The Many Benefits of Nitrile Rubber Backing on Floor Mats

History:

Before World War II, most of the rubber used in the world came from rubber trees, mainly in South America. Once the war started, however, supplies got scarce and could not be depended on. As a result, engineers and scientists were tasked with developing a synthetic rubber alternative. The result was nitrile rubber.

Applications:

Nitrile rubber has many applications. It is used in the automotive and aeronautical industry to make seals, grommets, fuel and oil handling hoses and self-sealing fuel tanks and also in the nuclear industry to make protective gloves. It is an ideal material for aeronautical applications. Nitrile butadiene is also used to produce adhesives, sealants, expanding foams, sponges, footwear, and floor mats.

Benefits:

Nitrile rubber is stable at a high range of temperatures from -40 to 226°F. The product is very resilient, making it harder to puncture or tear than natural rubber, or other material. Also, nitrile rubber is less likely to cause an allergic reaction than natural rubber products.

Nitrile Rubber in the matting industry:

One of the key benefits of nitrile rubber is that it makes the mat "high wear" resistant. Building owners and managers are unlikely to find this level of wear resistance with cheap mats or mats that are rented.

Because nitrile rubber can withstand a wide range of temperatures, mats that are made with it do not become brittle in harsh weather. They continue to keep soil and moisture from entering facilities in even the coldest conditions. It is also more resistant to heat than natural rubber, making it more effective in commercial kitchens, for instance, where hot items may find their way on to the rubber.

It has a high chemical resistance. This makes it suitable to installations where chemicals are used. It is also resistant to fuel, oil, and water. This means that these elements will not harm the mat, allowing the mat to continue performing as designed in wherever environment the mat is installed.

The material is highly abrasion resistant. This resilience makes matting manufactured with nitrile rubber optimal for tough environments. The technology makes it difficult to tear or puncture the mat, allowing for heavy foot traffic.

The durability of the material helps prevent the mat from curling at the edges—a common fault of rental mats. Additionally, it aids in adhering the mat to the floor and protects against sliding. Both benefits promote safety by helping to prevent slip-and-fall accidents.

Nitrile rubber has some very specific benefits for matting solutions, which is why Crown Matting Technologies uses this type of rubber as the backing of many of its most popular floor mats, such as the Marathon, Triathlon, Oxford Elite, and Dust-Star mats.

Furthermore, Crown manufactures floor mats with ThermoGrip technology. This is a vinyl nitrile rubber blend, designed to be oil resistant and prevent the growth of germs and bacteria that can attach to shoe bottoms and then be walked into a facility. With the ThermoGrip technology, as building users walk on mats, the mat captures and traps soils, contaminants, and moisture, keeping them outside the facility.

Using nitrile rubber technology in floor mats significantly helps promote walker safety. Crown Matting has earned certification from National Floor Safety Institute for “High Traction” with this technology and the ThermoGrip Antimicrobial entrance mats.

Finally, when nitrile rubber is placed on the back of Crown's ThermoGrip floor mats, tests indicate that the mat is as much as 60% more tear resistant when compared to a floor mat without nitrile rubber and as much as 200% more slip resistant.

When evaluating a matting solution investment for your particular application it is important that you evaluate all of the benefits that nitrile rubber has to offer.

For more information on the benefits of nitrile rubber on floor mats and our ThermoGrip floor mat technology, contact a Crown Technologies Specialist at 1-800-628-5463.