You want to remove the mats so that you won’t get water damage in your car’s interior. Also, you should not allow oily or foam consistency products to come in contact with the gas, clutch and brake pedals in your car as this could cause your foot to slip off the pedal during driving, which is dangerous. Clean the mats outside. You can clean the mats at a gas station or at home in your parking lot or inside your garage. Most car mats are removable. However, occasionally the mats are built into the car. In those cases, you will have to clean them inside the car.
Cleaning a damp carpet mat can be difficult. You could use baking soda to absorb some moisture and foul odor by lightly sprinkling it onto the carpet floor mat and then leaving it to sit for about 10-20 minutes, before vacuuming. Vacuum the mats on both sides, making sure to thoroughly get crumbs and dust off of them.
Give the mat a couple of whacks against the ground. Find a hard surface to strike the mats against. This works for rubber and cloth mats. You might also want to use a scraper to remove hardened materials from the rubber mat before cleaning it.
You should pick rubber mats of good quality or else you will end up getting holes in them, which can make the water go under the mat and onto the floor and your interior floor will start to rot. If the interior floor starts to rot, this will create a really bad smell inside your car over time.
The hose should help you remove the loosely gathered dirt or food on the rubber floor mats. You could use a bucket of water if you don’t have a hose, although the pressure from the hose is useful for dislodging loose materials from the mats. You could also go to a car wash and pressure wash them off.
You could use spray soap or you could apply the soap with a wet rag. It’s not hard to get dirt off of rubber floor mats, so usually soap and water is going to do the trick. Apply more pressure to your water hose, and wash the mats as good and thoroughly as you can. You could also clean rubber floor mats with baby wipes and hand sanitizer.
In that case, place all your mats where they are supposed to be, and put your air conditioning on full heat, and flip the fan switch to full power. For the best and fastest drying, put the AC Location switch to feet warming, as this will allow the mats to dry out quickly.
The baking soda will also help neutralize odors from pets and food and other dirt. [2] X Research source You could also put baking soda with water on the bristles of a stiff scrub brush, and then scrub the floor mats clean.
Make a mixture with two tablespoons of washing powder and an equal amount of any shampoo. Then, rub the brush on your car floor mat with that mixture. You can also use this mixture to clean your car bumper which is made up of plastic only. You have many different options for cleaning materials. With a small hand brush (stiff bristles) or a deck scrubber brush, gently brush any debris away from the mat. Scrub hard. Wash all the soap off with clean water.
The carpet cleaner should either have evaporated or have been absorbed by the mat. Then, use the hand brush to make sure you work the carpet cleaner into and throughout the mat. You could make your own spray by adding one bottle of white vinegar to the same amount of hot water, and then spraying it on the car mats. Scrub with the brush. This method is particularly good at removing salt stains. [3] X Research source . If there is chewing gum on the mats, you can apply peanut butter and some salt, and then scrub the mats to remove the remnants of the chewing gum.
If you don’t have a power washer at home, you can usually find them at car washes, and you could power wash your floor mats there. You can also put car floor mats in your washing machine, using your regular detergent. Apply spray stain remover first. [4] X Research source
A wet/dry vac (shop-vac) is recommended because they are designed to remove moisture. [5] X Research source Vacuum cleaners with hose attachments also work well because they have suctioning power. Take a hoover with 680 watts or more power, so you have more power. Then, take the mat and hoover it clean using a thin hose for better suction.
You could also spray them with a clean fresh scent. Leave them outside in the sun to dry. This will also help freshen the smell. You could also put cloth floor mats in the dryer. Then, use a razor to remove any excess fur hanging off the mat (just razor the whole mat and all the extra fur will disappear)
