Do you want to give your vehicle an instant makeover without spending an arm and a leg on auto detailing? Then you should clean your car floor mats whether they're made of upholstery, rubber, or both. The smell of your car will improve as well!
How to Prepare Cleaning Your Car Floor Mats
- Remove the Floor Mats Themselves If They're Removable: If possible, remove the mats from your car whether they're made of cloth or rubber. Open your car doors one after the other then take the mats out if they're the removable type. Don't clean your mats while they remain inside the car itself, except maybe for a quick vacuum for maintenance.
- Avoiding Water Damage Necessitates Floor Mat Removal: You should remove your car floor mats because you don't want to cause water damage in your vehicle's interior. You also don't want to allow foamy or oily products to come into contact with your brake, clutch, and gas pedals that may cause your foot to slip from them when driving.
- Clean the Mats Outside the Car: Get your mats cleaned at a car wash or gas station. You can also do it within your garage or a nearby parking lot. The point here is to do all of your mat cleaning away from the interior so as to prevent its damage or corrosion, especially when you're using powerful cleaners.
- Dust off Mats by Whacking or Shaking Them: Like in the case of a dusty old mattress or carpet, you should whack or shake your removable mats. This will get rid of the dust that's stuck within the rubber traction marks or cloth fibers of your floor mats. Do this outside the car. Five the mat a couple of whacks against the ground without damaging it.
- How About Irremovable Car Floor Mats? How do you clean the floor mats that you can't remove from your car? You have no choice but to clean this piece of upholstery from the inside. However, you still need to watch out and prevent cleaning fluid from ending up on you pedals or chemical solutions from eating away the floor of your vehicle.
- Cloth Floor Mats or Carpets Must Be Vacuumed: If you have cloth floor mats that are upholstered to your vehicle, they should be vacuumed first. Make sure that you suction up all of the specks of soil and dust particles within them before attempting to clean them any further. Make sure to vacuum both sides of the mat.
- Damp Carpets Should Be Dried with Baking Soda: It's particularly difficult to clean a damp carpet, so in this case using baking soda to absorb foul odor or moisture is called for. Sprinkle the powder all over the carpet and leave it to sit for 10-20 minutes prior to vacuuming then vacuum the baking soda along with the dirt and dust.