How to Clean Car Floor Mats

Co-authored by Angel Ricardo

Last Updated: March 15, 2024 References

Cleaning your car floor mats, whether they are rubber or made out of upholstery, is one of the quickest ways you can improve the overall look of your car. Your car will smell better too!

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Preparing to Clean Your Car Floor Mats

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1
Remove your floor mats, whether rubber or cloth, from your car, if possible. Open all of your car doors one-by-one, and take your mats out of the car, if they are removable. Do not clean them while they are still inside the car.^{[1]
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- 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.
2
Vacuum cloth floor mats first. Use a vacuum to ensure that you suction up all of the dust particles and soil specks from your car mats before you try to clean them further.
- 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.
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3
Shake or whack the mats to remove dirt. This will shake out some of the dust that is embedded in the rubber or cloth floor mats. Do this outside.
- 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.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Washing Rubber Car Floor Mats

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1
Choose good quality rubber car floor mats. Car floor mats are often made out of rubber. Especially up north where it can get rainy and snowy, the rubber mats provide good moisture protection for your interior and will dry faster than any other mat would do.
- 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.
2
Take a hose. Use a hose to simply wash the mats, but only on the dirty side of the mat. Don't make the mats wet on the downside.
- 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.
3
Apply soap to every mat. Mix laundry soap and baking soda with water. This will fizz and lift out dirt. If you don't have baking soda, just use any kind of liquid soap.
- 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.
4
Dry the car mats. The mats should be dry before you put them back into your car, but if you are at a gas station washing them there, you may not be able to wait.
- 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.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Washing Cloth Car Floor Mats

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1
Rub baking soda onto the upholstered car floor mats. Baking soda is good for getting stains out of car floor mats.
- The baking soda will also help neutralize odors from pets and food and other dirt.^{[2]
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- You could also put baking soda with water on the bristles of a stiff scrub brush, and then scrub the floor mats clean.
2
Apply soapy water to the car mats. You can add detergent to soapy water, and scrub the floor mats with a stiff brush to make them 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.
3
Try spray cleaner. You could spray a carpet cleaner over the mat and leave for 30 mins. Or you can buy special upholstery cleaner for cars at most auto shops.
- 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]
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- 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.
4
Use a power washer or steam cleaner. Another option is to use a steam cleaning vacuum on the mats. This should work as well on car floor mats as it does on carpet inside your house.
- 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]
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5
Vacuum the floor mats again. This will help suck up some of the water and remove any remaining dirt particles from the mats.
- A wet/dry vac (shop-vac) is recommended because they are designed to remove moisture.^{[5]
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  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.
6
Dry the floor mats thoroughly. To dry cloth floor mats, hang them up somewhere or dry them in a dryer. Floor mats get a damp musky smell if not dry.
- 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)

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Question

When should I dilute my soap?

Angel Ricardo
Auto Technician
Angel Ricardo is the owner of Ricardo's Mobile Auto Detail headquartered in Venice, California. With over 10 years of experience in mobile detailing, Angel continues to attend auto detailing trainings to improve his customer service and auto detailing skills.

Angel Ricardo

Auto Technician

Expert Answer

Right before you use it. Keep in mind that less is more when it comes to using products in the interior of your car. If you're using a concentrated product, dilute it to a ratio of 128:1. Otherwise, the product may create too many suds, and it can be really hard to get that foam out of your mats.

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Question

How should I scrub my car mats?

Angel Ricardo
Auto Technician
Angel Ricardo is the owner of Ricardo's Mobile Auto Detail headquartered in Venice, California. With over 10 years of experience in mobile detailing, Angel continues to attend auto detailing trainings to improve his customer service and auto detailing skills.

Angel Ricardo

Auto Technician

Expert Answer

Use a brush that's designed for the interior of a car to scrub the soap into your car mats. Then, hose out the mats to remove as much of the soap as possible. If you leave suds in the carpet, it will create spots, and the suds can actually attract dirt and make your carpet dirtier.

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Question

What do I do to make sure my mats dry thoroughly?

Angel Ricardo
Auto Technician
Angel Ricardo is the owner of Ricardo's Mobile Auto Detail headquartered in Venice, California. With over 10 years of experience in mobile detailing, Angel continues to attend auto detailing trainings to improve his customer service and auto detailing skills.

Angel Ricardo

Auto Technician

Expert Answer

After you rinse your mats, hang them to allow the water to drip off. While they dry, you can wash other parts of the car. Then, when you're finished, you'll just have to vacuum the water off of the very bottom of the mat.

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