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One of the most critical parts of non slip and safety flooring is the adhesive.

With one of the most critical parts of non slip flooring being the adhesive, it is odd that a non slip flooring company will rarely get asked about what adhesives are utilised on their anti slip flooring but to them, it is something that occupies a great deal of effort. A non slip or safety flooring range has widely disparate uses; everyday the director and his colleagues in sales discover a new application for a product that they have been selling for over 18 years!  As the uses are so varied that subsequently means the adhesive has to adhere securely to a variety of substrates.  Like most chemicals pressure sensitive adhesives (PSA) have constantly improved their capabilities, the adhesives we use on our range of safety flooring is vastly superior to the materials we supplied back in the 1990’s.  Levels of tack, shear and temperature range have improved dramatically, all to the benefit for our customers ensuring total quality.  Please find the most common adhesive questions below.

What PSA does Heskins use?
Heskins generally use modified acrylics (there are a tiny handful of exceptions for specific non slip flooring applications).  They like the all round capabilities that modern modified acrylic PSAs offer, as mentioned previously their product has many varied demands made of it, they appreciate that the modified acrylics allow high tack levels, high shear levels and superb temperature ranges encompassing extreme minus ºC to high ºC.  All the transparent range has a further PSA modification to ensure no UV problems, please enquire for specific grey scale tests for each product if this is a concern.

Do you offer different adhesion levels?
Heskins do.  In over 99.9% of cases their adhesives on the anti slip flooring are more than sufficient, however, for clients with a special demand for higher tack levels we also coat the HG adhesive.  For customers who take our HG x-coarse product, this adhesive is standard on their materials, for all others it can be coated dependent on quantity.  Our HG offers exceptionally high tack levels without any compromise on the other parameters.

How well do the adhesives cope with low energy surfaces?
Low energy surfaces are becoming more prevalent and popular for various reasons; they are often the by-product of a shiny appearance or can be present in composites constructed from recycled plastics.  An example of a low energy surface would be after you have waxed your car you will notice the water globules form small puddles on the surface, the puddles are formed by the low energy surface, and these low energy surfaces create major problems for PSAs.  Heskins has worked tirelessly to ensure that our anti slip flooring customers receive a high quality non slip flooring regardless of the surface energy level, to this end in 2008 we developed our LE adhesive.  Specifically designed to allow excellent adhesion onto difficult surfaces this adhesive can be coated onto all our range, please enquire for MOQs.

What if the low energy surface has lots of release agents?
They can still create a solution.  Due to the vast experience in adhesives, films and anti slip technology they have never (so far) been defeated and also offer two other possible solutions to aid our adhesion levels.

1).  Use of H3506 primer - this has inbuilt keying agents.
2).  Use of a specific keying solution - Heskins has worked with various chemical manufacturers to create surface keying solutions to enable adhesion on even the most difficult surface.

I want the opposite to the above points, I want something removable, is it possible?
It is.  It is not rare for them to coat a removable adhesive onto our anti slip flooring.  They typically employ a further filmic liner (usually PET or PP) with a differential adhesive coat either side to allow removal.  As each removable adhesive application is often unique the differential levels are customised to the customer’s application, please enquire.

Just one more silly point, why does the paper not stick to the adhesive?
The paper is coated with silicon although on some of the materials employ a silicon coated PE film.

The advance in technology and invention over the years has aided disabled drivers immensely.
Technology and invention combined has enabled any car to become disabled friendly. The devices available on the market today range from wheelchair lifts and person lifts to hand controls enabling a disabled driver to drive the car themselves giving much appreciated independence.
There are various devices and models available, of which here are some examples:

Independent Wheelchair Lifts
Wheelchair lifts are extremely beneficial for disabled drivers with manual wheelchairs who wish to be independent. They fit most cars and operation is easy. These wheelchair lifts offer enclosed protection from the elements, for the wheelchair and the cost of transferring it to your next vehicle is minimal.

Wheelchair and Scooter Lifts
Wheelchair and scooter lifts are designed to lift manual wheelchairs and scooters and can be fitted to hatchbacks, estate cars, 4 x 4’s and MPV’s. When not in use, these devices store neatly away and can be transferred should a new car be purchased. The wheelchair and scooter lifts come in various models depending on the weight of the wheelchair or scooter, typically around 40 to 150kg lifts.

Person Lifts
Person lifts are for lifting people from their wheelchair into a vehicle and out again. Some models enable the person to stay in their wheelchair which then becomes the car seat. These devices are extremely practical and useful and can be bought for use in the home or the car. It makes the lifting of people effortless and with complete comfort for the disabled person.

Swivel Seats
Swivel seats for cars are a quick and easy way of making getting in and out of cars much easier. Pulling a simple lever allows the seat to be manually swiveled through approximately 90 degrees, making it easier to either stand up or doing a sliding transfer onto a wheelchair or scooter. Each swivel seat usually come with glide rails to enable the user to position the seat for optimum comfort when travelling. The seat can be used on either the passenger or driver side. When used on the driver side, there may be limited rotation. There are even special swivel seats available for MPV’s and 4 x 4’s which can also be utilized on mobile homes. These seats swivel out but also lower the person as well.

Hand Controls
There are various push pull hand controls available for installation in to cars. These devices can be for a single control use or can multiple controls for example integral indicator switches. There are devices that operate secondary functions at the touch of a button can also include:

• Indicators & hazard lights
• Headlights
• Horn
• Windscreen wipers (front and rear)
• Windscreen washers (front and rear)
• Fog lights
• Other functions may be possible, e.g. Radio on/off, heated windscreen, etc

Should a person not be to operate the foot pedals in an automatic car then there are push pull systems that can be fitted which enable them to do so. The rods connecting the controls and the pedals are fixed within the steering column for safety and ease.

Other devices that can be fitted are steering wheel balls for one handed steering, easy release mechanisms for handbrakes and one that enables the switching of the accelerator operation from left to right.