How do you clean your floor mats?

[Falcon_LS]

I'm not a big fan of carpet floor mats, but I do admit they look much, much better than the rubber ones and are definitely "classier".

When I got my Grand Marquis, the floor mats were never really cleaned up. So I threw them in the washing machine and after two separate cycles, they came out looking brand new. The Explorer's the same, although the interior color on the Explorer is what Ford calls "Light Camel" and stains show as clear as the light of day. My '07 Grand Marquis had the same interior color and it was a pain to keep the floor mats clean unless I put a large piece of A2 paper over them (which is what I did on the Explorer as well).

I threw in the Explorer's floor mats in the washing machine tonight, and dayum they came out pretty good!

On another note, I got a set of rubber floor mats on eBay couple of years ago for my Montero, and not only do they fit like a glove but they're very hard wearing and very easy to take care of. They've got small circular holes in them too, to hold a ridiculous amount of water. Can't remember the manufacturer for the life of me, but I'm thinking about getting another set for the Grand Marquis and Explorer. They were pretty expensive at $250 a set, but it's probably the best $250 I spent!

 

[weebl]

I started hosing them off at a self-serve car wash after seeing a friend do that. The come out reasonably clean, but need a long time to drip dry before you can use them again.

 

[Cup of Joe]

Originally Posted By: weebl
I started hosing them off at a self-serve car wash after seeing a friend do that. The come out reasonably clean, but need a long time to drip dry before you can use them again.


You have the general idea.

A few tips. Use a sqeegee to get as much water out as possible while hanging. Then use a wet dry vac on the matts. After which you can leave them hanging in the sun. If you do it this way they will be dry in maybe 2 hours it really depends on the matt thickness.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I always used Woolite carpet foam on them. Worked great and had a good smell that wasn`t too strong or overpowering.

 

[Donald]

I bought the winter rubber ones at Sams Club. They hold all the melting snow from your boots in the winter.

Come summer, I had more important things to do than find my carpeted floor mats and clean them. Now its winter again and the winter ones from Sams are still in the vehicle.

 

[NateDN10]

I clean the rubber ones with car wash soap, a water hose, and a scrub brush and let them air & sun dry.

The carpet ones go in the washing machine, then air dry. Or at least they used to. It doesn't work so well in our new high-efficiency washer.

 

[Bandito440]

Put them on the garage floor or driveway and soak them with a detergent solution of your liking. I mixed heavy doses of Dawn dish detergent and carpet cleaner with hot water. After soaking for a few hours or overnight, I hit them with a pressure washer or sprayer at the car wash. Then, I put them in the washing machine on the "drain and spin" only cycle. That gets most of the water out and they'll dry quickly enough afterward.

I do this a few times a year. The factory carpet mats in my Taco have seen four winters plus plenty of mud. The driver's side shows some wear, but they still clean up well.

 

[itguy08]

I've put them in the washing machine - a front load. Put in the dog's blanket or other "rags" and they came out OK. I found the nubs on the back did a number on the embroidery though.

Lately I've just pressure washed them - soak with Simple Green or other soap and hit them at full steam with the pressure washer. Gets them quite clean. Hang up so water runs off and in the sun they will dry in no time.

 

[SevenBizzos]

Use a steam cleaner on them annually.

 

[RooflessVW]

3M carpet cleaner. Spray onto the carpet, wrap a microfiber towel around a DA sander, and go to town.

3M again after DA, let soak and then vacuum clean. Works every time.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Originally Posted By: Falcon_LS
I'm not a big fan of carpet floor mats, but I do admit they look much, much better than the rubber ones and are definitely "classier".


I'm not exactly sure how something that's made to put my dirty shoes on is "classy", no matter what material it's made of.

I simply take the "unclassy" rubber mats out a couple times a year and hose them off. No muss, no fuss, and no time wasted on something "classy" for my dirty shoes.

 

[Bgallagher]

Folex and a Little Green Machine. Not worth the cost to buy a pro unit but the LGR does a nice job with most auto/household carpet stains. Spray bad stains with folex, agitate with a stiff (obviously not metal) brush and spray and suck up the cleaner/dirt with the LGR. ZEP High traffic also works extremely well and is cheap (I like the smell of it too.)

 

[Owen]

I like to clean my car floor mates myself. Just by using water, car wash shampoo, vacuum cleaner, a few cleaning wipes or cloths, cleaning products for interior care and after this collection started washing floor mates.

 

[sleddriver]

I posted my experience earlier:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2724144#Post2724144

 

[grampi]

I'm getting the Weather Techs for my Corolla. They should just hose off...

 

[97f150]

My truck came with both carpet and fitted rubber mats. Due to my job I opted for the rubber mats. Take them out every time I wash the truck and hose the mud off of them and reinstall after vacuuming. The carpet one are still in their plastic wrapping where the Christmas ornaments live.

One carpet mats they get the hose every couple months depending on how dirty they are, then are shop vac'd really well and left to dry in the sun before reinstall. No bother with stains, you do put your feet on them after all.

 

[zerosoma]

I'm such a noodle head. Recently I had a case of diet cola in the car for my breaks at work and forgot that freezing temperatures made things expand and explode. Needless to say after a long blizzard and a few days away from work I buried the car out of the snow and opened the hatch to find there was frozen cola EVERYWHERE. Cans were torn apart like a scissor had gone bananas!

and frozen clumps of sugar free soda were stuck to the cloth mat, upholstery, and the windows.

Took me half an hour to clean the mess out, then I tried to shove the huge hatchback mat into the washer which didn't work

so I decided in my hastiness that I would squirt Era Laundry Detergent all over the mat in an 'S' shape to pre-treat it,

, with the intention of scrubbing it out. I left it be for 10 minutes while I finished up the rest of the car, bringing a hot washcloth into instant freezing temps to clean the car. Washcloth came back solid when I was done cleaning after 2 minutes.

Knelt down and started scrubbing. Thought I got it out.

Now there's a neon blue 'S' on the mat, much like the 'S' on the Corolla 'S' logo. Looks cool, but I'm gonna have to take it to the car wash to pin up and spray off one of these days.
That long winded rant brings me to the point that if the mats fit in the wash, I pre-treat them and shove them in. Otherwise my preferred method is to pin them up in the DIY car wash and spray them off diligently.

That's my method of madness for pesky mats.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: zerosoma
I'm such a noodle head. Recently I had a case of diet cola in the car for my breaks at work and forgot that freezing temperatures made things expand and explode. Needless to say after a long blizzard and a few days away from work I buried the car out of the snow and opened the hatch to find there was frozen cola EVERYWHERE.


I did something similar in the summer of 1989 with my 1983 mid-sized LTD. Contrary to what the Mythbusters think, a Coke will explode in the sun in a car on a very hot day. Either that, or I rented a shampooer solely to address a figment of my imagination.