How to Maintain a 3g Pitch in Winter

With the popularity of 3G pitches increasing, a lot of people are wanting more information on how to maintain them with the utmost efficiency. Throughout this post, we’ll give you some tips and tricks on how to do this and how to maintain a 3G pitch in winter and avoid any unnecessary problems.

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Maintaining 3G Synthetic Pitches

Even though the pitch is synthetic, 3G sports surfacing requires some maintenance to keep it working well without any issues. Some good points to keep in mind are:

Daily checks – even if the next match is scheduled a week away, make sure regular checks of the area are performed. Finding any damaged areas or an uneven spread of rubber crumb infill can help you keep the surface as healthy as possible during this time and avoid any more unnecessary damage being caused.
Explain to users – a very peculiar yet important step you should take is going over ways to care for the 3G pitch with those using it. Ranging from correct footwear to what to do if the field seems damaged, explaining these points can really help it thrive.
Fix damages quickly – if any damage is spotted, do not procrastinate. You need to act quick simply to avoid any more excessive damage from being caused. Sorting the damage quickly will save you money and time and avoid any sudden shocks.

It may seem tedious or annoying but keeping the field in great condition with maintenance can save you a lot of money and time in the future. In addition, organic pitches would require a lot more work compared to maintaining 3G synthetic pitches, you would be dedicating less time on maintenance and more time on the important things. This is one of the main benefits of 3G pitches and why many people see them as a good investment.

Winter Maintenance for a 3G Football Pitch

During the winter, a lot of football matches can get cancelled on organic turf. However, with 3G synthetic pitches, the odds of this are lower, but not completely inexistent. Usually, the cold temperature will freeze the fibres and cause them to become brittle, making it unstable and unsafe for anyone to use. But there are some countermeasures that you can take to avoid any of these problems. Check out our sports facility maintenance page for advice on maintaining various types of sport surfacing.

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Winter maintenance for a 3G football pitch can be a pain with the harsh weather conditions and the fluctuations in the environment. A good routine to perform is:

Check the weather – Sports matches are planned in advance, meaning you can get the date beforehand. With the date, do some checks on how the weather will be before the day and on the day as this will allow you to avoid the most common issue, being unprepared.
Lay PDV salt – If you find out that the weather is going to be cold and freezing, you should prepare yourself with some PDV (Pure Dried Vacuum) salt. Sprinkle the salt across the synthetic pitch the night before. The salt acts as an anti-freeze prevention method, meaning that in the morning, the field shouldn’t be badly frozen where damage can be done.
Scoop snow off – Snow can be incredibly bad for the pitch if left on it for too long. It’s usually recommended to remove the snow within a period of a day to avoid constant damage being done on the surface.

Explain to users – a very peculiar yet important step you should take is going over ways to care for the 3G pitch with those using it. Ranging from correct footwear to what to do if the field seems damaged, explaining these points can really help it thrive.

Winter can be bad for sports and sometimes it’s just recommended to close the pitch until the weather conditions improve. Putting the surfacing through strain in cold weather conditions can really damage the pitch and in general, could lead to the 3G synthetic turf being replaced.

Cleaning Your Artificial Sports Surface

Cleaning may sound simple but it’s important to note that your pitch can become affected in different ways. Dirt, contaminants or unbalanced levels of rubber infill can all cause the pitch to be labelled as dirty and all require different methods of cleaning.

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Grooming and drag brushing is a common method to evenly distribute the rubber infill to maintain even playing characteristics and remove some dirt. As it’s just a brushing, all you’ll need is a brush and some time. Go around the pitch and make sure that you give areas in which you think may have unbalanced levels of rubber infill a good brush. If you’re finding that there is hardly any rubber infill across the whole 3G pitch, then an infill tops up is likely needed (adding extra rubber infill). This post shows a similar process for cleaning infill in a hockey pitch.

Moss and algae may grow around the synthetic surface which can cause the looks to fade away. In addition, it can damage the turf over time. To avoid this happening, chemical treatment cleaning can be done. Simply acquire a moss/algae remover and start to distribute it around. Be careful though, applying too much in one area could end up damaging the fibres quickly.

Sometimes, the pitch may be too seriously damaged to clean properly and therefore you may have to consider a resurface. It can be incredibly expensive to do so and that’s why it is often recommended to maintain your 3G turf to the best of your abilities to avoid this problem occurring.

3G Pitch Maintenance Services

Maintaining the synthetic pitch can be a huge pain at first and you might find it a complicated process. Soft Surfaces can help with this issue. Over 20 years of experience, we can help you with every step of the process, making sure that you understand what’s happening along the way.

No matter what the season is, our team are more than happier to help you learn the best ways to keep your 3G pitch maintained and working well. If you have any questions or queries about how to maintain a 3G pitch in winter, send us an enquiry and one of our members of staff will get in contact with you shortly.

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