Preparing Slip Prevention for Winter

It’s that time of year again, the weather turns bad, and Facebook becomes a hive of would be minute by minute news reporters telling you how cold it is outside when you’ve either seen first-hand or have access to a window so you can see for yourself.
What is sometimes unseen, however, is many of the hazardous areas created from the weather, pavements and steps can become very, very slippy, and more accidents are caused due to it. Preparing slip prevention for the winter months will make them much less stressful… and less slippy.
The first issue is the temperature ( of course, this is always the first issue with winter ), which at times can go down to below zero. For a lot of anti-slip solutions, this makes them useless, as they don’t cope with low temperatures, and become brittle and break. Our products are tested down to -30°c, which means for this country at least, the right product will perform through the winter months.

With ice and snow, it means there is lots of moisture around, this is one thing that self-adhesives do struggle with, as moisture affects the bond between adhesive and surface. We have ancillaries available to help make the bond an effective one. On external porous surfaces, moisture can still seep through the surface and affect a successful bond, causing the material lift. Heskins surface primer can be applied to these surfaces to seal them and prevent moisture from weakening the adhesive. Simply paint it on to the surface and let it dry, in the winter months this does require a bit more work or foresight, due to the presence of ice and possibly, snow.
Our edge fix will also seal the edge of the anti-slip tape, and prevent moisture creeping in, causing edge lift. It is nigh on impossible to apply self-adhesive materials to ice-crusted timber, and this is where our anti-slip bolt down plates come in. You can simply screw these down, and they are ready for use immediately! When the weather becomes more pleasurable, you can remove them and store them away for the next winter season if required. The other issue is what type of anti-slip tape to use. We create various grades of anti-slip tape, from standard ( think skateboard grip tape ) to our coarse and HG X-Coarse, which are really big pieces of grit, with deep valleys to prevent clogging from mud or ice.

These are the grades to use in the winter months to ensure efficient slip prevention. In business environments, all of these apply, yet insurance may mean certification is required so the proof is on paper, not just in the ‘pudding’. Heskins can provide Coefficient of Friction certificates to help allay any fears.

We offer a range of many various anti-slip products that will assist slip prevention in virtually all areas. For more information, please contact us by phone, live chat, or by submitting an enquiry through the contact us form, and let us talk to you about how we can provide an anti-slip solution for you, for winter, and beyond!

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