How To Clean Car Floor Mats

Written By: Miroslav Djuric

Comments: 7

Difficulty

Very easy

Steps

Time Required

10 minutes

Introduction

Judging by the looks, my wife's floor mats haven't been cleaned since the car rolled off the showroom floor in 2000. I created this guide based on a tried-and-true technique that my mother showed me when I was a wee lass.

There may or may not be better techniques out there, but I know this one works with common household items on-hand.

Tools

Parts

Laundry Detergent

Step 1

Soak the floor mat generously with water.
I used this power washer for the procedure, but it's totally unnecessary. You can just use a regular water hose.
Bonus: if you're doing it right, a rainbow will manifest itself to congratulate you.

Step 2

Spread your favorite granule-based, eco-friendly laundry detergent onto the entire area of the floor mat.
Why eco-friendly? This soapy gray water will go down the curb and into your favorite creek. So be nice to it!
You don't have to use a whole bunch, as the stuff is quite soapy. Just have enough sprinkled so that most of the mat is covered.

Biodégradable ? C’est bien! Mais pas suffisant, préférer le lavage dans une baignoire ou une douche afin que l’eau du lavage sois retraitée correctement.

Pierre JAU - 02/12/21

Step 3

Scrub like crazy with a push broom. As you can see in the photo, I'm preventing the mat from moving by standing on an edge.
Brush in a couple of different directions so you agitate all the contaminants from various angles.
No push broom (or other stiff brush) handy? No problem! Take your shoes and socks off, and scrub with your feet. Just be careful to not slip off the mat. You do not want to rub your feet up against concrete, or whatever surface the mat is on.
As a bonus, you will have the cleanest feet in the tri-state area after this procedure.

Step 4

Thoroughly wash off the soap:
Start on one edge of the floor mat and push the soap all the way across the mat.
Repeat the rinsing until juices run clear, so to speak.

Step 5

Repeat for all of the other floor mats in the car.
Bonus tip: If you want extra-clean sneakers, now's the time to scrub them as well! just detach the broom from the handle, or use a wet sock to agitate the dirt on each sneaker.

Conclusion

Put the floor mats back into the car (or truck) once they've finished drying.

Author

Miroslav Djuric

156684 Reputation

6 comments

May I recommend that one use an environmentally friendly detergent. As one hoses off the mat, the soapy water will flow to the gutter, and ultimately to a river or ocean.

Josh - 07/07/14

You know, I never considered that. Thanks for the heads-up! I added a note on the guide so that folks are informed.

Miroslav Djuric - 02/12/14

Absolutely love the funniness! Very easy to understand simple steps.

hellokittylynn3 - 24/08/16

Err…. Why would you not just put the mats in a washing machine???

Alex Lee - 15/11/18

Love your wit! Gotta love a clean freak!

Might I suggest deLimonine (100% of course) from orange peels. (I get mine shipped from canada & use it for everything…. even adhesive removal. Lasts forever.

I tried to give you 30 points but I havn’t completed the job & it made me take it back!

Also Alex Lee! If you do that to a washing machine it won’t be long till you are writing a repair manual for it!

Nancy - 02/03/19

Thanks for sharing this process! We just bought an old, used car for my son because he just got his license. The car was very dirty and I was struggling to clean the mats until I found your post! I usually just get my own car mats and upholstery cleaned by a local carpet cleaning company (https://www.chemdryacadiana.com/upholste...) and they do great work. But for this old car, I thought I could clean it myself. Your method worked very well and I will definitely use it again. Thank you so much!!

Sarah White - 11/05/20