Help with 16 year old Floor Mats

courtdale

courtdale

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Started a massive undertaking this week - restoring the interior of a 1995 Accord my daughter bought last month. The entire interior looks very similar to the floor mats below. This is going to be a PROJECT any advice will be most appreciated:





After:



I pretreated with a bissel solution, and hit the trouble spots with an APC (Purple Power), then power washed followed by a dry-vac. Results weren't bad, but you can see where I wasn't able to remove the spots on the driver mat.

What if anything can finish off that stubborn stain? I went back and tried to hit it with a stain remover with agitation, but still nothing.
 
You've done everything that can be done. They look alot better now.
 
you can soak them in the bathtub over night with some detergent and white distilled vinegar. you can also put them in the washing machine, only if they have a rubber backing. some high end cars have a soft cloth backing and those will be destroyed in the washing machine.

if you have a DA get a carpet brush. It will take alot of the eblow grease out of the equation. I bought the green brush and its great on carpets, cloth seats, and leather.

Porter Cable 7424 Carpet & Upholstery Brushes
 
After all that you have already done and the fact that these mats are 16 years old I'd wager a bet that what you are seeing in the driver's mat is the natural color of the fibers because the dye has been ground off by the dirt and the driver's feet rubbing on the fibers over the years. You won't get them any better except if you dye them the color that you want to see on them. Nice job on the mats by the way. I like to use Folex on them but my process otherwise is the same as what you have described.
 
After re reading your process I actually scrub the mats with my Cyclo polisher with the carpet brushes on it. Did you scrub them with a brush before pressure washing them?
 
tuscarora dave said:
After re reading your process I actually scrub the mats with my Cyclo polisher with the carpet brushes on it. Did you scrub them with a brush before pressure washing them?
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Yes, before with the APC and after when I hit it with the spot remover.
 
If scrubbing them with Folex won't get them clean nothing will. Maybe you could pick a bottle up and give it a try.
 
Since you have gone with APC and power washing along with scrubbing, I'm not sure if Folex or Krud Kutter will work? I would be interested to see if you can make them look any better without dye. I agree with everyone else though, they look great for the age and the amount of work you have put into them.

*Edit - I agree with Tuscarora Dave's last post :)
 
Those look great considering where you started. Looks like all of the dirt; grease are gone.
There is one more thing that might work. Long shot but I've had it work on areas that get that almost rust reddish stain look. See if you can get some "carpet neutralizer" from a carpet cleaning business or take the mats to their business and have them spray it on. That's it. You will know immediately if it worked or not.
 
Although your effort was there, I would have just gone to your local larts store and got some good rubber all season mats. To me, carpet floor mats are worhtless.
 
Also remember that floor mats are supposed to be a sacrificial item between you and the carpet. So if you can't get them as clean as you want, buy new ones.
 
mswerb said:
Although your effort was there, I would have just gone to your local larts store and got some good rubber all season mats. To me, carpet floor mats are worhtless.
Click to expand...

Sure makes cleaning much easier ^

One thing I would say though. Instead of going to a parts store and spending $20 or $30 on some crappy rubber mats that don't fit properlly, invest in WeatherTechs instead

courtdale? was your daughter happy with what you did? Thats all that really matters ;)
 
I don't see those getting much better from there. I think you've done fine. The drivers side is just worn.
 
Kristopher1129 said:
I don't see those getting much better from there. I think you've done fine. The drivers side is just worn.
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:iagree: I've dealt with my share of funky mats and IMO those puppies are as good as your going to get them unless you redye.

I don't recommend you redye the drivers area as it see's all the action and the dye will transfer over to a pair of your daughters $200 shoes/pants/dress. Then you will really have problems :)
 
Flash Gordon said:
Sure makes cleaning much easier ^

One thing I would say though. Instead of going to a parts store and spending $20 or $30 on some crappy rubber mats that don't fit properlly, invest in WeatherTechs instead

courtdale? was your daughter happy with what you did? Thats all that really matters ;)
Click to expand...

Was about to post on this. She came by this afternoon and was too excited to put them in to have me explain about trying to get the driver side stain out. So, I guess I'll keep searching for a better option (maybe Folex), but not going to buy new ones.

1. That does nothing for me and my detailing hobby 2. That's her dime/choice :)

The seats and carpet are next week and they are just as bad...
 
courtdale said:
Was about to post on this. She came by this afternoon and was too excited to put them in to have me explain about trying to get the driver side stain out. So, I guess I'll keep searching for a better option (maybe Folex), but not going to buy new ones.

1. That does nothing for me and my detailing hobby 2. That's her dime/choice :)

The seats and carpet are next week and they are just as bad...
Click to expand...

Even if you don't succeed with Folex this time, it is a great product to have in your arsenal. At my local Home Depot it's $4.99 for the 36oz. bottle and I think $12 for the gallon. It has paid for itself many times over on carpet, cloth seats, and headliners. Oh, it cleans interior plastics as well. Even though it doesn't need to be rinsed from cloth or carpet, you may want to wipe down plastics with a damp rag just to make sure it's free of any possible residue.

And when you tackle the seats and carpet, please update this thread with a link to your new thread so that we can find it easier in case we miss it. :)
 
One thing that might save these mats are dye. At work we use a spray bottle and have saved some really bad floor mats.
 
Your done with these mats. Move on to the leather now

Good luck,

Flash
 
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