With summer quickly approaching, it’s time to consider plans for cooling down your recreational surfaces, keeping them safe and fun!
Synthetic turf has taken over the playground surfacing industry, and for good reason. With increased fall-height protection, reduced maintenance, sanitation solutions and a clean, vibrant look, it’s one of the modern playground surfaces. State-of-the-art technological advances also allow for cooling elements to help beat the heat!
While playground equipment has been known to get extremely hot when under direct sunlight, children can still play on ground-level surfaces. However, these synthetic surfaces can also heat up, making playground slip and falls more painful.
Hot Surfaces? Meet T°Cool
T°Cool is a premium infill designed to absorb and release moisture, cooling turf up to 50 degrees Fahrenheit when tested on athletic fields. It slowly releases moisture throughout the day and can easily be recharged with a light sprinkling from a hose.
How Does it Work?
T°Cool reduces surface temperatures by the natural process of evaporative cooling. Similar to the way perspiration works, the infill removes heat energy while allowing the grass surface to cool. T°Cool yields 30 to 50-degree cooler surfaces as validated by independent studies, on athletic fields. For playgrounds, the cooling effect may not be as high but still offers a noticeable difference.
Often the morning dew is enough to recharge the infill and prepare it for the day ahead. T°Cool also retains water from rain, humidity and irrigation systems. However, on particularly hot days, a brief hose misting will drastically reduce surface temperatures and allow for several additional hours of cool playground surfacing.
Notably, T°Cool releases moisture for a longer time period than competing products, like walnut shell infills. Long-lasting, antimicrobial and easily rechargeable, T°Cool is an effective way to stay cool!
From step one of the planning phase, Perfect Turf will work with you to create cool new areas or retrofit existing playgrounds that have crumbling rubber, mulch or worn out surfaces. Perfect Turf’s IPEMA Certified Surfacing offers solutions to heat reduction, helps to improve safety and ensure that your community will fully enjoy recreational spaces.
Both PlayGround Turf 80™ and Playground Turf 55™ have CoolGrass Technology in addition to antimicrobial additives and antistatic yarns that assist in keeping your playgrounds cool, clean and safe. Antimicrobial additives are especially significant in the sweaty summer months and during the COVID pandemic.
PlayGround Turf 80™ is extremely dense, with 1.4” tall grass blades. The thick, plush turf feels great underfoot, especially for the children enjoying it. Playground Turf 80™ comes in 5 fun colors: green, red, white, yellow and blue.
PlayGround Turf 55™ stands a bit shorter at 1.2”. The lower pile height maintains the thick and comfortable feel underfoot, at a slightly lower price point. PlayGround Turf 55™ comes in green, light blue, navy, tan, yellow, white, orange and custom colors, available upon request.
It’s worth noting that PlayGround Turf 80™ is an ultra-premium product while PlayGround Turf 55™ is still a premium product at a standard price point. However, when compared to the top products offered by our competition, PlayGound Turf 55™ is often more dense and includes features that others do not. Don’t just take our word for it. Request free samples today and compare them to other options on the market.
PerfectPlay® PlayGround System
Both products can be used with our state-of-the-art PerfectPlay® PlayGround System. We use environmentally friendly foam padding, made of recycled materials. The padding is placed under the turf to provide fall height protection for falls as high as 13’. This system is safe in all temperatures with a base that still allows for excellent drainage.
The Perfect Combination
The CoolGrass Technology in our PlayGround Turf and T°Cool, offer innovative solutions to hot summer surfaces. From beating the heat to cool, updated playgrounds, Perfect Turf will work with you to create recreational spaces where communities will make memories for years to come!
In addition to keeping things cool, we proudly provide ADA accessible playgrounds for inclusive recreation. Lester Park in Downers Grove, Illinois is a fantastic example of a modern playground design resulting in a playground area for all to enjoy!
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Want more? Click here for a gallery of our most projects, like CarolShire Park below.
