We took the industry standard waffle pattern mat, a mat that you will see everywhere on the market, and put it to the test against our Oxford Elite for dirt retention.

Industry-Standard Waffle Pattern

The industry standard waffle pattern mat is sold by virtually every matting distributor—even Crown Matting Technologies with our Super-Soaker mat. This mat is classified as a scraper/wiper mat and is a heavy-duty needle-punched mat, which allows it to hold its waffle pattern.

The primary function of this mat is to scrape and wipe dirt and moisture and hold it within the wells below shoe level. While the functionality is appropriate in some applications, for high traffic areas that are subject to heavy dirt, holding the debris and moisture in the wells can cause issues.

The wells also raise a concern for the cleanability of the mats. Because the waffle pattern has elevated surfaces vacuums struggle to create a suction to remove the debris. In many cases to rid the mat of dirt, it must be carried outside and dumped. The waffle pattern mat is proven to hold up in demanding environments, however, when it comes to functionality there is a better option in the market.

Oxford Elite

The Oxford Elite is a loop pile scraper/wiper mat that is manufactured with a mix of abrasive and sturdy olefin fibers for a well-balanced wiping and scraping performance. This mat is exclusive to Crown Matting Technologies-you’re not going to find it anywhere else on the market.

Alike the waffle pattern mat, the primary function of this mat is to scrape and wipe dirt and moisture, however, the Oxford Elite is designed to trap the dirt within the matting fibers to prevent the dirt and debris from being pushed throughout the building.

The cleanability of this mat is much higher than the industry standard waffle pattern mat. This is because there are no raised wells in the Oxford Elite, which allows the vacuum to create a suction on the mat—enabling the vacuum to remove the encased dirt particles without having to dump the mat outside.

ThermoGrip

Oxford Elite also has our signature ThermoGrip backing, only offered by Crown. Our ThermoGrip technology is a one-of-a-kind backing that is made with BactiStop an antimicrobial agent that prevents the development of germs and mold underneath your entrance mat. ThermoGrip backing is a vinyl blended Nitrile rubber specially formulated to resist possible environmental damages caused by food sugar, oil, alcohol, etc. This backing also resists cracking in extreme temperatures and conditions. The ThermoGrip backing technology gives the mat a non-slip surface by utilizing the benefits of both nitrile rubber and vinyl compounds. It has been tested and approved by the NFSI certification.

Put to the Test

We put these two matting solutions to the test when it comes to dirt retention. We tested this by replicating the process of dirt and debris being wiped into the mat's surface — to give visual and physical evidence of what these two mats can accomplish.

We took remnant samples of each style of mat and exposed them to the same amount of sand, we worked the dirt similar to how someone would wipe their shoes upon entering the building. Then both mats were raised up to reveal the dirt retention capabilities of each mat.

The results were clear—the Oxford Elite held the majority of the sand when tipped upside down, while the majority of the sand that was on the waffle pattern fell off when tipped upside down.

To see the demonstration done by one of our very own Territorial Sales Mangers, Lynda Chudzinski, please visit our YouTube and watch our Mat Shorts- Oxford Elite video. Remember to hit subscribe to stay up to date on all our latest videos.