njaremka

a little tip:

my floor mats were starting to look a little grungy after the winter months, becuase of all the salt and dirt that gets flung around up here. so, i decided to take a trip today to the do-it-yourself spray car wash and see what i could do. i took all the mats out of the car, set them on the ground, then i sprayed them with the "tire cleaner" stuff. i then preceded to wash and rinse my car, then went back and rinsed out the floor mats. i let them drip to get most of the water out, and drove over to the vacuum cleaners. i vacuumed what water would come out, and i was amazed! the floor mats looked brand spanking new! i vacuumed the rest of the car out, put the mats back in, and it really made a HUGE difference in the appearance of the inside of the car.

just thought i would share this with those that have floor mats that don't exactly look like factory new any more.

Makaveli

Nice! Mine are looking probably like yours did before the wash...

Tire Cleaner hey? I'll give it a try

Zulu

The stuff in the car wash is pretty watered down so I guess it is ok to use once every long now and then, but the stuff you can buy in stores will eat your rubber under pads and anything fiberous(like the plastic and yarn they use to make carpets).It doesn't matter how many times you rinse it out or how thorough you are it will do it eventually.Just a freindly warning for you .
And I do know this for a fact.When I used to detail cars I saw it happen once or twice on vehicles where the owner had done that all the time to clean his mats.Get carpet shampoo or use car soap to do it.

njaremka

whoops! didn't know that. it just seemed like a good idea to get the grease and crap out of the carpet. maybe next time i'll get something else to do it.

Zulu

Don't get me wrong.It was a great idea.IT would get out the grease and crap really well,but then again so would acid(which is what alot of wheel cleaners are to a lesser extent).
I just didn't want to see a post in a few months from you or someone else who did it and ate their mats away(and theoretically their shoes).I read on one post that someone used tooth paste to clean the embroidery(which works).
Your best/safest bet is to blast the mats with the car soap then rinse them out then vacuum them And leave your floor vents on for a while so they will dry completley(detailers trick that last one )If they are REALLY dirty(which mine are,I love Canadian winters.No really I do.Stop laughing,I'm serious...)get a nylon scrub brush or if you are too poor(like me) or lazy use the car brush.Just ignore the weird looks you will get from the other patronc .

man do I tend to ramble or what??

njaremka

thanks for the tips! that thing about the brush sounds good, and the trick about the floor vents-i knew about that one.

Zulu

Yeah there really are no secrets, just real simple things that most people wouln't normally think of unless they were car freaks or spent 8 hours a day cleaning cars(like me).