush comes into play. Use it to work the soapy water into your mat. Do this in some circular motions. For the best results possible, do the circular motions a few inches at a time.
Do this for several minutes until you see to it that all the stains and spots have been washed away and the mat is clean.
Your mat might have some holes in it. Pay extra attention to those. This is where much of the dirt and grease build-up.
Rinse Your Mat
This mainly depends on the resources that you have at your disposal as well as the size of the kitchen mat that you are cleaning. After you thoroughly scrub your mat, you are supposed to get rid of the detergent by rinsing. To do this, spray the mat with the hose.
You have to run it under warm, but not hot, water. Do this at the highest possible pressure. You can also consider using a pitcher-and-bucket combination. It also bears the same results.
After you are done rinsing, counter-check and confirm if all the grime and dirt have been removed and washed away. Confirm that the soap is no longer there too!
Get Your Mat To Dry
Air drying is the most appropriate way to do this since dryers could destroy the mat. Allow it to do so for a significant amount of time.
The best way to leave them out to dry is by laying them flat right after you are done cleaning. It will not take so long, as the material that makes it does not absorb the water, and therefore they dry fast.
Before taking your mat back to the kitchen again, confirm that the mat is totally dry. You do not want a scenario where moisture has been trapped in between the mat and the floor, do you? This moisture can cause mildew and mold, and that is the last thing you would want to find in your kitchen.
Before you get down to clean your mat, ensure that you have gone through the manual so that you can be assured of the method working. The odds favorite it working are extremely high, but it is always worth it and good to check!
As we have seen, the mats do not require complex cleaning and maintenance. However, you want the best results, don’t you?
Consider The Following Tips.
Grease and oil spills on the mat are generally dangerous. Actually, statistics show that in the United States alone, there are more than four million slip and fall accidents that occur in the foodservice industry. Even though some of the accidents are caused by other causes, some are caused by oil build-up and grease.
Therefore, if the mat has some grease or oil on its surface, you can use a degreaser with hot water. The temperature of the water while doing this should not go past one hundred and forty degrees Fahrenheit.
- For your mat to last longer and in good condition, you can clean them at least once a week. This will prevent the grease and other debris from damaging the surface of the mat.
- Do not fold your mat. If you have to store them, leave them out flat on the rack.
- Since the mats don’t require aggressive cleaning and drying techniques, you do not need mechanical intervention, such as mechanical scrubbing.
- Let the entire cleaning last not more than twenty minutes.
- It is not advisable to use high pH chemicals, alkalis, bleach, or solvents. This is because such materials can damage the mat surface. A detergent that exceeds 9.5 pH level should be avoided at all costs.
- For your mat to last longer and maintain quality, brush off the dirt and grime that accumulates daily.
Cleaning your Novafarm kitchen mat is an easy task. However, it is also key to making the mat last as long as possible. The above instructions and tips will help you to get the most out of the mat. You have one job, follow them carefully, and you will be good to go.
